Comments on: the reality of a tight job market for new grads http://contexts.org/crawler/2008/07/16/the-reality-of-a-tight-job-market-for-new-grads/ Sociology Online Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:00:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: amy http://contexts.org/crawler/2008/07/16/the-reality-of-a-tight-job-market-for-new-grads/#comment-113 amy Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:11:36 +0000 http://contexts.org/crawler/?p=166#comment-113 I wonder what a college graduate's idea of a livable wage is these days. I graduated college and lived in Boston on a (pre-tax) salary of $20,000 per year in 1996. It was tight, and I misused credit, but I also had a shoe habit that wasn't really appropriate given my low wage. So about 6 months out I also got a waitressing job and worked a lot and that made ends meet and allowed me to pay down debt, put money away, and create a stronger financial foundation for myself. You just have to make sacrifices. I wonder what a college graduate’s idea of a livable wage is these days. I graduated college and lived in Boston on a (pre-tax) salary of $20,000 per year in 1996. It was tight, and I misused credit, but I also had a shoe habit that wasn’t really appropriate given my low wage. So about 6 months out I also got a waitressing job and worked a lot and that made ends meet and allowed me to pay down debt, put money away, and create a stronger financial foundation for myself. You just have to make sacrifices.

]]> By: Dangger http://contexts.org/crawler/2008/07/16/the-reality-of-a-tight-job-market-for-new-grads/#comment-105 Dangger Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:53:43 +0000 http://contexts.org/crawler/?p=166#comment-105 I love the "livable wages right out of school" quote. That’s right, it’s very hard to obtain that. I graduated last year. Besides the obvious specialization process, much of the education we receive is just training in work ethic. They expect new grads to be very ethical about their work but earn very little at the beginning. The job market could not bear high wages, or at least livable wages, for all the working class. I love the “livable wages right out of school” quote. That’s right, it’s very hard to obtain that. I graduated last year.

Besides the obvious specialization process, much of the education we receive is just training in work ethic. They expect new grads to be very ethical about their work but earn very little at the beginning. The job market could not bear high wages, or at least livable wages, for all the working class.

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