NBC News: Kat Cohen
January 1, 2012
“Take advantage of people around you. Join organizations. Prove you have a great work ethic; collaborate” – Ms. Cohen repeats these tips, as employment analysts oft remind us.
The first news for the year 2012: education, employment, finances/debt. Wasn’t that the refrain for 2011? Kat Cohen reminds the viewers, “If you get a Bachelor’s Degree, you will make a million dollars in your lifetime.” Woopty-doo! She thinks a million dollars is a lot? It’s not! It only sounds like a big number. How much does Kat make? Can she live in NYC for 20 years, making 50K per year? No! Why not? It’s a million dollars!
It’s the type of profession one chooses which dictates one’s earning potential. It’s the type of career one embarks upon which foretells the type of lifestyle one will likely enjoy. It’s the amount of years working at that profession, at the end of the day, that will tell what one was able to earn, over or under the par.
Kat has some facts, statistics, and some tips for us NBC viewers:
“College costs are soaring while jobs are few.” Also, students embarking upon graduate degrees “take on an average of 125K of loan debt.” Without a master’s and, better yet, a doctorate, you cannot compete against the large percentage vying for the coveted higher salaried positions.
More parents are out of work, hitting hard times, unable to handle college funds, or any funds at all, for their children. Parents are continuing to face their own employment trials and tribulations: layoffs, trimmed hours/furlough days, cutbacks in benefits and pensions. Many, unfortunately, experience the throes of foreclosure. This is a crisis in and of itself.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the “hot spots” for careers for 2012 include opportunity as well as the highest salaries. The average salary is up; for “the Class of 2011: 41K.” One could hardly find that boastful. And they mean the college graduating class! What happened to the 50K? That sounds pretty good to us now, doesn’t it? The person who averages 41K, do they have a second job?
Ms. Cohen reports what the educational analysts are predicting for 2012, the do’s and don’ts, this year’s surefire methods for segue from college classroom to the office. She says future students should be wise and “advised to truly consider where you are going to school.” She tells us to ask these questions:
“Is there help with job placement?
“Is there an internship provision?
“Will you receive ‘real’ work experience?
“Will you have real world people come to speak with students about their field?
“You will need the right resume’.
“You will need the right cover letter.
“You will need to know the correct etiquette for an interview.
“You will need to hit the career expos.
“You need to network with fellow alumni.”
A lot of questions to ask when you are just “considering where you are going to school.”
NBC provides us an example of students graduating from prestigious institutions such as MIT and Cal Tech who will “have starting salaries on average of $69,700.” Do you know what they will spend for those 5 years at school, not including room and board? It could reach 400K. Undergrad!! That would be the same average for a Division I university. Figure out the interest rate, the payback period. Every graduating student is not getting a job, does not get the starting salary, does not get the job he/she intended to get or was educated or trained for.
The outlook for today’s college student is a no man’s land, a virtual minefield awaiting him/her amidst the steep increase in costs and the payback dilemma. The motivation in one’s experience with higher education must shift toward payoff, as we are admonished. Kat forewarns us in her feature story, reciting sobering predictions for 2012; it was no better in 2011 or 2010. These continual news pieces have all of us reflecting upon current and future decisions — really, what it costs to get “there,” what happens when you arrive “there,” perpetual necessity to compete with others after you get “there” …exhausting!
Let’s Google zero percent unemployment. Yup. Court reporters! Yahoo Finance, hmmm? The Internet search shows they agree with NBC and their “Surprising six-figure jobs.” Now weigh in on cost of the education to attend court reporting school: 9-10K a year versus double/triple/quadruple that amount. Get me to a stenography school!
In the fields of court reporting, closed captioning, realtime writing, we address employment statistics with enthusiasm and excitement. We proclaim: Want to expend less money on your educational journey? Want a higher starting salary? Want to get started upon graduation? As young adults, and their parents, embark upon or re-enter the educational community, their eyes should be open to ALL the possibilities. Careers in realtime reporting and captioning should not be the “Best Kept Secret” anymore. Let everyone in on it. 2012 will prove to be the turning point for all students. The NBC pundits put this question to you: “Where are you going to school?” Respond “StenoTech Career Institute” and see the world from the front row!
NBC News
CNBC
National Assn. of Colleges and Employers
Yahoo Finance