Is The Occupy Wall Street Movement an Answer to The Tea Party Movement?

[we vs us]

Other than a career in theater, being an assistant librarian, or possibly going on to get a masters to teach others "classic studies" what would that degree be useful for?  Where does that degree even fit in a robust economy? I don't think you could get any more nebulous.  You know what that degree would say to me as a prospective employer?  She really still doesn't have a clue what she wants to do with her life yet and won't be a long-timer.  I'd give her 3 to 12 months before she's filling out applications for grad school or a second BA or BS.  Her job prospects aren't completely zero though.  She can become a bartender, wait tables, or go to work on a cruise ship. Those can all be fun and fairly rewarding occupations for someone her age.  Something tells me she's got a specific list of jobs she "won't" do.  So do a lot of unemployed people these days.

If you were a recruiter for a bank, brokerage firm, or manufacturing firm looking for mid-level management in this job market would you pick someone with a degree in classic studies or someone with a degree in finance, business, or even some sort of foreign studies?

How much luck do you think my daughter will have interviewing with Bank of America, General Motors, or Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. with her degree in interior design in 7 months?

I have a degree in Creative Writing and have been hired over and over again to sell things for people. 

She (the classics major) could fit in any part of a management structure that requires critical thinking and the ability to express one's self succinctly.  Or she could get a job working for one of the many legendary small businesses that our country supposedly produces.  In that area, as you probably know, however you present on paper goes only so far with the owner of the company.  Just as much, it's how the owner feels about you. 

[Conan71]

I have a degree in Creative Writing and have been hired over and over again to sell things for people. 

She (the classics major) could fit in any part of a management structure that requires critical thinking and the ability to express one's self succinctly.  Or she could get a job working for one of the many legendary small businesses that our country supposedly produces.  In that area, as you probably know, however you present on paper goes only so far with the owner of the company.  Just as much, it's how the owner feels about you. 

Creative writing?  I would have never guessed! 

Of course you keep getting hired and still could if you had to make a job change in this economy.  You likely have a proven track record of success and your written and oral communication skills are excellent from what I know of you.  You have enough real-world experience now that hiring you represents far less risk to an employer who is going to take you in and spend money to train you than does the girl right out of NYU or Columbia or wherever she's studying.

She's created her own paradigm though that she's worthless in the job market.  With that attitude she will be.  You are familiar with the Pygmalian effect, yes?  I'm willing to bet she's got the personality to go along with that: lacks self-confidence, lacks vision, and ambition in terms of career goals.

if she's gregarious and well-organized, she might do well at sales.  That's certainly an area I'd not thought of for her.  Even for people who aren't comfortable with the idea of being in sales immediately, there are plenty of environments you can put them in to hone sales skills like any sort of customer service work. 

[Teatownclown]

"all mob and no lynch!"

[Gaspar]

A major of study is not a "what do you enjoy" moment.  It is a choice that young people must make so that they may market themselves and become successful, so that they can then have the resourses to do the things they enjoy.  It is a means not an ends.

Many kids get poor counsel, and come out of school now with degrees that will qualify them for little more than barista jobs.

I have hired people with no college education over those with useless degrees, because the very fact that they chose a degree in Gender Studies, or French Literature  speaks volumes about their decision making ability, and shows me where there ambitions lie.

[Gaspar]

College students should be forced to watch 2 hours of OWS interviews before meeting with their advisers to choose a major!

[Gaspar]

At least now we know why they haven't been asked to leave.
http://www.businessinsider.com/occupy-wall-street-brookfield-properties-zuccotti-park-loan-guarantee-2011-10

Coming on the heels of the Solyndra debacle, the Obama administration has just approved a $168.9 million loan guarantee for the Granite Reliable wind farm project owned by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM).

Among its many holdings BAM owns Brookfield Renewable Power, which owns the Granite Reliable and it also owns Brookfield Office Properties, whose holdings include the now famous Zuccotti Park.

The Department of Energy finalized the loan guarantee less than a week after Occupy Wall Street protesters took to Zuccotti Park, and with the Obama administration's Tuesday endorsement of the protests, rumors are starting to circulate that this could be the reason Brookfield is allowing protesters to remain on its property.

The Granite Reliable Power Project under construction in Coos Bay, New Hampshire is the state's largest wind farm and the New Hampshire Union Leader questions why Brookfield would need federal subsidies at all, particularly following the bankruptcy of Solyndra.

Mayor Bloomberg's announcement Monday that protesters could remain as long as they liked, also raised a few eyebrows and it turns out he has a personal connection to Brookfield as well. The mayor's longtime domestic partner Diana Taylor is on the Board of Directors at Brookfield Properties along with John E. Zuccotti himself.

[Red Arrow]

A major of study is not a "what do you enjoy" moment.  It is a choice that young people must make so that they may market themselves and become successful, so that they can then have the resourses to do the things they enjoy.  It is a means not an ends.

College wasn't always a glorified trade school.  A long time ago, people did go to college to study what they enjoyed and just become a more "rounded" person able to converse with their high society, independently wealthy friends about things that frequently don't matter.

Colleges have also become a path to a career as more middle class folks were able to attend.  Some careers require more specific studies than others.  My liberal arts classes at the University of Delaware were called "General Education".  They were intended to make me more than just an engineering geek. 

[we vs us]

I have hired people with no college education over those with useless degrees, because the very fact that they chose a degree in Gender Studies, or French Literature  speaks volumes about their decision making ability, and shows me where there ambitions lie.

*facepalm*

[RecycleMichael]

I have hired people with no college education over those with useless degrees, because the very fact that they chose a degree in Gender Studies, or French Literature  speaks volumes about their decision making ability, and shows me where there ambitions lie.

Governor Fallin has a degree in Family Relations
Herman Cain has a degree in Mathematics
Rick Perry got a degree in Animal Science
Mitt Romney got a degree in English
Ronald Reagan got a degree in Sociology

For once I agree with gaspar.

[Townsend]

Governor Fallin has a degree in Family Relations

IMO incest is wrong.

[Conan71]

*facepalm*

Why do you mock the people who make hiring decisions?  As much as you want to have an idealized view of what the job market should be and how job creators should go about hiring people, this is exactly how those decisions are made.

I used to be in the position of hiring and firing sales reps for a chemical company I worked for.  I looked more closely at the personal paradigms at the point I was brought in to the interviewing and screening process as well as what their resume told me about stability and being driven and goal-oriented.  If they didn't have any specific goals for themselves or their paradigm was the economy was too rough, I bounced them within a few minutes.

That young woman might have some goals, but it's really not obvious by her choice of major and her personal paradigm of what her job prospects are.  I would have to dig a lot deeper to see how qualified she was.  To be honest, if I had 25 resumes of recent college grads on my desk and needed to narrow it down to 15 first round interviews, her major would not be one that would have interested me in putting her in the first round unless I was looking to hire teachers or librarians, or as Gaspar said, a barista.

Your choice of major doesn't have to limit your job possibilities, but it certainly can limit them.

[we vs us]

I used to be in the position of hiring and firing sales reps for a chemical company I worked for.  I looked more closely at the personal paradigms at the point I was brought in to the interviewing and screening process as well as what their resume told me about stability and being driven and goal-oriented.  If they didn't have any specific goals for themselves or their paradigm was the economy was too rough, I bounced them within a few minutes.

I agree with you:  look at the whole person and the achievements both in and out of school and decide to hire based on your considered judgement.  But that wasn't what Gaspar said.  He said he specifically hired people with less education if he found people with degrees he thought were frivolous or silly or whatever.  In my opinion, that's crazy and a complete misread of the value of a modern BA (or BS, or any 4 year college degree).  

EDIT:  Regarding the Classics major, we have no clue how driven or ambitious she is, and trying to discern that from her major alone is silly.  She may have had a clear career path in mind when she started, or she may have started doing something she loved and finished it up because she was several credits in and couldn't afford to change (that happened to me, BTW).  As much as Gassie wants us to be pragmatic and working for a career from kindergarten on up, it just doesn't happen that way.  There are mistakes and missteps and eddies and sometimes just bad decisions.  Surprise.  It's life. But coming away from college with a completed BA (in Classics, or Family Planning, or Basketweaving, or Underwater BB Stacking) should be considered an accomplishment, because it is. 

 

[Gaspar]

Why do you mock the people who make hiring decisions?  As much as you want to have an idealized view of what the job market should be and how job creators should go about hiring people, this is exactly how those decisions are made.

I used to be in the position of hiring and firing sales reps for a chemical company I worked for.  I looked more closely at the personal paradigms at the point I was brought in to the interviewing and screening process as well as what their resume told me about stability and being driven and goal-oriented.  If they didn't have any specific goals for themselves or their paradigm was the economy was too rough, I bounced them within a few minutes.

That young woman might have some goals, but it's really not obvious by her choice of major and her personal paradigm of what her job prospects are.  I would have to dig a lot deeper to see how qualified she was.  To be honest, if I had 25 resumes of recent college grads on my desk and needed to narrow it down to 15 first round interviews, her major would not be one that would have interested me in putting her in the first round unless I was looking to hire teachers or librarians, or as Gaspar said, a barista.

Your choice of major doesn't have to limit your job possibilities, but it certainly can limit them.

Here is what I look at, in the order that I look at it.

1. Work experience, and number of years at each job.  This tells me if the person will be able to perform, and will be happy working for me.  I want to see that the person has worked previous jobs for more than 2 years (preferably 5), and has advanced or taken on new roles at each. 

2. Innovation. When I hire someone I want them to advance, and that's done through innovation.  They should be able to tell me how they made the world a better place for their previous employer.  If I sense that they are looking for security, or they have a track record of "keeping their head down," I'm not interested.  I would advise them to seek government employment.

3. Education, or training that implies they make good decisions in their life, not decisions based on what feels good or is easy.  An educated staff is a weapon against your competitors, but it can also be a weapon against you.  Your education should point to your vocation, otherwise it is pointed at your head.

4. Awareness. If I interview someone and they haven't done their research on the company they are interviewing with, the product produced, the industry or the people, they likely will bring that same lack of diligence to the job. I am delighted when they have cyber-stalked me before the interview and know about my family, my co-workers, our products and competitors.

5. 2 Pages & one sentence.  No resume should ever be over 2 pages long (preferably one).  If it is, you will likely never make it to an interview. When I ask "Why do you want to work here?" the answer should be a single, well delivered, decisive sentence. It must establish the reason that I can't afford NOT to hire you.  My following questions will attempt to shoot holes in that so be ready to defend.

[patric]

You know somethings messed up when students in Iran are protesting civil rights abuses in America...

Iranian students condemn crackdown on Wall Street protests
TEHRAN, Oct. 7 (MNA) – A number of students from universities across Tehran held a demonstration outside the Swiss Embassy to condemn the crackdown on protests on Wall Street.

Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations, and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran hosts the U.S. Interests Section in Iran.

The demonstrators advised U.S. police to refrain from using violence against protesters.   

[heironymouspasparagus]

When was it that the economy started to tank?

December 2007 was the first month of recession for all the history challenged out there.