Degree inflation

[ClassicIsBetter]

I am getting my Masters in Accounting and Financial Management. I hope I get a job in that field! Money is not an end in itself, in my opinion. I orginally majored in Computer Informations Systems during my Bachelor years (received from Georgia Southern University). I did that strictly because I knew it would pay well in the end. It got to the point where studying/research/homework was taking me well into 5-8 hours of work (sitting in front of computer, nothing else.) You have to know what is true at the core of your heart and stay true to it. The further you stray, the more unhappy you will be. The more you get, the more you want. It's a vicous cycle. I read in a recent study that a person who makes more than 50K a year is far more likely to cheat on their spouse (My parents are divorced). There's a multi millionaire hollywood star in trouble with the law at any given moment. Money isn't everything. There's a verse in Proverbs in the bible (I know this isn't a religous forum, so pardon the deviation) that effectively says "Let me not be too rich to forget what I truly need, nor let me be too poor to lust after what I don't really need." Middle of the road is where I want to be. Took me 5+ years in a dead end job to learn that lesson. Once you know what truly matters to you, I think the road becomes more straight, therefore less likely to get lost. Where you end up career-wise may not be so happenstance then.

 

[LaMedicine]

We still got it better than Japan. There, all that matters is what school you go to and the highest degree you get. It doesn't even matter what skills or area of expertise you have. You go to a good school and you get hired by some random company and get paid millions without interviews or experience required.

This, I have to say, is incorrect in many ways. That the college you go to matters is true to a certain extent, but it applies only to the major companies headquartered in Tokyo. If you seek work with small and medium sized businesses, you'll find that they will be happy to hire someone with a college degree. If their work requires specific industrial skills, they will look for applicants trained in industrial schools for such skills. If you seek work in areas other than the greater Tokyo area, the college "brand" will have local flavors.

The highest degree that's asked for is a bachelors', too, nothing higher, unless you are looking for employment in research facilities, which means doctorates rather than masters. Masters carry some weight if you are aspiring to be high school teachers, but other than that, probably the only masters that carry some weight is an MBA. Those who study for MBAs do so after they've been working for some years, and not straight out of college.

Employers requiring multiple degrees of applicants are vrituatlly nonexistent with the exception of rare situations where specific qualifications are required. Better to have a bachelors' and licenses that qualifies one for specific work and procedures, or have high TOEIC scores and such.

Never are the college graduates employed without interviews either, as a matter of fact, the interviews applicants have to go through are extensive, and college students start making the rounds of companies a full year ahead of graduation, actually, they start the rounds by the summer of their junior year (school year in Japan runs from April-March). The students of the most select schools are no exceptions. By the time the final interviews and exams take place, most of the applicants have already been sifted through and picked so only those who are sure to be accepted get to the final interview.

I'm not sure of the starting salaries of fresh college graduates, but I think it's around or just under $30K including benefits and bonuses with best paying jobs. Living costs in Japan, especially in the Tokyo area are pretty high, too.

What is seen from the outside doesn't reflect the stiff competition that is actually going on, because a lot of it takes place under the surface unseen from the unknowing eye. True, if you are a graduate of the smaller and less highly regarded colleges, the chances that you will be accepted by the big name companies in Tokyo, are very small, but still, even the students of the most prestigeous colleges have to go through it all.

 

[Lincsong]

The Provincial San Francisco Bay

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, with large companies, it's all about where you went to school and nothing else. You could have a degree in 15th Century Mud Huts and as long as that degree was from Stanford, Cal Berkeley or Santa Clara you're set. While a degree from a state univeristy is quietly overlooked. Carly Fiorina got her undergraduate degree from Stanford in art or something then used that to get into Harvard MBA ! Those degrees still didn't stop her from running Hewlett Packard into the ground. But HP gave her several million to get out.:rage: Which I'm glad she's gone because my HP stock has doubled since she was tossed out on her fat @$$!:eusa_clap fftopic: GOOD RIDDANCE!
I work for a company where the Vice President of Sales started with the company, 32 years ago when he was working as a fry cook at a Sambo's in Emeryville, CA.:eusa_clap I prefer companies that allow people to reach their full potential and not look at a company as an extention of their college alumni association. And for that matter; the administrations of Presidents and Governors should have more college diversity.

Another example is Ford and General Motors; they only hire Ivy Leaguers and Michigan State grads and both can't design a car that American's want to buy, or doesn't need major warranty work and both companies are losing market share.

 

[Rosie]

I am getting my Masters in Accounting and Financial Management. I hope I get a job in that field! Money is not an end in itself, in my opinion. I orginally majored in Computer Informations Systems during my Bachelor years (received from Georgia Southern University). I did that strictly because I knew it would pay well in the end. It got to the point where studying/research/homework was taking me well into 5-8 hours of work (sitting in front of computer, nothing else.) You have to know what is true at the core of your heart and stay true to it. The further you stray, the more unhappy you will be. The more you get, the more you want. It's a vicous cycle. I read in a recent study that a person who makes more than 50K a year is far more likely to cheat on their spouse (My parents are divorced). There's a multi millionaire hollywood star in trouble with the law at any given moment. Money isn't everything. There's a verse in Proverbs in the bible (I know this isn't a religous forum, so pardon the deviation) that effectively says "Let me not be too rich to forget what I truly need, nor let me be too poor to lust after what I don't really need." Middle of the road is where I want to be. Took me 5+ years in a dead end job to learn that lesson. Once you know what truly matters to you, I think the road becomes more straight, therefore less likely to get lost. Where you end up career-wise may not be so happenstance then.

Very well said. I think this is where I am now in life.

 

[Jack Scorpion]

This, I have to say, is incorrect in many ways. That the college you go to matters is true to a certain extent, but it applies only to the major companies headquartered in Tokyo. If you seek work with small and medium sized businesses, you'll find that they will be happy to hire someone with a college degree. If their work requires specific industrial skills, they will look for applicants trained in industrial schools for such skills. If you seek work in areas other than the greater Tokyo area, the college "brand" will have local flavors.

The highest degree that's asked for is a bachelors', too, nothing higher, unless you are looking for employment in research facilities, which means doctorates rather than masters. Masters carry some weight if you are aspiring to be high school teachers, but other than that, probably the only masters that carry some weight is an MBA. Those who study for MBAs do so after they've been working for some years, and not straight out of college.

Employers requiring multiple degrees of applicants are vrituatlly nonexistent with the exception of rare situations where specific qualifications are required. Better to have a bachelors' and licenses that qualifies one for specific work and procedures, or have high TOEIC scores and such.

Never are the college graduates employed without interviews either, as a matter of fact, the interviews applicants have to go through are extensive, and college students start making the rounds of companies a full year ahead of graduation, actually, they start the rounds by the summer of their junior year (school year in Japan runs from April-March). The students of the most select schools are no exceptions. By the time the final interviews and exams take place, most of the applicants have already been sifted through and picked so only those who are sure to be accepted get to the final interview.

I'm not sure of the starting salaries of fresh college graduates, but I think it's around or just under $30K including benefits and bonuses with best paying jobs. Living costs in Japan, especially in the Tokyo area are pretty high, too.

What is seen from the outside doesn't reflect the stiff competition that is actually going on, because a lot of it takes place under the surface unseen from the unknowing eye. True, if you are a graduate of the smaller and less highly regarded colleges, the chances that you will be accepted by the big name companies in Tokyo, are very small, but still, even the students of the most prestigeous colleges have to go through it all.

My apologies. This is just info I get from a Tokyo student -- bitter no doubt. Understandably narrow minded.

 

[221b]

I also read about all the fake online colleges handing out degrees to people. There are alot of "fast food" colleges giving out degrees to people who don't deserve them. The colleges aren't certified, they just take your money and send you a fake certificate.

 

[John in Covina]

Living well is the best revenge.

Here is where the rubber meets the road!
:eusa_clap
Occasionally, the oppourtunity will allow a person to "Start Their Own Company!" Many of us have tremendous skills and work experience that would translate into a position with the exception of degrees. I think if it is possible, more people have to be able to find a need and the way to fill it to make a new company which will allow them to go out on their own.

The other thing is to limit the FEAR of FAILURE! Just know that so many entrepenuers failed numerous times at business before coming up with the right one. The fear of failure holds me back, alot. But I am moving forward.

Also, I have worked in the replacement autoparts indusrty for a long time and the quickest way for a business to fail is to turn the decisions over to people with college degrees but no understanding of the autoparts industry.. So many graduates don't understand that theory and the real world don't often cooperate. Also that sending everything by air or overnight to solve a problem will surely remove the posibility of making a profit, so to be prepaired (proaction) is better than putting out fires (reaction) in business.:eusa_doh: