Generation Jobless

The Wall Street Journal has been focusing on youth unemployment and other economic issues pertaining to 20-somethings.

This video segment, called “Generation Jobless: Major or Money?” does a good job of breaking down some of the increasingly important decisions students have to make when choosing their major.

It seems like there are, of course, a lot of reasons for getting a major in the hard sciences like math and engineering. However, the lack of a good primary school education and competition makes a degree in the hard sciences difficult for many American students.

Take a look at the video.

 

 

 

Unemployment creeps down, but barely

The Labor Department released unemployment and job growth numbers Friday morning.

The unemployment rate crept down to 9 percent in October, after staying at 9.1 percent for the past three consecutive months. However, despite that small bit of good news,  the country added a less-than-expected 80,000 jobs last moth, according to the Labor Department on Friday.

The unemployment rate hasn’t been below 9 percent since March 2011.

How do you guys feel about this latest news? Is it a good sign of things to come or further proof of our stagnant economy?

Staying Put

One of the results of a down economy is that people are often reluctant to pull up stakes and move, the Associated Press reported this trend to be true in the current economy.

 

The report confirmed that young Americans that are staying close to home, unwilling or unable to bear the cost.

 

That Americans aren’t moving just ads to the evidence that the country is stagnating. Businesses aren’t hiring, banks aren’t lending, young adults can’t find career building work, and people aren’t leaving their hometown.

 

What was also interesting from the AP report is that young college graduates are staying in those college towns that they got a degree in. To a certain extent this makes sense because they stay in a place more comfortable and familiar with many close contacts. At the same time, being stuck in an environment that is already highly competitive and oversaturated with talent may be holding many graduates back.

 

What do you think? Do you find it easier right now to stay in your home town to find employment, or would you branch out if you could?

Starbucks works to create jobs, small business loans

So I walked into Starbucks this morning to discover a ton of signs and bracelets filling the store. Everything read, “This Country Needs Jobs.”

Starting today, Starbucks has teamed up with a network of community-based financial institutions to help create jobs. Anyone can make a tax-deductable contribution at a Starbucks store or online to the Create Jobs for USA Fund. The money will go to companies so they can hire or retain American workers.

The Starbucks Foundation is putting up $5 million for the campaign and is encouraging others to chip in. All the funds collected are slated for the Community Development Financial Institution, firms that can add jobs or help stem job losses.

People were so pleased by the idea that a group has mentioned nominating Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as a third party candidate for president.

“I have no interest in politics, Matt,” Schultz told TODAY’s Matt Lauer. “I run a coffee business and I’m trying to recognize that our business can help small businesses raise money to create jobs that unfortunately Washington and the banks are not doing.”
You can watch the clip here.

I don’t know how much good it will do, but I’m excited about the initiative. And to think, before these job creation flyers, I was most excited about the return of the red holiday cups!

New Books Highlight the Value of Education Outside of School

It may seem counterintuitive to think that the most successful people are the ones that chose to forgo a formal education, but this has often been proved to be the case. Clearly after Steve Jobs died there was an increased interest in how he lived his life and became one of the most successful and innovative people in the world.

 

The new Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson has clearly gained a lot of attention. People just want to know the secret to this innovator’s success.

 

How is it that a man who dropped out of college after only one semester could achieve such spectacular success? The answer wasn’t that he ditched educating himself, he just ditched the institution.

 

What many students who enter institutions of higher learning often fail to do is understand that the education received in school is incomplete. To take advantage of an education one must go above and beyond what is learned in a classroom.

 

That is what makes the college dropouts turned billionaires successful. It’s not dropping out of school to have more leisure time and less work, but to work harder and pursue a passion beyond what can be taught in any school. You also can’t be afraid to fail.

 

A new book by Michael Ellsberg called, “The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late,” talks about how current college students are not getting enough out of their degrees and shoveling out money for an education that won’t serve their interests down the line.

 

The book talks about how schools train students for middle management jobs that are simply disappearing. The skills that are most important for a highly successful career in the future are in creating a small business, but how many people learn about that as an undergraduate in college?

 

While clearly colleges provide many opportunities for success, they rarely push students to take risks or be truly innovative. This task falls mostly on the individual. In a time of great economic stress and stagnation, it’s the risk-takers and the innovative that are most likely to pull the country out of it.

Halloween: The perfect holiday for the unemployed

Happy Halloween! In the spirit of the holiday I decided to blog today about why Halloween should be a favorite holiday of the unemployed. I love creative costumes and that is why I love the holiday, but there are an assortment of reasons why anyone who is unemployed should love it as well.

The List:
– FREE Candy
– Cheap DIY Costumes
– Seasonal employment (yes I will dress like a zombie and get paid to “work” a party!)
– FREE Candy (so great it should definitely be on this list twice)

This year there is another reason why I am loving this holiday so much. Today, on Oct. 31, the Occupy Wall St. Movement is becoming Occupy Halloween.

This sign is not a joke. It is the slogan on the website promoting the “movement.” They are asking people to dress up as superheroes and take on the “Corporate evil villains.” I may be alone in this, but I think that might be one of the funniest things I have seen in regards to Halloween.

I am also loving all of the ridiculous costumes based on the Occupy movement.

 Hilarious! Happy Halloween!

The Student Loan Crisis on the Big Stage

Just last week I wrote on Pick Your Future about the growing and out of control student loan industry, and it seems like the issue has reached the highest levels of government.

The Obama Administration released a plan to deal with this problem and to set things right, but is it truly a solution? As with all contentious policy proposals by presidential administrations, there is always a deeply political element to every plan endorsed.

The politics behind the plan are far less important to regular people than what will actually happen with the policy.

All the way back in 2010, there was a massive federal intervention into the student loan industry. This was intended to get costs under control and ensure that the next generation has easy access to the highest levels of education in this country. Banks were given huge subsidies to lend money to students across the United States, even in situations where there is a high risk of default. The intent was to ensure access to education for student from low and middle income families.

There were certainly people who were critical of that plan at the time, but the opposition was only mild because it wasn’t seen to be the critical issue of the day.

Essentially the banks have no financial risk because the government will simply step in if a large amount of loan recipients default. In many regards the situation sounds similar to the housing bubble that burst in 2008, nearly bringing down the American economy. Obviously, nobody wants that to happen.

So the latest plan will cap student loan payment to give students a little more leeway and cash in their pockets. But an Atlantic article peeked into the numbers and showed that the money staying in student’s pockets remains rather miniscule. The savings would be around $10 a month. That’s not exactly a bonanza.

Simply pushing the loan industry to forgive unpaid student loans could make student debtors happy in the short term, but would be financially ruinous in the long term. An education requires money and someone, somewhere will have to pay for it.

The problem with what amounts to a bailout of students and the student loan industry, is that it merely tries to cure a symptom to a much larger and deeper problem. Unfortunately the “cure” might make the problem even worse than what we had before.

If there is a comparison it would be like how doctors in the 18^th century used to bleed their patients and give them mercury to clear their system when they became sick. The result was usually that the patient became more sick or even died.

The costs of education for either students or other members of society are becoming prohibitive and that is the huge problem the nation is facing. The reason that so many students can’t pay back their loans right now is because they can’t find a job even after receiving a high priced degree.

There is sure to be much more information to come as the situation develops.

Unemployment, You, Your Children and You (Part Three)

Editor’s Note: This is part 3 of a hilarious guest post from reader Amanda Hahn. Amanda is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. She runs the blog, “I want to work for The Onion.”

PART THREE: U$E THEIR $KILL$

Have you ever noticed how much time your child wastes? Hours upon hours are spent playing video games, doing schoolwork, and even daydreaming. Your child should be using his or her limited abilities to maximize family profits. Just because you can no longer bring home the bacon, it does not mean no one in the family should. Try exploiting your children’s skills by monetizing on them.

In many developing countries, it is common to see young children begging for money. Mothers holding infants asking for money on the side of the road is a typical sight as well. There is nothing wrong with borrowing the techniques of those outside of the USA. So throw some culture in your money-making strategies and hit the road! Technically, you’ll be hitting the side of the road as you ask others to spare some change. You could do this individually, but your profits will increase dramatically if you bring your child along with you.

There are other basic, obvious job choices besides begging. Jobs such as mowing lawns, providing cleaning services, or distributing newspapers can bring in money, but there will be much competition for these positions, so think of other ways to use your children for profit. For example, if your child is good-looking, attempt to get him or her modeling jobs. If he or she is not a picky eater, encourage your child to accept dares to eat worms for money. Children (especially girls) with beards can be used in your own front yard freak-show exhibit. Get creative! Be bold! Just make sure that your children do not get their hands on a single penny. All profits should go to you. This is fair because your children may be the ones with the talent, but it’s your genes that gave them that talent in the first place.

If your children catch on and suggest that they obtain a cut of the profits, lie. Say that all of the money is going into a college fund for them. The exploitation process is now complete.

Hopefully, this text has been of help to you. With these three simple steps: 1) Tell your children, 2) Recall, re-bond, and re-conquer, and 3) U$e their $kill$, you and your children will breeze through the unemployment phase of your life. There is nothing more important than the parent-child relationship. Employment is almost as important, but hopefully your unemployment will go so well that you will never want a job again!

Unemployment, You, Your Children and You (Part Two)

Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a hilarious guest post from reader Amanda Hahn. Amanda is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. She runs the blog, “I want to work for The Onion.”

RECALL, RE-BOND, & RE-CONQUER

After emerging from your bedroom, your job is still gone, but your children are still there. It is time to adjust to living with them once again by recalling, re-bonding, and re-conquering.

Recall

To reconnect with your children during this stressful time in your life, start by refreshing your memory. You have probably spent much time away from your family during your years of employment, so get to know your children again at their deepest levels and remembering the fine details about them. Make sure you answer the important questions like:

Are these actually your children in your house?

Many times, children participate in events known as “get-togethers” or “play-dates.”  This is when your own children invite other people into your home to socialize with others their own age. Because of this phenomenon, some of the children in your house might not be yours. They may be friends of your children or even neighbors. Find out which ones are yours from a spouse or by referencing family photo albums.

Also, do some heavy-duty research and find out if you have any children that are not in your house. Have you had any previous marriages, relationships, or even one-night-stands? If so, it’s possible that you are a parent to a child that lives with his or her other parent. These children are just as important as the ones inside of your home, so make sure you study their faces and ages well too.

Do they have names?

Your children will become offended if you do not remember their names. For this reason, and for other practical reasons, learning their names is an extremely important step when remembering your children. Recognizing their faces is not enough. In person, you can get away with not knowing their names by referring to them as “sweetie” or “rascal.” However many times, as a parent, you will need to call your child by phone. To do so, you must locate his or her name in your phone contacts list, something you cannot do if the name is unknown. One helpful trick is to delete all of your old work contacts (you won’t need those anymore!) This will not only narrow down which contacts belong to your children but it also frees phone memory storage for your new friends in the PTA and other organizations you’re likely to join out of desperation to get involved doing something, anything other than seeing how often CNN repeats the same stories over a two hour period.

In addition to learning names, ages, and birthdays of your children, you should learn their gender as well. Many forms, such as those from school or a doctor’s office, will require you to indicate your child’s gender. For reasons presently unknown, children tend to become very upset if you do not know their gender and have to ask them which option to select on the form. Sometimes determining gender involves more than simply looking at the child, even after puberty. For example, depending on the decade, boys may have very long hair and girls may have very short hair. Be careful when making any assumptions. Remember: when in doubt, ask your spouse. This can apply to anything you want to know about your children.

Do any of them bite? If so, how hard?

This straightforward question is more complicated than it initially appears to be. It may seem like a clear choice to avoid the children that bite and bite hard. However, you must remain in charge, and never let your children intimidate you. Remember, you can no longer hide from your children by going to work. You’re stuck with these miniature humans for an extending period of time, so it’s important to stay in control. If they are biters, follow these steps to train your puppy child to not bite:

1)    When your puppy child bites, alert him or her that you have been hurt by letting out a large yelp.

2)    If the behavior continues, leave the room. Your puppy child will learn that this biting will lead to the “fun time” being over. This also lets the puppy child know that biting itself is not a game.

3)    You can also try giving your puppy child a chew toy. Try one filled with peanut butter. This is fun for your puppy child and also allows for a release of the urge to bite.

If these steps fail, simply bite back. If nothing else, your child will be stunned into obedience. If even this fails, try having your child spayed or neutered. Remember, you no longer have the funds to do so legitimately, so find a back-alley character who will castrate your son or daughter for a very low cost.

Which ones spend the most money?

As quickly as possible, determine which child requests, demands, or steals the most money then avoid him or her at all costs. As an unemployed individual, you can no longer afford to spend money on the frivolous requests of children. For example, your daughter (or son or intersexed child) may want something silly like fake, plastic nails. These are useless for everything besides falling off onto the carpet of your home and getting stuck in the vacuum cleaner later. Remember, you are unemployed: no new money = no new vacuum cleaner.

Because saying no can be tricky, the simplest way to prevent spending money on your kids is to avoid the spenders. When they approach you, it is appropriate to hide, run, or pretend to not speak any language they understand.

That’s all there is to recollecting. Congrats! You have successfully remembered your children! The next step is to re-bond with them.

Re-bond

Depending on how demanding your former job was, it is possible that many years have gone by since you have done things with your children like shopping, playing catch, or grounding. Start doing these things again, even if they insist that you do not. For example, if one of your children is between the ages of 12 and 15, he or she will likely spend enormous amounts of time at the mall. Not only is this dangerous to your dwindling bank account, it is dangerous for the re-bonding experience. Remember, time spent apart is time not spent on the heart. Go with your child and his or her friends to the mall. By doing so, you can prevent him or her from spending money (this is the most important reason). You can also hear the latest gossip spreading through your child’s circle of friends. This can use useful in future conversations. Here is an example of a conversation you may encounter at the dinner table:

PARENT
This sure is a lovely dinner. I apologize that we are once again eating expired Oreos, but I sadly cannot afford anything else.

CHILD
But Parent, I feel sick and malnourished.*

PARENT
Did you hear about Tammy’s bad grade on her Social Studies test? Wow! Where are her priorities, right?

See what happened there? A potential conflict regarding your child’s health was diverted with the introduction of gossip. (And scholarly achievement was encouraged, all in one breath!) Feel free to use this gossip tactic frequently, it simply cannot be overdone. If you need more material, listen in on your children’s phone conversations. In addition to expanding your gossip knowledge-base, your children will appreciate that you care enough about their day-to-day life to eavesdrop.

*Note: This will likely be a common complaint from your child. Do not worry! Many children remain starved and malnourished every day all over the world—your child is not alone!

For younger children, gossip is somewhat less common, so this technique may not work. Instead, introduce new, mutually beneficial games!

For you convenience, some game suggestions appear below, along with instructions on how to play.

Web Surfing

This game can be great fun for kids! Introduce this game as a follow-the-leader type of game. Sit side-by-side with your child, each of you with a computer. Have your child follow along as you browse the web. Some suggested sites that will be great for you and your child to enjoy are http://www.candystand.com, http://www.discovery.com, http://www.monster.com, and http://www.prozac.com. Once your child can follow along, have them type in these sites independently. Do the same with searches within these sites. Give tokens or stickers when your child can correctly search things like “Local job openings.” When they reach 5 tokens, reward them with one free pass to avoid a lecture the next time they leave the lights on, wasting energy. After 10 tokens, allow them to take more than two showers during a week-long period. Finally, winning 30 tokens earns them a multivitamin.

If you have more than one child, this can be turned into a great, competitive battle. For example, have them race each other by seeing who can find the most job listings. Whoever sets up an interview for you first wins. Whoever learns to type an effective post-interview thank you letter wins even more.

Ration Passion

This is an exhilarating game of survival and will power! The game is simple: your children will attempt to eat as little as possible for as long as possible. Children love games that are callbacks to history. Games like Cowboys and Indians, Oregon Trial, and Baseball allow children to imagine living in the times of their ancestors—a time when there were no supermarkets and food was scarce and hard to come by. Bring games like this home with Ration Passion! Remind them the game is to eat very little in order make the food in the house last as long as possible. Whoever forces the family to begin using food stamps loses.

Shut that Trap

This game will likely be played frequently. Being freshly unemployed can be a tough adjustment for both you and your children. It takes a while to get used to being around your children for extended periods of time. This game is a great way to make each day pass much more quickly as each of you gets used to your new lifestyle. In this game, whenever your child complains, cries, talks, or makes other unpleasant noises, yell at the top of your lungs, “Hey, you there! Shut that trap!” If you child does not, he or she loses and is forced to sleep outside.  If you child falls silent, you’re both winners!

These tools and more will help you re-bond with your children as you get used to being under the same roof together for more than a few hours a day. You’re now ready to re-conquer the house.

Re-conquer

Now that you have recollected who your children are and re-bonded with them, the honeymoon period is over. It can be all fun and games for a while, but as your frustration and anger toward your job situation build up to unhealthy levels, you will need to find a release of these emotions. No one is better to be at the end of this release than those closest to you, i.e. your children. Also, by re-conquering your household, you will regain feelings of power, control, success, and productivity. These are feelings you likely lost upon becoming unemployed.

Start the re-conquering process by reminding them who is boss. This can be done at any point in the day or night. Whenever the mood strikes you, simply find your child and shout “I’m the boss around here!” and walk away. Your children will cease being startled by this quickly, so you will need to begin demonstrating your boss-hood by becoming irrational and refusing all of their requests, no matter how small. If they want to go to a friend’s house, say NO. If they want extra toppings on their ice cream, say NO. If they express a desire to talk to their other parent, say NO and then remind them that YOU are the boss. Make your face turn red. Wave your arms around for no apparent reason. All these things will make you feel like you are in charge of something again. Hey, if you can’t be the boss at work, why not be the boss in your home?

Check back tomorrow for Part 3!

Unemployment, You, Your Children and You (Part 1)

Editor’s Note: This is a hilarious guest post from reader Amanda Hahn. Amanda is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. She runs the blog, “I want to work for The Onion.”

Unemployment: it affects nearly 14 million people every day in the US, and it can last anywhere from a number of days to a period of years. Today, the only known cure for unemployment is employment, which is becoming more and more rare as the millennium progresses. So if you are unemployed, know that you are not alone. Many, literally millions, of others are right there with you. Despite this, the effects of unemployment can be hard for you and your family. Symptoms include distress, extreme weight loss, extreme weight gain, moodiness, an obsession with refreshing Craigslist jobs pages, jealousy of the employed, and a copious amount of free time.

If you have children, they may notice you going through these changes. These can be scary times for you both, but with the steps outlined below, together you can ease into unemployment.

PART ONE:  TELL YOUR CHILDREN

The time to inform your children is not immediately after you discover you have lost your job. If you tell your children right away in a calm manner, they will have no way of knowing how frightening, stressful, and worrisome unemployment can be. You want your children to fear unemployment so that in the future, they will be encouraged to get jobs.

Instill this fear in them while they are young. Do so by barging into the house when you first come home after receiving your pink slip. Carry a small box of random desk items. Children fear boxes filled with items because they signify change. Children, especially those with Attention-Deficit Disorder, dislike breaking routine. After they become anxious upon hearing you stomping through the house and seeing you carry the box, begin angrily mumbling under your breath. If you are unsure what to mumble, that is okay. You can literally mumble anything so long as you do so angrily and do not enunciate enough for them to understand you. In fact, the less they understand, the more upset they will become. Answers to any questions they have at this point will only decrease their nervousness.

If you have hair, run your fingers through it as you mumble to highlight your distress. If you do not have hair, this is good, as you are already exhibiting symptoms of stress. Or perhaps male-pattern-baldness, but your children will not be able to tell the difference. The next step is to go to your room and close the door.

If you have a spouse or partner, this is a good time to inform him or her of your job loss. After some valuables are broken in anger and tears are shed, it is time to again focus on your children. Your partner can help greatly with this. Have him or her step outside the room silently. If the children ask what is wrong, your partner should be vague to increase tension and create suspense. He or she should say things like, “Everything will be okay…no matter what,” “I hope we get through this,” and “I just don’t know if God is looking out for this family anymore.”

At this point, your children’s stress levels should be close to peaking. If they are crying, you can pat yourself on the back; you have been extremely successful so far. Now is the time to tell your children the truth. Take a seat as a family in the living room or other central location. Tell your children that you have lost your job and hope to find a new one soon.  Many younger children will not understand the gravity of the situation, so really drive the point home by crying and making statements regarding the terrible job market. Make the possibility of finding a new job seem bleak. Emphasize that money will be tight, meaning less vacations, toys, and food. Throw the possibility of no presents at Christmas into the mix. If your children respond that Santa will bring presents, be brief and say that Santa doesn’t like poor kids.

Your children should now understand the severity of your unemployment. To go the extra mile as a parent, go into your bedroom, and do not come out of it for a few days.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2!