It Take a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk

[anna7602]

I thought this article would interest the MM crowd given the turn Cosmos' law school post took yesterday.

From the NYT

It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

ATLANTA —The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job.

Consider the 45-person law firm of Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh here in Atlanta, a place that has seen tremendous growth in the college-educated population. Like other employers across the country, the firm hires only people with a bachelor’s degree, even for jobs that do not require college-level skills.

This prerequisite applies to everyone, including the receptionist, paralegals, administrative assistants and file clerks. Even the office “runner” — the in-house courier who, for $10 an hour, ferries documents back and forth between the courthouse and the office — went to a four-year school.

“College graduates are just more career-oriented,” said Adam Slipakoff, the firm’s managing partner. “Going to college means they are making a real commitment to their futures. They’re not just looking for a paycheck.”

Economists have referred to this phenomenon as “degree inflation,” and it has been steadily infiltrating America’s job market. Across industries and geographic areas, many other jobs that didn’t used to require a diploma — positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters — are increasingly requiring one, according to Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads from more than 20,000 online sources, including major job boards and small- to midsize-employer sites.

This up-credentialing is pushing the less educated even further down the food chain, and it helps explain why the unemployment rate for workers with no more than a high school diploma is more than twice that for workers with a bachelor’s degree: 8.1 percent versus 3.7 percent.

Some jobs, like those in supply chain management and logistics, have become more technical, and so require more advanced skills today than they did in the past. But more broadly, because so many people are going to college now, those who do not graduate are often assumed to be unambitious or less capable.

Plus, it’s a buyer’s market for employers.

“When you get 800 résumés for every job ad, you need to weed them out somehow,” said Suzanne Manzagol, executive recruiter at Cardinal Recruiting Group, which does headhunting for administrative positions at Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh and other firms in the Atlanta area.

Of all the metropolitan areas in the United States, Atlanta has had one of the largest inflows of college graduates in the last five years, according to an analysis of census data by William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. In 2012, 39 percent of job postings for secretaries and administrative assistants in the Atlanta metro area requested a bachelor’s degree, up from 28 percent in 2007, according to Burning Glass.

“When I started recruiting in ’06, you didn’t need a college degree, but there weren’t that many candidates,” Ms. Manzagol said.

Even if they are not exactly applying the knowledge they gained in their political science, finance and fashion marketing classes, the young graduates employed by Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh say they are grateful for even the rotest of rote office work they have been given.

“It sure beats washing cars,” said Landon Crider, 24, the firm’s soft-spoken runner.

He would know: he spent several years, while at Georgia State and in the months after graduation, scrubbing sedans at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Before joining the law firm, he was turned down for a promotion to rental agent at Enterprise — a position that also required a bachelor’s degree — because the company said he didn’t have enough sales experience.

His college-educated colleagues had similarly limited opportunities, working at Ruby Tuesday or behind a retail counter while waiting for a better job to open up.

“I am over $100,000 in student loan debt right now,” said Megan Parker, who earns $37,000 as the firm’s receptionist. She graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2011 with a degree in fashion and retail management, and spent months waiting on “bridezillas” at a couture boutique, among other stores, while churning out office-job applications.

“I will probably never see the end of that bill, but I’m not really thinking about it right now,” she said. “You know, this is a really great place to work.”

The risk with hiring college graduates for jobs they are supremely overqualified for is, of course, that they will leave as soon as they find something better, particularly as the economy improves.

Mr. Slipakoff said his firm had little turnover, though, largely because of its rapid expansion. The company has grown to more than 30 lawyers from five in 2008, plus a support staff of about 15, and promotions have abounded.

“They expect you to grow, and they want you to grow,” said Ashley Atkinson, who graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2009 with a general studies degree. “You’re not stuck here under some glass ceiling.”

Within a year of being hired as a file clerk, around Halloween 2011, Ms. Atkinson was promoted twice to positions in marketing and office management. Mr. Crider, the runner, was given additional work last month, helping with copying and billing claims. He said he was taking the opportunity to learn more about the legal industry, since he plans to apply to law school next year.

The firm’s greatest success story is Laura Burnett, who in less than a year went from being a file clerk to being the firm’s paralegal for the litigation group. The partners were so impressed with her filing wizardry that they figured she could handle it.

“They gave me a raise, too,” said Ms. Burnett, a 2011 graduate of the University of West Georgia.

The typical paralegal position, which has traditionally offered a path to a well-paying job for less educated workers, requires no more than an associate degree, according to the Labor Department’s occupational handbook, but the job is still a step up from filing. Of the three daughters in her family, Ms. Burnett reckons that she has the best job. One sister, a fellow West Georgia graduate, is processing insurance claims; another, who dropped out of college, is one of the many degree-less young people who still cannot find work.

Besides the promotional pipelines it creates, setting a floor of college attainment also creates more office camaraderie, said Mr. Slipakoff, who handles most of the firm’s hiring and is especially partial to his fellow University of Florida graduates. There is a lot of trash-talking of each other’s college football teams, for example. And this year the office’s Christmas tree ornaments were a colorful menagerie of college mascots — Gators, Blue Devils, Yellow Jackets, Wolves, Eagles, Tigers, Panthers — in which just about every staffer’s school was represented.

“You know, if we had someone here with just a G.E.D. or something, I can see how they might feel slighted by the social atmosphere here,” he says. “There really is something sort of cohesive or binding about the fact that all of us went to college.”

</nyt_text>

[Deleted]

My paralegal is a graduate from the same undergrad as me. I have a bunch of friends who became paralegals after college. (Note- not one went to law school afterwards). I can absolutely see why a college degree is desirable for all law firm employees- my paralegal "gets" things and has helped me out immensely over the years because of her education. I directly compare her to the paralegal at my previous firm, who had a AA- she wasn't good for much other than typing and putting together motion papers. But then again she was fired for being incompetent so it probably was just her, not her education. Haha.

[Deleted]

Ugh. This is what I worry about for my kids:

“I am over $100,000 in student loan debt right now,” said Megan Parker, who earns $37,000 as the firm’s receptionist. She graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2011 with a degree in fashion and retail management, and spent months waiting on “bridezillas” at a couture boutique, among other stores, while churning out office-job applications. “I will probably never see the end of that bill, but I’m not really thinking about it right now,” she said. “You know, this is a really great place to work.”

Slightly tangential but I do worry about the rising cost of college. I've seen some estimates put the projected # as high as $600k for a BA in 18 years. Even if you were able to save up 2/3 of that number, they will still be on the hook for a significant amount at the end. Plus then there's graduate school. The things that worked for our parents or the older people in our generation (work study jobs, part time jobs, scholarships, small loans) aren't going to cut it in 20 years.



eta: come to think of it, why is this not a bigger political issue (the rising cost of college)?? You see politicians bring it up from time to time but no one puts forward any real concrete plans. And this is an issue that affects pretty much every single parent in this country. How many people do you see in our generation who admit that they're not saving anything or only a small amount for their kids' educations because they literally can't fit it in the budget with their own school loans and mortgages? What do we think is going to happen in 18-20 years? If you need a college degree now to get a job as an administrative assistant, what is it going to be like for our children's generation?

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 7:44:17 GMT -5 @iheartcosmos said:

My paralegal is a graduate from the same undergrad as me. I have a bunch of friends who became paralegals after college. (Note- not one went to law school afterwards). I can absolutely see why a college degree is desirable for all law firm employees- my paralegal "gets" things and has helped me out immensely over the years because of her education. I directly compare her to the paralegal at my previous firm, who had a AA- she wasn't good for much other than typing and putting together motion papers. But then again she was fired for being incompetent so it probably was just her, not her education. Haha.

Pretty much all of the paralegals I have worked with have gone to top schools.  Off the top of my head, the ones I've worked with the most went to Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Colgate, University of Chicago...   Way better schools than where I went to college.  That's kind of the big firm paralegal model -- hire very sharp kids straight out of top colleges, work them to death for a few years, then get sad and shake your head when they leave 3 years later to go to law school despite having seen what their future will be like.  (4 of the paralegals above ended up in law school (one had always planned to go to med school, which is where she is now), and 3 are now in/will start in the fall at big firms).  And since we tend to work on cases involving ridiculously complex transactions that are hard for attorneys with years of experience to get, it is very valuable to have paralegals who get the case, can keep facts and witnesses straight, etc... even though the tasks we ask them to do tend to be quite menial.

Paralegals are a completely different story from file clerks though.  I see no reason for file clerks to need to have degrees, and I have no idea if the ones I've worked with have had degrees.  There just isn't much for them to have to "get."  There are plenty of other jobs at law firms that are kind of the same.

[thedutchgirl]

I don't think you should have to have a BA to get a job as a file clerk, but I agree on the sentiments regarding paralegals expressed by others. My favorite paralegal is amazing, with a college degree. And she has no intention of going to law school (so even better!).

But yet again the NYT managed to find someone somewhat unsympathetic. $110,000 for a degree in fashion and retail management? If she really wanted to use that, she could. But it isn't going to make her wealthy.

[jwright]

I can see the point on the paralegals needing college degrees.

But file clerks, receptionists, assistants, and runners?

That poor runner has a BA and his two jobs have been washing cars and delivering documents for $10/hour.

[jerseyjaybird]

I feel so fortunate to have graduated college when I did (1999---eek!). I had a BA from a (well-respected) school in classics and art history and vague notions of going to grad school sometime in the future. I entered the job market in Atlanta, like these kids, and found a job in my field within a month. Four years later, I'd had two promotions and increased my salary by half---in the non-profit sector.

I cringe when I think of how different things would be for me if I were graduating now.

[imojoebunny]

I had a job as a file clerk after college. The job market was bad. It was a way to get a foot in the door and learn about what I wanted to do. I worked at an accounting firm. It only lasted 3 months, but I learned enough to know I did not want to work in accounting. Lots of people do low level jobs with college degrees when they first get out of school. Of my good friends, most of us initially had those kind of jobs, but none of us for long, it was just a way to get some office experience and move upward and onward.

As for the student debt, I think people need to understand before they go to college what they are signing up for, and what that means in terms of additional compensation they would need to make to pay it back. Going to a lesser private college verses choosing to go to a state school (Georgia's are some of the cheapest in the country), is not money matters.

[Deleted]

This has been going on for years too. My first job after college 2000 was for $9.50/hr in a medical billing office. It sets the stage for a lot of financial discomfort for the long haul (especially if your parents cannot help and do not have sound financial advice), trying to afford rent, loan payments, car payments, using cc's to help make ends meet (not for manicures and cute clothes, for toilet paper). Been there, done that.

And the degree inflation continues. We advertised for an entry-level admin/advisor position for our office, BA only required. The bulk of the applicants had Masters, and there were a few PhD candidates in the pile. The job market is so poor that you almost always hire someone who is sort of overqualified because the pool becomes that way.

[Deleted]

I'm going to admit small law ignorance in that I have no idea what a file clerk does, because none of my firms (well, maybe the first firm, I don't remember) employs file clerks. My current office consists of 6 attorneys, 1 paralegal, and 2 admins (one of which also handles payroll, the other who also handles billing). IT is outsourced, and our accountants handle the complex crap the admins can't do.  And the admins handle filing.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 9:36:20 GMT -5 nuggetbrain said:

Feb 20, 2013 9:32:20 GMT -5 @historychick79 said:

This has been going on for years too. My first job after college 2000 was for $9.50/hr in a medical billing office. It sets the stage for a lot of financial discomfort for the long haul (especially if your parents cannot help and do not have sound financial advice), trying to afford rent, loan payments, car payments, using cc's to help make ends meet (not for manicures and cute clothes, for toilet paper). Been there, done that.

And the degree inflation continues. We advertised for an entry-level admin/advisor position for our office, BA only required. The bulk of the applicants had Masters, and there were a few PhD candidates in the pile. The job market is so poor that you almost always hire someone who is sort of overqualified because the pool becomes that way.

Why did you feel the need for a BA for an admin job?

It's at a unionized university. UUP jobs require a degree, CSEA positions do not. This was a UUP "professional" position. As far as the tasks go, anyone with organizational skills and common sense and a bit of personality can handle the tasks; I certainly don't 'need' my Masters to do my responsiblities; but when you're holding discussions with faculty you're already seen as beneath  them because you're not an academic (insert eye roll here).

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 9:40:10 GMT -5 @iheartcosmos said:

I'm going to admit small law ignorance in that I have no idea what a file clerk does, because none of my firms (well, maybe the first firm, I don't remember) employs file clerks. My current office consists of 6 attorneys, 1 paralegal, and 2 admins (one of which also handles payroll, the other who also handles billing). IT is outsourced, and our accountants handle the complex crap the admins can't do.

They're in charge of our records room.  So if I send something to records, they're the ones who create an index, log it in our system, and either send it off to offsite storage or file it away in our records room.  And they retrieve the files when I need them again.  Definitely not anything that requires a degree.

And particularly when I was in an office of 400+ attorneys, there were tons of people with jobs that didn't require degrees -- receptionists, mail room, copy room, Word Processing (though I think you needed a degree to be a proofreader), supplies clerk, the clerks in the managing attorneys' office who mostly acted as runners, cafeteria, etc.  (But on the other hand, there were tons of non-attorney positions that did require a degree, rightfully so).

[kadams767]

Add me to the pile of people who worked a clerk type job after getting a degree. I spent a year and a half after finishing undergrad working a full-time admin job that started at $9.00/hr and paid $10.50/hr when I left a few years later. I worked nights and weekends in retail in order to save money. My admin job didn't specifically require a degree, but I know for a fact that I was up against several other candidates without a degree and they obviously were not hired.

I know that every person and situation is different, but I have not had good luck hiring people without degrees. Given that, I am pretty sure my firm now requires or at least "strongly prefers" a degree.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 9:50:56 GMT -5 v said:

Feb 20, 2013 9:40:10 GMT -5 @iheartcosmos said:

I'm going to admit small law ignorance in that I have no idea what a file clerk does, because none of my firms (well, maybe the first firm, I don't remember) employs file clerks. My current office consists of 6 attorneys, 1 paralegal, and 2 admins (one of which also handles payroll, the other who also handles billing). IT is outsourced, and our accountants handle the complex crap the admins can't do.

They're in charge of our records room.  So if I send something to records, they're the ones who create an index, log it in our system, and either send it off to offsite storage or file it away in our records room.  And they retrieve the files when I need them again.  Definitely not anything that requires a degree.

And particularly when I was in an office of 400+ attorneys, there were tons of people with jobs that didn't require degrees -- receptionists, mail room, copy room, Word Processing (though I think you needed a degree to be a proofreader), supplies clerk, the clerks in the managing attorneys' office who mostly acted as runners, cafeteria, etc.  (But on the other hand, there were tons of non-attorney positions that did require a degree, rightfully so).

gotcha.

We dont have a records room-- our files are in cabinets throughout out office and the admins all handle filing and scanning as PDFs. I often retrieve my own files (hence non-billable work), etc. I agree this job doesn't require a degree if thats all one does.

[Deleted]

One of the problems is the quality of high school graduates. After reading some of the papers of my H's students, I would be highly unlikely to consider hiring someone with a HS diploma from a run-of-the-mill WI public school for a job that required even a modicum of critical thinking. Hell, I probably wouldn't hire such a person for a job that merely required the ability to alphabetize. I might hire someone who graduated from a rigorous prep school or was valedictorian of her class, but that person is likely not looking for a job as a file clerk or an administrative assistant after high school.

[jerseyjaybird]

Feb 20, 2013 10:04:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

One of the problems is the quality of high school graduates. After reading some of the papers of my H's students, I would be highly unlikely to consider hiring someone with a HS diploma from a run-of-the-mill WI public school for a job that required even a modicum of critical thinking. Hell, I probably wouldn't hire such a person for a job that merely required the ability to alphabetize. I might hire someone who graduated from a rigorous prep school or was valedictorian of her class, but that person is likely not looking for a job as a file clerk or an administrative assistant after high school.

This is an excellent point.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 10:04:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

One of the problems is the quality of high school graduates. After reading some of the papers of my H's students, I would be highly unlikely to consider hiring someone with a HS diploma from a run-of-the-mill WI public school for a job that required even a modicum of critical thinking. Hell, I probably wouldn't hire such a person for a job that merely required the ability to alphabetize. I might hire someone who graduated from a rigorous prep school or was valedictorian of her class, but that person is likely not looking for a job as a file clerk or an administrative assistant after high school.

I think this is what's tough about this.  I agree with you, on the one hand, but on the other hand, I'd assume that any file clerk I hired who was fresh out of college will immediately be unhappy with his/her job and will be fighting to get something better from day 1.  That isn't ideal either.

I might actually have a double standard, actually.  For someone our generation applying for a file clerk position, I might want someone with a college degree, because college degrees are such a given for people around our age and I'd be skeptical of someone who didn't go to college.  But if I was looking at a candidate in their 40s, I probably wouldn't care much if they had a degree because there are a lot of competent hard workers in that generation who don't have degrees.  Is that terrible?

[kadams767]

Feb 20, 2013 10:17:47 GMT -5 v said:

Feb 20, 2013 10:04:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

One of the problems is the quality of high school graduates. After reading some of the papers of my H's students, I would be highly unlikely to consider hiring someone with a HS diploma from a run-of-the-mill WI public school for a job that required even a modicum of critical thinking. Hell, I probably wouldn't hire such a person for a job that merely required the ability to alphabetize. I might hire someone who graduated from a rigorous prep school or was valedictorian of her class, but that person is likely not looking for a job as a file clerk or an administrative assistant after high school.

I think this is what's tough about this.  I agree with you, on the one hand, but on the other hand, I'd assume that any file clerk I hired who was fresh out of college will immediately be unhappy with his/her job and will be fighting to get something better from day 1.  That isn't ideal either.

I might actually have a double standard, actually.  For someone our generation applying for a file clerk position, I might want someone with a college degree, because college degrees are such a given for people around our age and I'd be skeptical of someone who didn't go to college.  But if I was looking at a candidate in their 40s, I probably wouldn't care much if they had a degree because there are a lot of competent hard workers in that generation who don't have degrees.  Is that terrible?

I don't really think that is terrible (though possibly, because I tend to agree with you based on my horrific experiences with hiring people of our generation without degrees). I would tend to assume, perhaps wrongly, that if I received a resume from an applicant in their 40s, I would be able to ascertain rather quickly if they were reliable, smart, hardworking, etc. from their job history. If I am looking at someone my age or younger, it's less obvious looking at their resume if they are worth taking a chance on and it becomes more of a gamble for the firm.  My interviewing skills and intuition only go so far, and taking someone on who doesn't have a long job history and doesn't have a degree is a total crapshoot, unfortunately.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 10:17:47 GMT -5 v said:

Feb 20, 2013 10:04:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

One of the problems is the quality of high school graduates. After reading some of the papers of my H's students, I would be highly unlikely to consider hiring someone with a HS diploma from a run-of-the-mill WI public school for a job that required even a modicum of critical thinking. Hell, I probably wouldn't hire such a person for a job that merely required the ability to alphabetize. I might hire someone who graduated from a rigorous prep school or was valedictorian of her class, but that person is likely not looking for a job as a file clerk or an administrative assistant after high school.

I think this is what's tough about this.  I agree with you, on the one hand, but on the other hand, I'd assume that any file clerk I hired who was fresh out of college will immediately be unhappy with his/her job and will be fighting to get something better from day 1.  That isn't ideal either.

I might actually have a double standard, actually.  For someone our generation applying for a file clerk position, I might want someone with a college degree, because college degrees are such a given for people around our age and I'd be skeptical of someone who didn't go to college.  But if I was looking at a candidate in their 40s, I probably wouldn't care much if they had a degree because there are a lot of competent hard workers in that generation who don't have degrees.  Is that terrible?

No. I agree with you on this.

[Deleted]

one of the secretaries at my boyfriend's firm has a Master's in something unrelated. I thought that was crazy.

[lauralala]

v, I also agree with you about generational differences. Most of the admins I know who are in their 40's or 50's do not have degrees. They were trained on the job, by working up from receptionist, etc., positions.

Actually, my sister is 51 and is a software analyst, and never finished college. She got into the field by being promoted up the chain, learning as she went. That would never happen now.

[Deleted]

My dad never graduated from college (he dropped out for trade school) and I wonder, in part, if this hurting him now as an unemployed 57 year old. Nevermind he ran his own business for 15 years and held a VP position at a corporation for years prior to that.

Or maybe the mere fact he is 57 and has an impressive resume (ie- they think he wants $$$) is hurting him :/

[pinkdutchtulips]

i had a BA and one disasterous year of law school under my belt and guess what my first job was .... after applying for file clerk and junior paralegal positions w/ ZERO previous legal experience and ZERO connections to any law firms period .... i was the receptionist at a small law firm that took the time to show me how to do things like being a file clerk and eventually made me a junior real estate paralegal in ADDITION to my reception duties.

since then, every firm i've worked at EVERYONE has a BA - from receptionists to file clerks .. everyone has had some sort of post hs education be it state school, private business colleges or private universities ...

[RandZB]

Our file clerk/receptionist has a college degree. I think almost every receptionist or file clerk that we have hired in the past few years has had a degree. However, we are really big on promoting from within, so if a spot as a legal assistant opens up the file clerk or receptionist is encouraged to apply for it since they know the people and how the office systems work and it would be an easier transition. Two of our paralegals started at the front desk or office services. One went from receptionist to legal assistant to paralegal in the span of three years. I think management just plans ahead for this and if there is a person with a BA in the running, all other aspects being equal, they go with the person who has a degree.

One exception is the assistant to our lead partner, who doesn't have a college degree to my knowledge. She started out as a temp here and was hired on as the full time file clerk, and after five years applied to be his assistant when the spot became available, and has kicked that position's ass like none we have ever seen. So it just goes to show that a degree doesn't necessarily equal the best fit for the job.

[Deleted]

LOL to this student...$110k for a degree in FASHION / RETAIL MGT!? Wow. Just, wow.

“I am over $100,000 in student loan debt right now,” said Megan Parker, who earns $37,000 as the firm’s receptionist. She graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2011 with a degree in fashion and retail management, and spent months waiting on “bridezillas” at a couture boutique, among other stores, while churning out office-job applications."

I also agree with angry that a big part of this is the average High Schooler - I lived in a bit of a bubble, going to an awesome public school while growing up and now seeing what its like in non-blue ribbon school districts...scary.

[fences]

It is quite scary and seems to only be getting worse.  Even when employers do not require college degrees, those job openings are being overwhelmed with applications from degree holders. 

For instance, H works at a geotech engineering firm.  They are always searching for technicians - basically dirt testers.  It's the perfect job for someone just out of high school and has the potential to lead to project management.  But they are being inundated with applications from people with masters degrees in environmental planning and other fields.  And the job pays $8-12/hr max.  The candidates know this but they're desperate and willing to accept absolutely anything so they can start paying on their loans. 

[nevermind]

I have lots of thoughts on this.

The market is over-saturated with degrees. Not sure how to fix it, but if we stop sending so many people to college, jobs that don't actually require degrees will stop requiring degrees because there won't be a pile of degreed candidates. And the cost of college would also go down. Rules of supply and demand.

And if you go into debt that's the size of mortgage debt for a degree, you better be some pretty damn good odds of a 6 figure salary at the end. That absolutely insane. Just to check that I wasn't completely out of touch I checked what it costs to go to my university, and for a full time (15 credit hours) in state student it's about $3800 per semester. It's not Ivy League, but unless your aspirations are pretty grand, Ivy League isn't necessary.

My husband is 41, so he's right on the cusp of the generation of people that felt that they "needed a degree" and doesn't have one. It's hurt him in some situations for sure. Thankfully he's almost done, but at this point, with 15 years of experience in his field he's just checking a box. It's ridiculous.

[Deleted]

I don't think a degree is required for an admin assistant at my company, but pretty much all of the ones I know of either have many years of experience (i.e., they've been doing this job for 20+ years and are older) or have a degree. In my first department here, we hired an admin with a master's. I said we shouldn't hire her because she'd leave, but then she had a baby and I think she didn't want to take on a more challenging role after that.

My youngest sister is currently working as an event planner for $10 an hour, no benefits. She needed a degree to be hired. She recently switched to that job after being a retail supervisor for almost 2 years at $12 an hour with minimal healthcare, which also required a degree to be hired. They treated her like dirt and it was a dead end, which is why she took a job making less (hoping she could get experience and move up). Neither job should require a degree and at that wage, it is asinine that they do! The market is just so oversaturated with college graduates right now that they can be choosy because they'll still have applicants.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2013 9:32:20 GMT -5 @historychick79 said:

And the degree inflation continues. We advertised for an entry-level admin/advisor position for our office, BA only required. The bulk of the applicants had Masters, and there were a few PhD candidates in the pile. The job market is so poor that you almost always hire someone who is sort of overqualified because the pool becomes that way.

We just advertised for a position requiring a master's, and all three interviewees had PhDs.

[cookies]

Almost all the admins in our company have college degrees. However, the usual path here is to start at the admin level and work your way up the food chain. Many assistants here end up moving on to other positions in the company/division. Very few admin positions are filled by "career admins." To my knowledge, there's only one in our whole division.