There is a minor scandal brewing over a New York Times article entitled “American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation“. To sum it up: a young man went to college, but is not back with his parents, unemployed. It’s a story that is all too familiar in the 21st century. The new plight of the aspiring middle class. And the whole fucking point of this blog.

The controversy is pretty one-sided: the liberal-leaning commenters, who ordinarily like to share in a bit of middle-class whining, skewered this young man for being spoiled, lazy, complacent, greedy, etc. Oh, did I mentioned he was offered a job with a $40,000/year salary, but turned it down for the pursuit of something better?

I don’t know where to stand on that criticism. Clearly, a job offer is a sure way out of unemployment, and even at that salary, out of your parents’ house. But I absolutely know the terror that can follow when a young person, at the start of his or her career, is “stuck” in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad job. It’s almost better to be unemployed at home — at least you don’t have a landlord breathing down your throat.

Readers, where do you stand? Are we college graduates spoiled for living at home and taking a less urgent approach to job hunting? Should we all “suck it up” and work menial unskilled jobs? Is there a cosmic injustice for a college-educated man to be delivering pizzas, or is it just a sign of the times? Did you live at home with your parents after graduating? Well, 60%+ of American graduates share that fate, so don’t feel bad.

Read the Article, and share your thoughts.

I discovered a new blog that some of us will find insightful, and everyone else will find tedious and insufferable. Check out Under-30 CEO, where stories of twentysomethings in business are explored.

There’s a short article on blogs that have been turned into books. I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of those folks who get a blog-to-book deal in 2 months! Not that I’m bitter.

I am of a certain sect of people who simply cannot celebrate the passing of time. Birthdays, New Years, and I assume Anniversaries are not moments for celebrating, but for longer. Pining for lost time, wasted opportunities, and youth, which is fast slipping away. I wish I didn’t, but I see each year marker not as a chance to appreciate my accomplishments, but to dwell in my shortcomings. I only see goals unaccomplished and dreams unfulfilled.

I treat birthdays as my own personal Yom Kippur. A time to atone, and ask forgiveness. A time to reflect on all the stupid shit I’ve said and done, and failed to say and failed to do. I look back.

29 is an odd year. It’s scarily close to 30, and so much so that we generally think of it as 30 minus 1, not 29. A prime number too, which makes me nostalgic for 23.

I once remarked that by 30 I’d like to be a husband, a father, and a homeowner. Yea, that’s not going to happen. A year out and I’m barely dating, barely employed, and barely making rent. Perhaps if I had picked a different profession, or a less-ambitious lifestyle. I went to school with folks who did that, or are on pace to.

What’s going to happen to this blog in 12 months? I don’t know. Stop asking.

Humbug. Sigh.

Wingman for Hire Promises to Help You Meet Women – Gothamist »

Today, there is a great article from the AP which features several cross-sections of families in such situations. Here are some situations that are all too typical:

The law will help Portland, Ore., mother Jessie Edwards sleep better at night. The nurse practitioner will be able to get both her young adult children covered as dependents on her insurance. Her 23-year-old son is losing his insurance this month, and her 25-year-old daughter has been uninsured for two years.

Young adults in their 20s are the most likely age group to be uninsured, and nearly 30 percent of them lacked insurance in 2008.

Lawson, a Gettysburg College administrator in Pennsylvania, said she is hoping to get her daughter back on her health plan because she is tired of playing “a roulette game.” Her daughter has just a temporary job that doesn’t provide insurance.

Go read the article. Let’s compare war stories. Also, check out The Young Invincibles, a website that gives facts for us, the twentysomethings who are healthy, but broke.

As for me, I was uninsured for a while after leaving my last full-time job, but before purchasing my own [very basic] plan on the open market. If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t had a physical in 4.5 years, and currently don’t even have a GP. So I too am rolling the dice a bit, especially with a marathon under my belt and rugby season in full effect.

But as someone much closer to 30 than 22, and generally healthy, this isn’t the most pressing issue in my life. I’d rather have a job. But don’t even get me started.

And to make my life easier, here is a straight up copy of her curation of the list.

• 20 Something Finance: Read this blog for posts about the worth of your degree, managing credit and debt, investment tips, and even retirement, so that you can start thinking about how you’ll save after college.
• Grad Money Matters: This blog understands that you’re well-educated but that you might need some extra help when it comes to PF.
• Lindsey Pollak: Lindsey Pollak is a career and workplace expert for Generation Y, and her site features videos, articles and more resources to help you establish yourself in the workforce.
• My Path: This career networking site also features a blog and videos about getting a job, retaining your edge, and more.
• On the Job: This is the blog for Anita Bruzzese’s syndicated column. Recent posts include “How to Move from Temporary Work to a Full-Time Gig” and “5 Ways to Avoid Freaking Out About Networking.”
• The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: If you’re thinking about freelancing or managing your own creative career after college, read this blog from expert Michelle Goodman.
• Newly Corporate: Read Newly Corporate to get an idea of what your first entry-level job may be like.
• College Student Blog: This blog has information about growing careers, planning your job search, and living frugally.
• Sweet Careers: Read this blog for all kinds of tips about job search etiquette, career planning, interviewing, researching successful companies, and more.
• Career Rocketeer: Find practical and conceptual job advice on this blog.
• Entry Level Living: Learn about all kinds of entry-level work, including nonprofit jobs, entry-level jobs in New York City, and more.
• Career Rookie: Get advice for finding and landing jobs and internships here.
• College health guide: This resource on Revolution Health includes mental and sexual health tips and healthy living guides.
• Em & Lo: Sex, Love and Everything in Between: This blog for women has dating advice, sexual health news, funny stories, an advice column, and an ask the guys section.
• Life Optimizer: Find study tips, advice for staying positive and improving your focus here.
• You Already Know This Stuff: Get practical advice for finding success professionally and in your personal life.
• Imagine, Connect, Act: This is the blog for Idealist.org, the international volunteer project network.
• Hack College: Find lost Word documents, be productive during Spring Break and learn fun drinking games on this blog.
• The College Solution Blog: This blog covers a range of topics, from budgeting to college life, to doing better in class.
• My College Guide: Incoming freshmen and college students will find helpful tips for preparing for interviews, remembering your notes, dealing with stress and more.
• Say Campus Life: Recent posts here feature a guide to college majors, tips for spotting a scam school, and career tips.
• College and University Blog: Get higher education news, relationship advice, fitness tips and more.
• College Guide: Washington Monthly’s blog keeps tabs on what’s going on at schools around the country, and new trends in higher ed.
• Campus Grotto: Find money tips, job search information, campus trivia and more.
• ONE Campus Challenge: This blog tracks the competition between universities to see which student body “has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign.”
• College Candy: Find real-life stories, quizzes, relationship tips, money advice and more from this hilarious — and sometimes raunchy — blog.
• Life Without Pants: Learn effective, productive ways to live life according to your own rules.
• Quarterlives: Head to Quaterlives for entertainment, health, personal development and career news geared towards 20-somethings.
• Gradspot: Turn to Gradspot when you want to learn how to cook, move into a new home, write a resume or start a new workout routine.
• The Lemon Life: The Lemon Life is another post-grad website full of articles and resources about dating, working, and living on your own.
• Think Simple Now: In addition to some personal life stories, this blog has tips for reading faster, improving focus and more.
• The Happiness Project: Read this blog everyday to remind yourself of all the reasons to be calm, confident and happy.
• Graduated Learning: Life after college: Find tips on buying a house, saving money, using social media, and more.

•• via Ramen, Rent, Resumes »

This crap has been going around the Internet for a while, but I thought I’d report on it. Pew Research has cooked up a little online quiz where users may determine for themselves how “Millennial” they are. That is, how much they have in common with us, the generation born after 1981. (nevermind that some of us in that age range already have kids in middle school!)

I’m 86. Probably would have been more if I had a tattoo or if I had played video games in the last 24 hours. Dunno if my parents’ marriage negatively affect my Millennial-ness, but that’s also a question.

Go take the test for yourself »

A study from The Oracle in synthesizes these and similar results, concluding that Millennials are more liberal, more confident, but less employed. And presumably more depressed. Or maybe that’s just me.

Scott is joined by Craig Ward and Lisa Edwards, English graphic designer/typographers in who are now living in New York. Together they eat ice cream, drink tea, complain about customer service, and discuss life as an expat on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sorry, this episode is unedited, and includes no theme music, bookmarks and, you know, editing. I may add that stuff in time, if there is demand for such (hint hint)

Grey New York
Shakespeare Cafe
PG Tips
Ghostbusters Tour
Hook and Ladder 8, TriBeCa
Friends and Seinfeld, filmed on a soundstage in Burbank
Häagen-Dazs
Keith McNally’s show(s), XO and Ham Radio
Campfire Noises
Early episodes of twentyhood
How the UPS website should look
layoffs with UPS, bad experiences at the UPS Store
Chinatown(s) and the death of Little Italy
The Lower East side’s rich history
Studio Culture by Adrian Shaughnessey and Tony Brook
This Ain’t No Disco, website to see design studios

Leave your comments below

Listen Now

Download Episode 039 (.mp3, 1:03:47, 79.2 MB)

There is a feeling of rage mixed with exhaustion mixed with disappointment that comes from realising your own job prospects are dim. It’s almost a state of mind, where you view yourself in the third person, weighing events with both rational and emotional views, yet not being able to govern yourself with either faculty.

What can be done when you’re laid off, facing an impossible job market and ruthless competition? How can you come to grips with your own self-worth when the world around you says you are worthless? And how does one pay rent?

Recently, a friend relayed to me these feelings, in not so many words. She had been laid off from a job she didn’t exactly like, but now faces the task of finding something new. Being a middle twentysomething, it is difficult to assert expertise in a given field, but holding a degree (in her case, a Master’s too), you can’t market yourself as a penniless learner.

I, and she, have both found ourselves previously in such terrible job situations that we’d rather have no job at all. In my case, I quit this job in favour of the generally unfavourable lifestyle of a freelancer. In hers, she was laid off as a gesture of professional half-mercy, finally cutting her free from a job that was more trouble than anything else. (although the pay was good). But neither of us are eager to jump back into a job that we know isn’t brilliant. Or rather, we can’t tolerate that level of frustration again at such a critical time in our lives and careers.

Being a working twentysomething is a powerful thing. We are energetic and eager to learn, we don’t have personal baggage (mortgage, kids) so we can move from city to city, we don’t mind the late hours and enjoy making connections with co-workers, we’re plugged into the latest technology and can spew knowledge of all subjects in a manner unlike our parents. We have a lot to give. But in return we do have some requirements — simple requirements — for a fulfilling, or even tolerable, worklife.

We need to be taught. Resourcefulness can only bring us so far, especially when we are new to a field of specific role. We need to find a rhythm, even if that rhythm is a sort of managed chaos that may come from certain professions like journalism, (or blogging). We need to be led, for there is nothing worse than a spiteful boss who is constantly monitoring you, telling you what you’ve done wrong. We wouldn’t mind an industry-appropriate salary and maybe even a day off. And we need to know that there is, in fact, a tomorrow — that every step brings us forward. These requirements are somewhat philosophical, but with these in place the rest is just details.

What do we do now?

Should we just quit our jobs and hide out until the economy gets better? Should we travel or live on a farm? Should we move back with our families and write a book? Should we go back to school? (I would advise against that, though, unless you’re studying to be a nurse or engineer)

In the 4+ years since finishing grad school, I haven’t been able to shake these feelings. I haven’t managed to find the instant answer to finding workplace happiness and the general answer to career happiness. I don’t have iron-clad advice for weary friends and I don’t know how to un-fuck myself from the current situation. The feelings persist.

And yes, the title of this post is inspired by the James Taylor lyrics to “Shed a Little Light”… there is a feeling like the clenching of a fist / there is a hunger in the center of the chest. …

The very excellent BBC Business Daily podcast has tackled the sensitive subject of job-hunting during the recession. While clearly it sucks, there are some subtitles in play. According to the program, workers who are hired during a recession are often hired in lesser roles, for lesser pay, and then have a harder time throughout the length of their careers. A scary sentence indeed.

Yale economist Lisa Kahn remarks on one point with which I strongly disagree: that a graduate degree strongly improves your likelihood of finding a job. While the theory has been sound for generations, the practice observed by peers and colleagues (and by myself) is that the extra degree doesn’t matter for shit. In many cases a graduate degree is viewed simply as another line on a resume — easily skipped.

I write this now from behind the desk of an office where I am consulting. In many ways, I have found a job, but as the podcast reiterates, most of the hires in the last 18 months have been temporary, conditional, freelance, or otherwise non-permanent.

This all comes through the lens of my bourgeois middle-class existence. There are folks out there who literally can’t afford to look for work. The transportation, dry cleaning, printing, etc. are too expensive. And what about those factory and farm workers who are out of work. Unless there’s another factory or farm, their prospects look bleak.

So as I sit here on Madison Ave., dressed in a crisp shirt and tie, I wonder, how has your job-hunt been going? Are you out of the woods yet? I’m getting there.

•• Check out the episode entitled “Your future job prospects? 21 Dec 09″ »

Why am I only finding out about this now? There’s an entire website devoted to tracking bloggers in their twenties. I imagine the site lets us all be social, as we’re generally a talkative bunch. And by talkative, I mean horny.

20 Something Bloggers — the bloggers with the most to say »

I’m gonna go poke around and see who I can discover. And yes, I’ll probably try to get some of them on the ‘cast.

Well, the headline kind of says it all. Today I uncovered the story of a Duke graduate student who, in an effort to save money and avoid debt, lived in his van while he attended classes.

If it weren’t an English major writing, I surely would not have read. Here’s a taste.

The idea of “thrift,” once an American ideal, now seems almost quaint to many college students, particularly those at elite schools. The typical student today is not so frugal. Few know where the money they’re spending is coming from and even fewer know how deep they’re in debt. They’re detached from the source of their money. That’s because there is no source. They’re getting paid by their future selves.

•• Article Here »

But the topic soon shifted from job seeking to job doing. As the youngest person at the table, the conversation became and odd referendum on my entire generation — and theirs. We concluded what many business writers are already saying: managing the multigenerational office is going to be an immense challenge for businesses in the 21st century.

To an extent, workplaces have always been multigenerational. Apprentices and Masters usually slotted into the age groups of sons and fathers, respectively, and the entry-level workers have often been remarked for their freshness compared to the veterans. “Do you even shave?” and that sort of thing. But in decades past, one’s working life was generally considered to be a single generation in magnitude — 30 years or so — and one would look to retire around 50, 55, 60, maybe 65 if they love what they do. However, the Baby Boomers put an end to that, and as more Boomers pass 60, they have no plans to retire. Instead, their children are joining them at work, not as novelty guests, but as co-workers.

Thus the multigenerational office, where we twentysomethings, just starting out in the world sans money, sans family, sans furniture, sans experience, are paired with relative old-timers, with stories and scars and grey hairs and grandchildren. A culture clash indeed.

The most obvious arena for friction is in technology. Milennials, Gen-Yers, and other young whippersnappers have grown up with computers and the Internet, whereas many (but not all) older workers still struggle with the speed and complexity of it. But the young ones aren’t always on the winning side; imagine a workplace in which mobile phones are banned. How can we stay in touch with our network? How can we get instant feedback on our ideas without Twitter and IM? How can I carry my address book if my iPhone has to stay in a box all day? The paradoxes are plentiful.

[side note: I just this minute had to help a gentleman in my office on a simple issue of printing a website. The reason he's printing is because copy+pasting a paragraph of text is too complex and strange for him. Oy]

But more than the simple matter of switching [back] to pens and paper, there exist many philosophical differences between the ages. Here’s a scenario: A small company’s office has a number of windows. Sunlight is good for work, all will agree, but who gets the desks (or offices) near the windows? Ask a twentysomething and we’ll probably say that workplace happiness is important, and that the employees who spend the most time at their desk (ie, the general pool of staff) should have access to an open, collaborative work environment. However, to most of our parents and grandparents, those windows would quickly be divided up between senior management and conference rooms that stand empty 95% of the day.

Here’s another: Who, if anyone, at this company needs to wear a suit and tie? Most twentysomethings will agree that there is a time and place to dress “up”, such as meeting clients or appearing in court. But on the day-to-day level, there’s almost no argument for forcing employees to maintain a dress code when clients and other would-be judges are no where to be found. Why, then, do so many of older workers maintain the status quo from the 20th century? What would happen if a lawyer, for example, didn’t wear a suit every day, surely the island of Manhattan would not slip into the sea.

And then there’s the general challenge of communication. Younger workers are focused on information — looking things up, spewing memorised fact, having the answers — where older workers focus on relationships. We are fundamentally different, and yet we’re working side-by-side. Slang aside, we often have trouble communicating and relating to one another. It’s no easy task, and something that isn’t often solved by an internal memo or adjustment to the company SOP.

What has been your experience working with older colleagues? Are they just as friendly and viable as peers? Would you rather an office that was relatively close in age range? Perhaps if the multigenerational office is to thrive, we need to implement a stronger system of mentoring or partnering. Young workers will teach the old about technology, and older workers can teach those snot-nosed kids how to conduct proper business.

For now, I’ll just try to live my life one day at a time. Maybe I’ll even see 30 one day.

This isn’t fiction, it’s the story of Amanda Ernst, a twentysomething former magazine writer and editor of FishbowlNY, a blog about advertising, media, and journalism. Amanda recently went under the microscope and talked about her adventures on NBC’s Today Show, even disclosing figures to help align her struggle with viewers who may be suffering the same drama in their lives. Read the chronicle of events from her point of view on FBNY. (for her efforts, Amanda was blog-slapped, lightly, by Gawker) The result, in this case, is positive: Amanda survived, and is doing alright, although it definitely didn’t happen automatically.

Amanda Ernst discusses losing her job and coping with the financial strain

The thesis is fairly well-known: if your income suddenly drops (especially from getting laid off/fired) you need to restructure your life accordingly. Drop the expensive gym membership, cut back on lattes, quit buying fancy clothes, and of course keep track of all your spending so you know where every penny ends up. I’ve discussed personal finance at length, and even recorded a podcast episode about the cost of living.

But the struggle for employment and the fight against idleness stress more than the wallet, they tug at the very fabric of our existences. At least, they should for most of us twentysomethings, who are trying to establish ourselves in the world, trying to make sense of our careers and relationships, as well as finances. I suppose it’s like Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs — after we satisfy our ability to eat and sleep, we start looking for more, and that usually means we need a satisfying work life.

This is the topic constantly discussed on the Chief Happiness Officer blog, which I highly recommend. For a more academic, but heartily interesting, perspective on work and life, check out the new book from Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. And if you’re one of these Internet bloggy people, try this post from Serena Renner, a co-worker of Amanda, no less.

The great sea of the economy may be swollen and unsteady, but it will calm in time. But no matter the condition, twentysomethings will look out onto the horizon and wonder what awaits. Our careers, and our lives, are in constant motion, with waves and tides that will surely shake us loose when we least expect it. But isn’t that part of the fun.

For an amusing diversion from the often-depressing existence of twentysomething unemployment (or perhaps, non-employment), check out this article which outlines in most pityous detail, the plight of the upper class, who are struggle to pay all those private school tuitions, and whatnot, in this sour economy. Lifestyles of the Rich and Needy »

Perhaps a solution to it all is to work a different job literally every day. I know that folks change jobs more frequently in this, our new century, but this is taking things to the extreme.

Clever, this, but it makes me think of the obvious point — if you’re prepared enough to have a Walk of Shame kit, chances are you’re not the type that ends up doing the Walk of Shame in the first place. Half the shame is being wrapped in the same soggy clothes with head throbbing, etc.

Hell, what do I know, I’ve never done it.

via Eric Hollings »

Remarks on dating and growing up, in New York City.

Scott and Rashan sit on a bench in Union Square and rap about meeting girls, dating, kissing (girls, not each other), moving in together, trying to get laid, and the inherent awkwardness throughout it all.

The BBC‘s Audio Ecology Project: Save Our Sounds (via CBC Spark #84)
Should I resume the Podcast? A ton of work.
Scott’s [mis]adventure with speed-dating
Don’t pee next to another guy
CP Time
Dating ratios in NYC: Stupid Articles
Whole Foods singles event
The wisdom of Keith and Chemda
Crate & Barrel
Marc Maron
Texts From Last Night
The Walk of Shame
George Carlin – Armpits, Asshole, Crotch, Teeth
Hitch, that movie
Jessica has been on the podcast
The science of a hug
No science to love
Much Ado About Nothing
Make Her Chase You: fucking crap
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Welcome to the Beehive
Pens that record audio
Do you NEED a degree?
Shop Girl
Follow twentyhood on Twitter
Scott on Twitter

Listen Now

Download Episode 039 (.m4a, 1:05:14, 30.6 MB)

Many twentysomethings will try their hand at online dating. Whether an alternative to the bar scene, or the result of a super-busy schedule, most of us have at least filled out a profile for an online dating site. But the site OKCupid.com has enlightened the Internet community by highlighting, through data analysis, what terms and trends lead to success in first-contact emails through their dating site.

What’s striking is how certain words and phrases are overwhelmingly repelling, while others seem to invite. Some of these results would seem counterintuitive, but hey, you can’t argue with statistics, right?

Have a look at the results over on OKTrends

The puzzling part of this all is to what degree we should try to socially engineer ourselves the chance at dating. Isn’t there more alchemy involved? More gut instincts and first impressions? Is it “fair” that only the most careful copywriters and persuasive debaters will land even a response?

I, for one, would be interested to see statistics relating to photography. Should we include a full-body photo? A bathing suit/shirtless photo? Colour of black-and-white for the main headshot? Professional studio shots? And how many is too many? Personally, I can testify that I get so fucking annoyed when a girl will place a photo of her dog, or the Eiffel Tower, in her online dating profile. Cmon, what are you trying to hide!

I’m heading to visit my family, and to see my parents who live there during summers. Also, this will be the first time in 5 years that both my sisters and I will all be on the island at the same time. We’re also hoping to stay in a hotel at least for a little while, which will serve as a sort of vacation from our vacation. (trust me, after a few days at my parents house, you begin to miss the comforts of home … like hot water, reliable electricity, internet, and not having roosters crowing ALL FRIGGIN DAY right in my ear.)

But I’m also hoping to sit down with my laptop for a while. Not to surf the web, as usual, and poke around with podcasts, but to write out the first draft of an e-book I’ve been planning to a while. I’m going to write a sort of manifest for the 21st century workforce — things to be aware of, things to be angry about, ways to improve your work life, etc. etc., but I could use your help.

If you have any opinions on work — the good, the bad, or the ugly, please shout it out. If you work in a remote office, or you’re crammed into a cubicle just like your father and his father, let me know. Is your job awesome? Is it terrible outdated and backwards? Do you hate big stupid corporations or do you love how often you’re allowed to use the word “synergy” on a typical day? Let me know your thoughts.

Write your opinions and thoughts in the comments. Tell me what you’d like to see addressed, what tips you wish you had, what tone and manner you’d most enjoy reading. If you don’t want your comments to be public, send it over to twentyhood@gmail.com

Thanks in advance for the input.

It’s a fair assumption that as twentysomethings, we still remember our school days. We may still be friends with our school chums, we may still have our old school clothes, and chances are, we miss our summer holidays.

Obviously, summer is a good time to be outdoors. We love the sun, the heat, wearing shorts, running around, playing with dogs and children (since those lucky bastards are off from school). There’s outdoor movies and concerts, you can sit at sidewalk cafes, and the sunlight lasts all night. Too bad you’re stuck inside.

There is a dreadful cycle of guilt and pleasure that comes from skipping out on work duties to go outside, only to return and realise how much work you’ve got to do. Generally speaking, the two are mutually exclusive — you can’t bring your office to the park, and even with a laptop, you’re only half working. If only I could knock down the entire wall of my office and work at my desk, while enjoying the outdoors.

Working holidays are tempting, but somehow end up as a fiction. When you arrive at your summer destination, the last thing you want to think about is work. And then somehow you suffer the same summer guilt for not getting things done while you’re still on vacation. Not exactly relaxing.

Plus there’s that whole unspoken competition of who has a better tan. When did that become a measure of one’s worth?

We’re hard-wired from all those years of education to view summer as play time. This is especially troubling for freelancers and those who are less-than-traditionally-employed, who are forced to be their own time-managers. Looking for work, following up with clients, managing projects, and otherwise not slacking off can be Herculean labours when placed into the arena of a July heatwave. Plus when friends start calling planning trips and weekends, it’s all the more tempting to shove work aside.

So how do we break the cycle? How do we enjoy the summers while still fulfilling the duties of our life and careers? Is summer simply a lost season, where we should expect to get nothing done, or is it an opportunity to take the lead over the other slackers who are off sunning and prancing?

1. Wear glasses
2. Lose 10 pounds
3. Cover the tattoos
4. Get tall
5. Try a little sweet talk
6. Get a conservative-looking watch
7. Mirror, mirror
8. Shut up
9. Lose the shoes
10. Answer the illegal question

Check out the full article from The Huffington Post »

I’ve been on several interviews recently and have to testify that I often screw it up by talking too much. (#8) Does anyone else have this problem? Not that I get too touchy-feely about my past jobs, or reveal something inappropriate, but I do try to express my passion and professionalism, even if it means I’ll raise a point of controversy or some hot-button issue.

Incidentally, this is the same ill-tactic that screws up many a first date. Maybe I should keep my love of Shakespeare and Pokémon to myself, at least for the first few hours.

via Pictures for Sad Children »

The terms are highlighted in an article from The New York Times dated last week.

… the interest rate on new federal Stafford loans, the most widely used federally guaranteed student loan, will drop to 5.6 percent, from 6 percent. By 2012, the rate will fall to 3.4 percent, under a schedule mandated by Congress.

… The extended payment program, called “income-based repayment,” limits what borrowers have to pay to 15 percent of the difference between their gross income and 150 percent of federal poverty guidelines. After borrowers make payments on loans for 25 years, the balance is forgiven. (The Education Department already offered an “income-contingent” repayment plan, which was similar, but less generous.)

There’s a ton of charts and numbers to comb through, so if you’re interested, definitely check out the Times article, and poke around the links.

•• Article Here »

This scheme appears to be similar to one that is offered in Britain, where students aren’t obliged to repay loans until they are earning at least £10,000 per year. That isn’t a great sum, about $18,000, but it implies that if you’re properly unemployed, or only working part-time at the local pub, you aren’t going to be burdened with a monthly payment for that expensive education you’re not “using.” Then again, in Britain tuition fees top out around £2500 per year for UK students, so I don’t feel too sorry for them.

Is this finally a chink in the armour of the American college capitalist system? Is the government inching slowly toward the European-style socialism that our population so desperately craves (whether we know it or not)? Will this new plan help prevent education from being the next bubble to burst?

Your thoughts:

It’s almost a taboo to speak of colleges and universities as businesses. The decisions they makes aren’t based on profits, they’re based on academics, right? Well, sort of. Higher education is a business, where the “products” are the graduates, and the effort is to sell those graduates to the world with the goal of getting more raw materials, students. And money. And prestige. It’s tricky.

But in America, as well as other nations, higher education carries with it a massive pricetag; attending is a sure-fire way to start your young adult life in debt. While most parents and economists alike will tell us that it’s an “investment” in our future — one that will increase the earning potential over our lives as a whole — the upfront costs are painful enough to warrant some evaluation. After all, the most basic laws of capitalism show us that if the the price of goods and services gets too high, people will stop buying! This even applies to supposéd critical purchases like gasoline, clothing, food, and now education.

I read recently, for the first time, the notion of higher education as a bubble that will soon burst. An over-inflated industry taking risks on its own future, which is now less-than-certain. The main point here is about the ever-rising costs of tuition and fees, making education unaffordable for all but the super-rich. Here’s a sobering statistic:

According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, over the past 25 years, average college tuition and fees have risen by 440 percent — more than four times the rate of inflation and almost twice the rate of medical care.

This, primarily, leads writers Joseph Cronin and Howard Norton to conclude that “there is a growing sense among the public that higher education might be overpriced and under-delivering.”

Their article appears in The Chronicle of Higher Education, and addresses such less-than-talked-about issues of how to pay these crazy fees. For example, parents will now debate whether or not $1000/week for their child’s education would not be better spent buying a house, or starting a business, or simply investing (conservatively, I hope) as a way to subsidise that child during the start of his/her career. An interesting read.

•• Article Here »

Along the same lines, MSN Money takes a look at the financial aspects of a higher education, complete with bar graphs and comparison charts. The thesis here is similar: less return on a costlier investment. Would it not be better to simply save the money towards travel, housing, kids, etc.?

How can that be? College degrees bring higher income, but at today’s cost they can’t make up the savings they consume and the debt they add early in the life of a typical student.

•• Article Here »

The metaphor here resembles that of renting vs. buying a home. A few years ago, (before the housing market collapsed) The New York Times concluded that it was a better investment to rent and invest, rather than buy an apartment in San Francisco or New York. In other words, the housing markets in those cities were over-valued, and the rate of return wasn’t worth the initial investment. Much like education? Of course, that study assumed that a potential homeowner was in the position to buy in the first place! Most renters simply don’t have a lump sum of cash available for downpayments and/or other investments.

With education, there is a similar lurking variable — can the student get a loan at all? With the credit woes lately, many students are being turned away, often because their parents don’t have, or aren’t willing to offer, collateral for such a financial burden. Would your parents take on an additional $200,000 in liabilities during a time when their retirement funds are shot and their house isn’t worth the dirt it’s built upon? Perhaps not.

I will never say so plainly “college isn’t worth it,” the time is impossible to value for the life experiences and for what you learn — in and out of the classroom. However, I am a firm advocate that the four-year college, with summers off and some crappy internships thrown in, is not the only way to go about things. Professional apprenticeships, gap years, co-ops, sandwich courses, fast-tracks, part-time, and other alternative methods of study are just as viable, and may help students transition easier into full-time work. After all, if you find yourself unemployed, and your income is minimal, then college definitely wasn’t worth it.

I didn’t need a degree in engineering to figure that one out.

So, is College worth it? Is Higher Ed the next bubble to burst? What do you think?