My god, THIS is what you get with a Bachelors Degree???

[Atman]

I just visited this new "Jobs" site for Central Florida -- my old stomping grounds. In about a month I'm meeting with the Marketing Director of my home town to discuss some contract work promoting the town to tourists. Anyway, just doing a little bit of research and I came across this posting:

Revolution Technologies is hiring Junior Recruiters for their ‪#‎Melbourne‬ Office! Prefer individuals who have worked in a professional environment and have a Bachelor's Degree. Send your resume to [e-mail]. Base pay is $26,500 + commission.

So, professional experience and a 4-year degree gets you a $26k job? Yikes.

[hedgehog]

1. How about $11/hr for a BS Computer Science Engineer?

Tell me again how we need to expand the H1B program......

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

17. Well, we really, really, really can't find experienced Computer Scientists

that speak Hindi and will work for 20K per year.

[FreeJoe]

61. Things don't appear to be too bad for CS students here

I just talked to a coworker that went on a recruiting trip to a top public university. She was interviewing candidates for internships. About half of the candidates failed to show up for their interview. What can a kid be thinking that leads him/her to believe that blowing off a scheduled interview is a good idea? That is especially true in light of the fact that these kids will now be barred from using the placement center.

I should also point out that these are not unpaid internships. These internships pay over $20/hour. We're a company that is often recognized as one of the best employers in our region. It baffles me and I can only chalk it up to staggering poor decision making caused by immaturity.

Incidentally, all of the non-anglo candidates made it to their interviews. Unfortunately for the foreign ones, we really mean it when we say that we don't sponsor H1B candidates.

[NYC_SKP]

2. $13.25/hour? Shit, I made $11.75/hour in 1976 with no degree. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

24. Hell, I got $55 an hour to wire a network room at a huge auto dealership with no degree.

[cliffordu]

26. Yeah, but to be fair, you WERE selling your body......

At a nickel a pound, IIRC.....

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. you forgot to add "if you are lucky enough".

[Orrex]

10. Ain't that the freaking truth

When I was laid off in 2008, I spent many months seeking employment, ultimately sending out well over 1000 resumes (and that's not an exaggeration---on average 6 or 7 per week for ~3 years.)

At that time I had a bachelor's degree and nearly a decade's experience in the mutual fund industry, and in all of those months I can count on one hand the number of $30K jobs available in a 50-mile radius.


Anyone who dismisses luck as a (or perhaps the) dominant factor in obtaining employment simply has no idea of how the job market works.

[VanillaRhapsody]

15. I finally got lucky....but luck took the ability to move in with distant relatives

hundreds of miles away. Not everyone has THAT luxury. But my B.S. in Tech sure didn't help me for a long time in S.C. before I gave up and left.

[Decoy of Fenris]

4. Sounds about right.

After seven years of college, I finally figured out that it was worth exactly "piss" and "all" nowadays. I'm making double what these guys are paying, and I'm at a part-time entry-level position with no higher ed required. My fiancee just recently gave up on following througgh with her education/biology degrees, simply because the pay is better following certain other careers. No need to go further in debt for little tangible benefit.

[SheilaT]

23. Care to share with us what field you're working in?

[Decoy of Fenris]

32. Sure.

I'm a dealer in a casino and my fiancee is a cage cashier. If you're ever looking for an easy/fun job, casino dealing's a good'n, and we're always hiring.

[jberryhill]

57. If my job required me to work in a cage...

...then I'd want to be a lion tamer.

[Decoy of Fenris]

58. Try it. The similarities are uncanny sometimes. :P n/t

[SheilaT]

63. I have actually toyed with the idea of working in a casino,

but until the casinos go smoke free like most of the rest of the country, I'll have to pass.

But I've always vaguely thought that jobs like those meant you were scrutinized and watched over very closely. I'm honestly glad to hear you find it an easy/fun job.

Would they hire someone over 60?

[Decoy of Fenris]

64. Easily!

Most of our grave-shift dealers are in the age range of 60-80, and very few of them plan to retire. Dealing, at any rate, is a very easy job, outside of some back/foot pain for the first few months.

In regards to scrutiny; yes, there is oversight, and depending on both what casino you work at and what floor supervisors/pit bosses you have (each does their job differently), you may very well be scrutinized for absolutely anything. That said, after you're on the job for a few months, dealing and the associated actions become as familiar as breathing.

Speaking of breathing, I understand your restraint, in regards to the smoking. Many players hold no consideration for a dealer in that regards, and oftentimes, I'll find smoke blown directly in my face. As a smoker, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, but I can see how if you're a nonsmoker it'd be irritating. Hell, it even gets under my skin sometimes.

Some casinos are smoke free, but they're few and far between. You could always pick up a job in EVS (environmental services) or even surveilance/HR, whose offices are smoke-free and clean. When it comes to casino jobs, there are a wealth, and most casinos are always hiring. Hell, for the past two years, we've been hiring new dealers every month in batches of thirty to fifty.

[SheilaT]

66. For a non-smoker

it goes far beyond irritating. Among the reasons I almost never go into a casino is the smoke. An hour or so is unbearable. Eight hours a day? I can't even come up with a comparison that could possibly indicate how bad it would be.

But it is actually nice to hear you like the job and would recommend it.

[Initech]

5. Our economy is truly beyond broken. Thanks Reagan!

[JDPriestly]

25. Right. 30 years + with this trickle down experiment.

It hasn't worked. It never will. Not for anyone who isn't in the 1%.

We need to keep this fact in the headlines at least on DU.

Reaganomics has not worked. (At least not for the vast majority of Americans.)

An economic theory that does not work should be tossed in the trash can.

And let's can "free" trade while we are at it. Trade should be reciprocal and carefully negotiated. Agreements should have sunsets and be reviewed regularly. NAFTA and all the other agreements are roads to feudalism for most of us. Our grandkids will be serfs. Just wait and see. That is where we are headed now.

That is why I want to see Elizabeth Warren for our next president. We need to return to democratic capitalism. That's what we had from our beginning as a nation -- capitalism tempred by democracy. Right now, we have oligarchic capitalism -- capitalism poisoned by oligarchy. And that is leading us to feudalism. We either turn around very soon or we won't be able to turn around without terrible sorrow.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. That sounds about right

In Central Florida where the cost of living is lower. I started in Western NY in 1997 making $22.5 for a Marketing Assistant and Shipping Manager position. You take those jobs when your young, and energetic, and can put in the 60 + hours a week when necessary. So it seems the job has not increased as much as it should have - but it has increased some.

My company is paying new hires fresh out of University in the $35 to $45 K range - but it's central nj . . .

[DontTreadOnMe]

12. I live in central NJ...

When I graduated college in the early 1980's... new recruits were making $35-50K a year.

That was almost 30 years ago.

[nashville_brook]

7. Brevard native...Central Florida resident...new study shows we have the lowest wages in the country

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-orlando-low-pay-20130907,0,6841043.story

Central Florida metro area job market is lowest-paying in country
...Central Florida is now the lowest-paying major metro area in the country, according to federal data analyzed by the Orlando Sentinel.

Metro Orlando's median pay ranks last among the nation's 50 biggest metropolitan areas, and it has the largest share of jobs — 37 percent — paying less than $25,000 a year. That's nearly twice the rate of Las Vegas, another city built on tourism.

Central Florida also has the smallest share of jobs paying more than $50,000. And since 2002, median pay in the region, adjusted for inflation, has fallen by $1,761 — to $29,450 — as the number of middle-class and upper middle-class jobs tumbled because of the Great Recession.

(snip)

"I always seem to be running a month or two behind," said Amanda Graulich, a 31-year-old mother of three who makes $20,100 a year, $3,400 below the poverty line, as a food-service shift supervisor. "I feel like I'm left with the crumbs."

(snip)

The Sentinel reviewed annual salary data for 2002, 2007 and 2012, compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Though the data come with caveats (see related box), the figures represent the government's most comprehensive attempt to determine what a total of 814 occupations earn each year for a 40-hour work week.

In its review, the Sentinel included the 50 largest markets, from New York, with 5.1 million jobs, to Memphis, with 591,000. Metro Orlando is the 23rd-largest labor market in the nation, with about 1 million jobs.

The analysis compared Orlando with Florida's big metro areas, to cities of similar size across the country and to communities often mentioned as peers — places like Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; or Las Vegas. Central Florida's numbers trailed in almost every case.

•Annual median pay here is $29,450 — last among the top 50 metro areas. The median reflects the point where half the jobs pay more and half pay less.

•Here, 37 percent of jobs pay less than $25,000. Among the 100 biggest metro areas, only El Paso, Texas, has a bigger share of workers making less than $25,000.

• Among the 50 largest cities, Metro Orlando ranks last in jobs paying $50,000 to $75,000 — and last in jobs paying $75,000 or more. It finishes 39th in jobs paying $25,000 to $50,000.

Middle-income jobs, in particular, were decimated by the recession after expanding earlier in the decade. Since 2007, the region has lost more than 155,000 jobs that paid between $25,000 and $75,000.

Roughly 20 percent of those jobs — about 30,000 — were in construction as the bottom fell out of Florida's growth-fueled building boom. Jobs also disappeared in dozens of other mid-pay categories, including executive secretaries, manufacturing assemblers and loan officers.

Also, some 44,000 retail-sales jobs that averaged more than $25,000 in 2007 now pay less than that, a reflection of the economic downturn.

[Brigid]

43. Florida ranks last in wages?

I would have guessed Indiana.

[nashville_brook]

62. Central Florida b/c of Disney, SeaWorld and dominance of low-wage tourist jobs

South Florida ranks better.

[My Pet Goat]

8. Point taken, but...

this seems like sort of a sales job, where you book clients and/or employers with a service contract, so the commission (percentage of the service contract?) could be a substantial part of the compensation.

[hootinholler]

9. Commission there could be substantial

I worked a base + commission job for a couple of years. The base was like $55K, the commission for the last year I was there was on the order of $70K.

[TeamPooka]

11. sounds rights for Florida. The Nickel & Dime State should be the motto on their

license plates.

[darkangel218]

14. lol!!!

[whopis01]

39. Good luck getting the dime here. n/t

[Coyotl]

13. $26,500 better than working for a commission!

[avaistheone1]

21. It's $26,500 PLUS a commission

[Coyotl]

56. Exactly. Some people work for commission ONLY.

And earn next to nothing. Check out how many realtors there are vs. number of homes sold!!

[avaistheone1]

59. That's a great example.

Soooo true...most people don't understand that. They think all realtors make big money. Only a small percentage do.

[MineralMan]

65. The real estate agents who work hard at the job do fine.

The ones who don't don't. Example: When my wife and I moved from California to Minnesota, we had sold our home in California (ourselves with no realtor) and had the proceeds of that sale in the bank. As soon as we arrived in Minnesota, we started a search for a new home here. I cannot tell you how many realtors did not return our phone calls requesting showings of homes listed on the MLS. In each call, I explained that my wife and I would be paying 100% cash for the home we chose. Yet, call after call went unreturned.

Finally, while at an open house, I explained our situation to the agent sitting at that house, which we liked pretty well. I told her that our goal was to select a home that week and sign a Purchase Agreement that week. I explained that we required no financing, and wanted to close as soon as possible, so we could move into the home of our choice.

She listened to us. The next day, we looked at a number of homes in our price range and desired area. She showed us house after house, including several we had selected from the MLS listings. Finally, we actually decided on the house where she had been holding the open house. That day. The next day, our offer was accepted, the Purchase Agreement signed, and the deal underway.

28 days later, we moved in. The owners of the house had already purchased another home and were eager to have a fast closing. The agent expedited everything and made sure things were done quickly and properly. She listened to us, understood that we were going to buy a house that week and made sure she was the agent who sold a house to us. She worked her ass off, and earned her commission. The work wasn't that hard, because we had a goal, but she did the work.

The agents who did not bother to return our phone calls did not earn a commission. It's not hard to understand, really.

[FarCenter]

16. Doesn't look like they require a BS. "Prefer individuals"

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Revolution-Technologies-Reviews-E305645.htm

[Atman]

19. The employee/contractor reviews don't look very promising.

Sounds like you put up with a lot of crap, and have to split your almost non-existent commissions with your Account Manager for the first six months. Many employees complain about the crappy sexist/racist/fatist work environment. Take 30 days to pay contractors, and no direct deposit, you must wait for a paper check. But there were a couple of people who liked the place. Sounds like hell for $26,000 (you need at least a bachelors to start there. No degree and they pay even less).

[Brewinblue]

41. That's typical of the recruiting industry, not a negative, just

how it works --their employer (the placement agency) also does not get paid until after 30 days. And trainees do, and should, split with their manager if they are sharing their caseload with the manager as part of their training in the first 6 months. This is not a great job, but a smart kid can make it a great opportunity. Recruiters can make huge money later on their career, albeit only when the job market is robust. Like many, it's a very cyclical market.

[bvar22]

18. Welcome to the New & Improved Gilded Age 2.0

It was a clever design, and took 30 years to accomplish.
Reagan started with the Union BUsting,
and the plan has progressed unchecked ever since by both Republican and Democratic administrations.

We are now in the Final Phase, with only the TPP (NAFTA on Steroids),
and the 1st Cutting of Social Security still To Do,
but we have a good start on both of those.

Income gap widest ever: 95 Percent of Recovery Income Gains Have Gone to the Top 1 Percent
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/09/10/one_percent_recovery_95_percent_of_gains_have_gone_to_the_top_one_percent.html


Older Workers:.Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/booming/for-laid-off-older-workers-age-bias-is-pervasive.html?smid=tw-share&_r=3&

40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage
http://seeingtheforest.com/40-of-americans-now-make-less-than-1968-minimum-wage/
50% of Working Americans NOW make less than $27,000/Yr.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023308914

Right now, forty percent of Americans make less than the minimum wage from 1968.
http://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/raise-the-minimum-wage-19/?source=search


Daily CEO Pay Now Exceeds the Average Worker's Annual Salary –
http://thecontributor.com/daily-ceo-pay-now-exceeds-us-workers-annual-salary




76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/index.html


New Rule (Passed by Congress and signed by President Obama) signals Kiss of Death for Pensions
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100694955


Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama -- Highest Rate Since 1900
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/corporate-profits-have-grown-171-percent-under-obama-highest-rate-1900

Wealthy win lion's share of major tax breaks
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/05/29/wealthy-win-lion-share-major-tax-breaks/Ua0UyYle21EUXub7g1suCI/story.html

Half of America is in poverty, and its creeping toward 75%
http://www.alternet.org/economy/real-numbers-half-america-poverty-and-its-creeping-toward-75-0

Wealth gap widens as labor's share of income falls
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wealth-gap-widens-labors-share-income-falls-1B6097385

As the Economy Recovers, the Wealth Gap Widens
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2013/03/11/as-the-economy-recovers-the-wealth-gap-widens

Top One Percent Captured 121 Percent Of All Income Gains
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/top-one-percent-income-gains_n_2670455.html

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc


THIS ^ does NOT happen by accident.
It is the result of carefully planned and implemented Economic Policy.
It requires careful preparation, marketing, buying the right politicians, message control, courts packed with Conservative Corporate Rights Judges, and the marginalization and suppression of any opposition.




You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[mikeysnot]

27. This post should be it's own thread!

[liberal_at_heart]

20. We have to fight for higher wages and more affordable college. The federal and state governments

need to be funding K-12 and college education like they use to before Reagon economics ruined this country. I would say if you are only looking for a way to earn an income maybe college isn't for you. There are those who have an interest in a career that requires a degree though. And for those individuals I would always encourage them to follow their dreams. Over the course of a career and a lifetime you will make your money back and then some.

[sulphurdunn]

40. I hear you, but

why should we have to fight again for things we fought for and won 50 years ago? I'll fight to regain them, but I also want some payback from those who took them, enough so that they and their spawn tremble at the memory of it. I mean that sincerely.

[progressoid]

22. My wife has two masters degrees and makes less than that.

[Safetykitten]

28. Oh that's silly! The economy is booming. That's a monthly. It has to be.

[blackspade]

29. Yep, welcome to the $40K+ high school degree!

[bobclark86]

30. $11.33 an hour here...

And the guy at the next desk is making $12. He has a master's degree.

Yup. We're both in our field of study, each with five years of experience. No, there is no way to move up without poisoning someone.

[yuiyoshida]

31. I once knew a guy who had three major degrees ..

including a doctoral, working as a Janitor. I asked him why, and he told me, because no one was hiring or he was told he was "Overqualified" and would be "bored".

[Nye Bevan]

44. Perhaps he was very smart but very socially inept.

A large number of degrees does not guarantee success in a job.

[yuiyoshida]

60. And yet..

How come he was not overqualified as a Janitor? Did someone think he might not be bored as a Janitor? I been told I was overqualified and would be bored. Its just another way, for them to say No. We do not want you. Someone who is smart enough to think on their own. We just want someone stupid enough to follow our orders to the letter and not question anything.

[Bay Boy]

33. Bogus thread...

...without mentioning what the potential commission upside might be.

[B Calm]

34. Last year I made $64,000 driving a truck

[Turbineguy]

35. It got me a $26,000 per year job....

oh wait, that was nearly 40 years ago.

Republican economics teaches us that the less we get paid the more purchasing power we have. And of course there are more rewards for working at low pay than merely having no money. There's also the satisfaction of making sure that those who are stealing your pension are well-paid.

[davidn3600]

36. Yep...but keep cheering that low unemployment rate!

We may not be making any money, but at least we have a "job," right?

And the politicians can claim the economy is booming!

[hfojvt]

37. well it is worth it to live in Australia

What's that you say? Melbourne is in Flori-duh. oh-ooooowww!!

For a big city like Melbourne that is not very much money, and I assume cost of living is high in Florida (especially considering the heat bills (oh, wait)).

But $26,500 is almost DOUBLE minimum wage, and how hard is it to earn $5,000+ for commission?

My first job out of college was with the Federal Government and I started at GS-5. GS-5 now pays $27,431, so not that much more than this - and my degree was required, not preferred, required.

But we were also promised promotions every year for this job, one a year from GS-5 to GS-7 to GS-9 to GS-11 to GS-12 in just 4 years I would have been making $60,274.

BUT since I quit that job in November 1986, my BA and even my MA have not been able to land me anything any better. And, of course, the difference between 1986 and 2013 is that there are a whole bunch more bachelor's degrees out there. Today's BA is not much different from a high school diploma circa 1965.

[grantcart]

38. Except for my UN days I have never worked with a base, only commission.

If it is a legitimate product/service with standard commissions then you should expect to gross about $ 70k, if you are a top performer double that.

[Nye Bevan]

42. Love how you put the "base pay" in bold but not the commission.

And it seemed to work, based upon many of the replies.

[tammywammy]

45. Where I work, bachelors with no experience entry level starts around $50k.

I'm an administrative assistant and I make $40k, no bachelors or experience required for my job. If I moved to something other than admin I'd get around a $10k raise. I'm currently working on my MBA, which is why I've stayed in the less stressful easier admin position.

These are non-engineering jobs, engineers (electrical, mechanical, software and systems engineering, etc.) make more.

[BainsBane]

46. $15 an hour for a PhD with ability in multiple foreign languages

and experience with rare books and manuscripts. I actually applied for that job when I was unemployed.

[MadrasT]

47. There are people in my company

who are on a similar compensation plan and they make well over $100K/year.

[lpbk2713]

48. "26K and all the prestige you can handle."

"If that job title isn't good enough we'll change it."

[OnyxCollie]

49. Normally, you get fries with a Bachelor's Degree. nt

[RebelOne]

50. My daughter has a bachlor degree in education.

She became an educator in a South Florida middle school. Then she went on to earn her masters degree. But what did she really earn? Just a $3,000 a year raise in pay. I would think a masters would be worth a lot more than that.

[Taitertots]

51. That sucks, I'm seriously debating quitting my job at the end of the month

I just know if I keep working there I'll look back and think I pissed my life away doing something that is unsatisfying.

I have a bachelors degree and professional experience. I guess poverty wages are all I can hope for.

[Agschmid]

52. Scary huh?

Come to the dark side and work in customer service you can double that.

[Cryptoad]

53. But they are Proiud as hell as being a "Right to Work" State!

No damn Unions in FL!

[RainDog]

54. I've seen jobs requiring masters degrees at 25k a year in Mass

in library science.

yeah.

[lumberjack_jeff]

55. I think it's intriguing that we accept the fact that college is the price you pay to work indoors

But we get pissed that the menial, skill-less indoors job pays shit.

Hint: It pays shit because it's a menial skill-less job. Direct the frustration where it belongs, a system in which credential creep externalizes the costs of having employees onto the employees themselves. In fact, it creates an arbitrary level of expense to buy your way in the door.

[polichick]

67. That's what happens when 1% takes 95% of everything.