Tue 22 Jul 2008 – 12.41
Lately folks are talking about money. Not the usual twentysomething jabber about disposable income in the era between puberty and parenthood, these days folks are talking about the lack of money. The economy is in the toilet, banks are collapsing, jobs are scarce, salaries are down, and here in New York, a new wave of new graduates are learning the true nature of middle-class poverty.
Imagine this: You went to an Ivy League school and now you’re in New York looking to start on the right foot towards a rewarding career. Happens all the time. But it’s a bit of a dirty secret that these are the very people who are often exploited and underpaid, even amid the noise and haste of everyone else. the New York Observer has an article defining and illustrating what they call ‘The Ivy League Slaves of New York”. While low-level workers are often treated like crap, these Ivy Leaguers, moreso than other graduates, are squarely in the sights of certain bosses:
Ms. Marcus explained that her former place of employment had a policy about not hiring anyone who had gone to an Ivy League school, because “they didn’t want people whom they could perceive as a threat.” … Her first job out of college was as an assistant at a major media company she declined to name. “They went through 22- and 23-year-old girls like some people go through glasses of water. They didn’t care that they were hiring a new assistant every six weeks.
Ugh. What to do. And of course, the entry-level position, consisting of fetching coffee and other humiliating and barely-profitable activities, is only a small step away from the internship.
posted by Scott in careers, coffee, education, life, personal finance.
College Textbooks: The Simplest Scam Ever
Mon 21 Jul 2008 – 20.08
I have often railed against the college textbook ’system’. You know what I’m talking about: the books cost a ton, you read about a third of it, and then you can’t get more than 10% back when you sell it. It doesn’t matter who makes money, the college student loses. In fact, I’ve heard that the college bookstores don’t make much, nor do the authors. So I guess the fat-cat publishers are raking it in.
The Baltimore Sun sheds some light on the subject. This in-depth article actually talks about the out-of-control micro-industry that has so many of our young student friends by the balls.
The custom-textbook business has become the fastest-growing segment of the $3.5 billion market for U.S. new college texts, comprising 12 percent of sales for 2006, the latest year for which data is available. Royalty deals generate tens of thousands of dollars for some big academic departments. The arrangements have drawn little attention, despite increasing legislative and regulatory scrutiny of the spiraling price of textbooks, which have been rising at twice the rate of inflation over the past two decades.
Yikes! Many students find workarounds to paying those high retail prices. Obviously, buying used is a good start, but I’ve found that ordering your book online from half.com, amazon.com, or textbooks.com (maybe even craig’s list or your local school paper) can be a way to save tons of money and get a book that is new or near-new. Roommates and fraternity brothers who live in close quarters can share a book for use outside of class, but this doesn’t work for engineers and other students who take open-book exams.
But students get bit especially hard when ‘custom’ books come into play. Usually written by the professor, these thin books, often spiral- or comb-bound, are sold by the bookstore solely for a certain class. They are used only at that university, for that class, with that professor, and sometimes only for that semester! All points or resale, sharing, or handing down are moot, and the students lose! Argh!
Can you tell I’m a little bitter? I decided when I left school that I would sell all my textbooks except for one on each subject — physics, calculus, thermodynamics, etc. The others got sold, many of them to some dude in a van with a barcode scanner and a cash box. I dunno what he was doing with the books, but he offered better rates than the bookstore.
Head over and read the article here »
Then grab your pitchforks and torches, we’re going to the bookstore.
posted by Scott in education, personal finance.
San Francisco is the Best City for Young Professionals
Tue 15 Jul 2008 – 15.07
According to Forbes, the City by the Bay is the best city in America for young professionals. Why? Basically it’s because of the job market. While San Fran still trails New York in actual dollar figures for starting salaries, the opportunities for long-term growth and potential success are greater, relatively.
New York finished 4th behind Houston, Boston, and San Fran. While New York and San Fran may be the places to chase that big salary, they’re also the two most expensive cities this side of Tokyo. Saving to buy a house or sending your children to private schools becomes an entirely new economic ballgame.
posted by Scott in careers, life, personal finance.
Episode 037.5: The Great College Debate
Sun 13 Jul 2008 – 17.23
Today’s episode is an excerpt from the Keith and The Girl show episode #763, originally recorded Fri. 11 July 2008.
In this episode, regular guests Spooky and Keith McNally debate the merits of a college degree and how necessary it is as a milestone of modern happiness and career fulfillment. Since the same topic is a recurring theme here on twentyhood, I thought it fitting to re-post the appropriate portion of the show through this feed.
Listen Now
Download Episode 037.5 (.m4a, 46:19, 20.6 MB)
posted by Scott in careers, education, podcasts.