College was a waste of time and money. I started after I graduated in 2007, dropped out 2 or 3 years ago and then reenrolled at the beginning of last year. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now Im a week away from finishing my degree and I realize that I haven’t learned anything that I can actually use. I cant find a job in my town that requires my degree because I have no experience. And even if I did somehow find a job, I wouldn’t know how to do anything. My college “teaches” the programs we use. So basically what that means is you follow the excercises in the book and hope that you remember how to do the stuff you read from the book.
For some reason my family and my girlfriend don’t understand what I am talking about. Does anyone else have this same problem?
They think Im just being lazy or that I am not trying hard enough. Ive tried to explain whats going on but they don’t listen. They expect me to go apply to a job that I personally know Im not qualified.
Will I ever get ahead in this world?
4 comments
I understand. I’m in the Criminal Justice program, almost ready to graduate. My instructors were great, but I feel like I’m stuck and don’t know what to do and no one understands.
A lot of people won’t buy into the whole “I know I’m not qualified, so I’m not gonna go” attitude. I’m not trying to lecture you, I am speaking from experience of having people treat me the same way. I don’t like going to apply for a job when I feel like I have no chance of getting it either, but everyone in your life who thinks they know better will never shut up until you just go do it. If you’re certain that nothing will come from it then why not just drop off a resume or whatever and get everyone off your back.
Are you absolutely sure that on some subconscious level there’s not something else making you not want to go apply? Because in my case I know there have been situations like that, where I say that I know I won’t get the job, when really I just don’t want to apply because I don’t want that job, don’t wanna go back to work, etc. Because if you’re feeling upset that you might have earned a degree that won’t get any use, you also would be eager to get your paperwork out to employers even if you think there’s a low chance of getting anything. Maybe part of you feels like you just don’t want the jobs that you thought you did, or something like that. Ask yourself what’s really stopping you from wanting to go apply at these places. Because if you think they won’t call you back, then there’s nothing to lose except for the few minutes of dropping off your information. You’ll show everyone that you were right and they can stop bothering you about it. Or maybe something will surprise you and you’ll get hired, if that’s actually what you want.
To be honest it sounds exactly like the situation i was in when i finished my career. If it’s tech oriented, i think that the sad reality is that they teach you mostly useless stuff for you to have the basic “mindset” in order to teach yourself further down the line.
As for the experience thing, the only solutions i could find back then was looking for a job that i was “kinda” calified and had few requirements, even if it’s a crap job (just to gain experience). And then while working, continue studying on my own (books, courses, etc). But that’s usually the way to go with most careers.
Just don’t stop for too long to consider your options. I did that for some time and i got myself into a dead end. There were several reasons for me to do that (mainly illness), and i was left with the choice to move into another town to find job, which i didn’t take because i didn’t want to leave my family and exgf alone (she left me while being in another town looking for a job tho, the irony). My family and exgf never understood my situation either, and attributed it to “you are lazy and you don’t want to work”, without ever hearing that i was not calified for most of the jobs they thought i could apply.
So even if you do have to move, do it. Else you might find yourself in a dead spot, and trust me, that’s not a nice place to be in.
Its the truth. They no longer teach you to do things that will actually benefit you. They give you basic knowledge of how to do basic stuff and then just expect you to keep going and upgrade your degree or figure the shit out on your own. I mean no one is going to hire someone that can only remove the background of a photo. This basically makes my degree pointless and useless. I went into a interview a while back and everything seemed to go good, Until they asked me to pull out my portfolio. Guess what, my portfolio had stuff from my classwork because that is the only thing I have done.