Going to university or getting a job
By maximax8
@maximax8 (31046)
United Kingdom
September 13, 2011 6:26am CST
If a person aged 18 gets a job he will get an ordinary job with low pay. At anytime due to the recession he could get made redundant. Indeed I got a job at age 18 and was made redundant at age 20 years old.
In my day it was free to go to university so I went and did my degree. I became a primary school teacher. These days going to university costs money and students can work up debt. It is not for sure he or she will get a special job when graduating. Many graduates are unemployed in my home country.
A person can be over qualified for an ordinary job with low pay and yet there aren't any special jobs available for high pay.
Should a clever person aged 18 get a job?
Should he go to university and get into debt?
How does a graduate feel when he is unemployed and can't seem to get hired?
2 people like this
19 responses
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
17 Sep 11
I think that if the opportunity presented itself for a young person to go to university, he should go and grab it. Even if it looks like more work (studying), as compared to immediate money if work was opted, it still worthwhile to go to school. Even if there is the uncertainty of finding a job afterwards, he or she would still stand out compared to somebody who didn't go to school.
And there are even studies that in the long run, people who went to university generally have a better life than those who didn't.
@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
14 Sep 11
For me first going to the university so that things would be better.
@SilverKing (1003)
• Canada
14 Sep 11
Well people that are able to use their skills well do not even have to go to university at in some cases.They open their own businesses or have online sites that generate traffic and they earn money that way.University costs a arm and a leg and you will end up paying it off for a good chunk of your life which cuts heavily into your income even if you get a good job.If you don't get a job immediate after graduating you are in deep trouble as debt from university and college is hard if nont impossible to wipe out anymore , so your stuck with it the rest of your life.
@nasapiyush (147)
• India
14 Sep 11
Hello maximax8
I think after 18 a person should go for University for higher education as when he will have a degree in his\her hand there will be more chances of earning money and getting employed as companies\firms like to employ those people who will bring more profit to them. And going to university adds experience to a person,s life . We meet many new people ,experienced people who help us achieving our goal. There are more benefits of going to university instead of joining a job at the age of 18.
It also matters to your financial condition as someone had to earn to support their family.
I think it matters to person to person and each family. if you need money definitely you have to earn.
@Udderlymichael (1)
• United States
14 Sep 11
Now a days, everything in our life as we know it is inflating. From Candy to gas prices. Getting an ordinary job might not suffice when it comes to that monthly income. When going to a University you may go in debt, but it depends what you are majoring in. I'd recommend University, but that person shouldn't think so negatively, i know plenty of people that took months looking for a career, and in the end it was worth it.
@00fear (3216)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Yup, I'd say go for the university. That way the person can have a pretty big house to live in. I know there are jobs with high pay but he or she may never know. They might find the job with high pay someday. I know it'll feel really bad if they are unemployed because of the fact that they don't have enough money for them self.
@00fear (3216)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Yup, I'd say go for the university. That way the person can have a pretty big house to live in. I know there are jobs with high pay but he or she may never know. They might find the job with high pay someday. I know it'll feel really bad if they are unemployed because of the fact that they don't have enough money for them self.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
14 Sep 11
I think the person should try to get a job. If the person can't, then the person should try to find every possible grant or assistancee that isn't a loan possible. Most jobs here do background checks and won't give a person a job if they're in default of a loan. They think the person will steal from them or the loan company will garnish their wages so severely, that the person won't be able to live. Then the person might be tempted to steal or will come in week and ill from not being able to afford food or become a street person, etc. I think a person should look for every form of help possible. I had grants and work-study. With no guarantee of a job after college, a loan can be a problem. It was over a year before I found more than one day a month employment.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Well a person aged 16 needs to get atleast a part time job. However, I feel unless you know the job you are going to study for will have some longevity and alot of job opportunities it's hard to say if it's worth it or not. I've been at a cross roads of going back to school only my problem is finding something I enjoy doing enough as a career and will have alot of jobs available, and longevity. As my degree I believe is "bogus" because the local news the other year did a report that the local technical colleges had a few degree's that didn't equate to anything. I know mine doesn't give me more than a job in retail so I totally feel ripped off.
School is not free here either. You can get some grants but not usually enough to foot the whole bill.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
13 Sep 11
I think this all depends on what a person whats to do for a career. Theres Careers that one cant just go out and get a job as...but others that do extremely well for themselves with a high school education OR less.
Debt is a hard thing to choose...but at the same time...choosing an education in alot of areas makes you much more employable.
@frankiecesca (2489)
•
13 Sep 11
I can only imagine how hard it must be to have gone through college and then University to only then struggle to get a job and be in debt for so much money. I myself, didn't finish college or University and found a job working in te travel industry. I do enjoy the industry but, always wonder if I could have done better by going into further education although I never really had a set idea in mind of what I wanted to do.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
13 Sep 11
I think that a lot of people are choosing to stay in education because of the simple fact that so few people can get jobs when they first leave school. Because so many people have degrees, more jobs are now asking for degrees which means that most people who just leave school have no chance of being able to get a job. I chose to do my degree so that I was more guaranteed to get a job at the end of it, and I know that I will get a good mark which gives me a good chance at the job market at the end of my degree.
@vikku2001 (258)
• India
13 Sep 11
Hello there,
Maximax you raise a good question for youngsters who are confused for their future.
I believe that education always comes first even you have to take some debt to complete your graduation.They can do part time job and rest study or take some tutions for earnings.If they continue their study their thoughts would be broader and they can think in more scopes.Even there is less jobs for every graduate but they will surely do some earning after graduation also if they study well.At 16th age they don't have much sensibility to decide thing correctly.So we should encourage them to study further.
@youless (112481)
• Guangzhou, China
13 Sep 11
Here it is the same. A student who graduates from the university may mean that he/she will become jobless. However, since the competition is still heat. So no matter what, people still want to get some degrees so that they can find a better job easily. So going to the university seems to be most people's option. Even if it can not make sure that they will get a good job in the future. But if they don't have some degrees, then the future will be worse.
I love China
@marguicha (222855)
• Chile
13 Sep 11
This is a problem that is hitting many countries. In my country it is relatibly easy to get low paid jobs, but even those are not taken by chilean people as there are many immigrant from Perú who are willing to work for less. Graduate students end with so high a debt that even if they had jobs all the time, they would not be able to pay them (specially if their proffesion is not well paid). In this moment, our country´s students have been on strike for over 2 months asking for free schooling and better chances for the ones with less means.
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
13 Sep 11
I'd always recommend going to the university.
I have a friend who tried to get accepted with a university for 5 years in a row; finally got in, worked hard, got his degree in record time, and now he's been unemployed for two years... there are no openings in his field, and he no longer qualifies for the jobs he did before getting his diploma because, of course, he's now over-qualified.
So I know it can be frustrating, and it's hard to start your life with debts.
But - those who skip studies may end up doing minimum-wage jobs for the rest of their lives. Some may catch a break and advance in their careers, some may start a Steve Jobs-style company - but how many? There really is nothing as valuable as education.
@miessy24 (235)
• Philippines
13 Sep 11
In this time that we are competing for each other, it is still advisable to study first and graduate with a degree. In that sense, you may be hired in your own country though at low salary but you will have the opportunity to work abroad base on the work experience that you had.
We better think ahead than what's now...
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
13 Sep 11
A graduate feels terrible if he is already graduated 9 years ago and never gets a job. Nobody will hire you if you are a smarter as the rest, if you are too high educated. You never fit in the group or they say the job is way too boring for you.
So days go by and the only thing you can do is keep on studying to kill time.
If you have nobody who can help you out, give you that great job you have to be extremely happy if you get one (if you are invited for an interview at all). If not better start working if you find a great job. You can always keep on studying later or next to the job if you really feel you need to educate yourself more.
Over here only 16 years old with years of experience are requested, the ones who also don't care if they get payed less as the minimum allowed salary.
