[Grizzly]

Currently studying, although there was a job I never was accepted into due to several problems which all could be directly aimed at me being an autist. It sucks having to say that.

But apperently, knowing Geology or Geomorphology is a sure way to get a study, as you are basically always always wanted (there's apperently a 99% job chance, although I do always end up being that 1% guy)

[z64555]

(there's apperently a 99% job chance, although I do always end up being that 1% guy)

Your going to be that 1% if you think you are in the first place. Positive thinking!

[karajorma]

I can move abroad, though I'd prefer to stay in the US

I'd suggest teaching abroad if you really can't find anything but in China at least they want you to have a year's work experience (they don't care at what particularly, they just want to know you're capable of holding a job for a year!)

[MP-Ryan]

6 year phd program, from which i will hopefully emerge into a fat and happy economy 

Just wondering what hallucinogen you've been smoking lately...

The economy in the US is so bad that even a proper education does not guarantee a job.

Nothing ever guarantees a job, but an education in the right field gives you pretty good prospects.  The trouble with most college kids is they pick a major based on either what interests them, or what's easiest for them, without regard to what kind of career path it's going to set them on.  There's a reason many people refer to "basketweaving" degrees - a B.A. in sociology/psychology/history/lit/English/etc qualifies you for nothing, yet it remains a stupidly popular program (I say this as someone with a B.A. in sociology and psychology, and another hard science degree).  Meanwhile, most places are struggling for nurses and doctors, many areas of North America can't hire engineers fast enough, and skills like plumbing and electricians tickets are virtually always in demand in some capacity or another.  And oddly enough, I've never met a hairdresser who was unemployed.

This is the great tragedy of the education system, particularly in North America - parents still tell their kids that "you can be anything you set your mind to" and the school system doesn't correct that naive notion.  Meanwhile, post-secondary facilities are more than happy to take your money in exchange for an undergraduate education that does little more than qualify you to work in retail.

[General Battuta]

6 year phd program, from which i will hopefully emerge into a fat and happy economy 

Just wondering what hallucinogen you've been smoking lately...

I think the XCOM thread answers that nicely

[Black Wolf]

This is the great tragedy of the education system, particularly in North America - parents still tell their kids that "you can be anything you set your mind to" and the school system doesn't correct that naive notion.  Meanwhile, post-secondary facilities are more than happy to take your money in exchange for an undergraduate education that does little more than qualify you to work in retail.

Not just North America. It's a pretty big problem here too. Lots of people graduating with business or psychology degrees while we're recruiting engineers and most of our hard scientists from overseas. The only dedicated agricultural uni in the state (and one of the best in the country) is in serious danger of closing despite the fact that we're desperately short on agronomist and agricultural scientists of all sorts. It's nuts.

[General Battuta]

- a B.A. in sociology/psychology/history/lit/English/etc qualifies you for nothing, yet it remains a stupidly popular program

There's a lot of variation within psych programs. My psych cohort immediately landed a bunch of industrial organization consulting jobs and top-20 PhD programs and is set to make bank for the rest of their lives. I got a great job right out of undergrad. Presumably most programs aren't hardcore enough to produce similar results, or the students don't put in the effort required to get them anywhere.

[z64555]

...students don't put in the effort required to get them anywhere.

Definately the main problem my engineering college was having. (might still be having it too).

[MP-Ryan]

There's a lot of variation within psych programs. My psych cohort immediately landed a bunch of industrial organization consulting jobs and top-20 PhD programs and is set to make bank for the rest of their lives. I got a great job right out of undergrad. Presumably most programs aren't hardcore enough to produce similar results, or the students don't put in the effort required to get them anywhere.

The majority of psychology undergraduates either go onto careers in other fields, or have to do grad studies to have even a chance of landing a job.  When it comes to counseling/psychological therapy/psychiatry, a graduate degree is required.  In Canada, at least, a psychology undergrad degree does not qualify you to work in any profession other than academic research, and even then it's as a step toward a masters or PhD program.  Anecdotally, I spent three months looking at job postings when I was between jobs several years ago (having been out of school for over a year) and by far my most useless qualification was that psychology minor (even had it been a major, it wouldn't have mattered, and this was from a top-ranked university).

I would suspect your experience is more the exception than the norm for most psych undergraduates, which is why I lumped it with the other typical "basketweaving" degrees.  I neglected to include "human ecology" (fashion! sex! "I couldn't even get into sociology or psychology!") because frankly it's a program that deserves nothing more than a derisive snort.

Apparently, I'm cross-thread channeling Randall this morning.

[General Battuta]

It is probably exceptional, but so am I

(it was a pretty top notch program, also i have never had to take out a single loan because of my ~extraordinary merit~ i'm john galt deregulate subprime mortgages)

fake edit: the only psych i know is the one where you run experiments on people, i know literally nothing about counseling or psychiatry. don't get a psych major unless you want to be an experimentalist and you're willing to work your ass off. or you're playing a long game to get hired by valve.

[MP-Ryan]

fake edit: the only psych i know is the one where you run experiments on people, i know literally nothing about counseling or psychiatry. don't get a psych major unless you want to be an experimentalist and you're willing to work your ass off. or you're playing a long game to get hired by valve.

From the sounds of it, your education is probably lumped more into neuroscience than psychology at most institutions.  My alma mater divided psychology classes into science credits and arts credits; the science classes were dominated by "hard" science students (and me, despite posing as a student in the Faculty of Arts at the time as I fortunately had the presence of mind to do my basketweaving only after a degree that could get me a job), while the arts classes were where the "psychology majors" fled.

[Mika]

Inspired by this thread, I was browsing through some of the open positions in US out of curiosity. Turned out that I could get about 200K $ / year, I'm still a bit shocked about that revelation...

Whoa, there really has to be a world wide lack of work force in my profession!

I wondered about the basket-weaving majors popularity for a long time during the studies too, but there is another level of this: doing the hard science or engineering courses with lowest possible effort. If you are supposed to do engineering, I never understood the choice of trying to avoid doing the actual work there. Well, it used to be a path to get a management position, but not so any more.

I would advise against moving from job to job often: it is highly country dependent, and screams "DO NOT HIRE THIS GUY" for me. I have turned down several applicants just because of this, not worth the effort if they are moving just when they are supposed to become efficient workers (= after one to two years).

[Black Wolf]

I would advise against moving from job to job often: it is highly country dependent, and screams "DO NOT HIRE THIS GUY" for me. I have turned down several applicants just because of this, not worth the effort if they are moving just when they are supposed to become efficient workers (= after one to two years).

This depends on the profession. Geos are encouraged to move around a bit early on, to learn different commodities, ways of doing things, etc. etc.

[Mika]

This depends on the profession. Geos are encouraged to move around a bit early on, to learn different commodities, ways of doing things, etc. etc.

Yes, that is probably good for geos. It is good to know some of the details of the profession beforehand and what is expected by the working place. Design and engineering related companies tend to value more those who they expect to stay longer.