My cousin and I had a discussion this evening about all this scary stuff going on.  With the economy going into areas we have not seen in 70-80 years and would rather not see again, we, as Citizens (and I do use the Capital C, cause we are Citizens, not citizens) of The United States of America, need to pay attention to what is going on economically and politically so we can do whatever we can to better the country.  We as families and supporters of those families need to pay attention too, as our health and livelihood is at stake sometimes.

What we discussed was the lack of jobs and whether or not a college degree matters.  Now he is trying to convince a 16 year old that college is a good thing.  My cousin and I both agree that this is important. It gives you choices and options you would not normally get.  I am not the best educated person in the world, but I went to work and went to college till 30.  I didn’t do the Ivy League, my college didn’t have a league. You could say it was a league of it's own.  I went to a Technical school. I got my Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science.  It was not a huge or prestigious school, but I am proud of the work I put in. Whatever it was or was not, it has provided for me an avenue to a career I would have not had otherwise.  I am very happy with my education and tell everyone who will listen that they should go to school and get a four year degree. 

Now I know that a lot of people are out there saying, school is not for me. I know what you mean, it wasn’t for me.  I didn’t like it but I suffered thru it so that I could get to the other side and have options. I knew the game was about getting a degree so you could prove to your potential employer that you are trainable.  Now the better the school, the more trainable you are and how much more responsibility you will have right away.  Also, the better the school, the better the real information they give you and the level of accomplishment is higher due to more rigorous testing.  If you don’t break under the workload of a Harvard Law degree, then you will not break under the workload of a Wall Street law firm for example.

All of this points me to the inevitable conclusion that you need a degree in this country to succeed.  I know that you can succeed without a degree in this country, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I would not bet on it especially with my life, career, or my happiness.  Why should anyone?  There are no logical arguments that I have found against getting a degree.  All of them (that I have heard) are emotional responses, and are not a good basis for your future well being.

Ok,  now I have this discussion with my cousin (and I do intend to send him a link to this site) and then I see this article on MSNBC.  I usually peck at MSNBC since I am a Microsoft Fanboy and it is my homepage. 

This article really hits home to what I have been finding.  Coworkers and I are amazed that there are still jobs out there for programmers and web developers. .Net workers in general.  I have seen several and my coworkers have friends that are getting 6 figure jobs, recently even. I am finding that technical jobs are increasing.  I am not talking support desk analyst necessarily, just highly specialized and technical jobs are still out there. This article is for factory workers with high technology skills, so it is similar.

Here are some of the quotes from the article:

• Plenty of people are applying for the jobs. The problem, the companies say, is a mismatch between the kind of skilled workers needed and the ranks of the unemployed.
• Now they are looking to hire people who can operate sophisticated computerized machinery, follow complex blueprints and demonstrate higher math proficiency than was previously required of the typical assembly line worker.
• The increasing emphasis on more advanced skills raises policy questions about how to help low-skilled job seekers who are being turned away at the factory door and increasingly becoming the long-term unemployed.

This one hit home really hard to me about our education system:

All candidates at Ben Venue must pass a basic skills test showing they can read and understand math at a ninth-grade level. A significant portion of recent applicants failed, and the company has been disappointed by the quality of graduates from local training programs. It is now struggling to fill 100 positions.

And the gut check:

Economists expect that Friday’s government employment report will show that manufacturers continued adding jobs last month, although the overall picture is likely to be bleak. With the government dismissing Census workers, more jobs might have been cut than added in June.

I am not sure if a college degree saves you from this, but I do believe that a college degree does help and gives you more options and contacts that you will not have if you do not go to college.

Quotes from: NYT: Factory jobs return, but skilled workers scarce - Business - [The New York Times - msnbc.com]