Reconsider majoring in meteorology!

[Ellinwood]

Here's the Georgetown data:

http://cew.georgetow...u/whatsitworth/

http://www9.georgeto...calsciences.pdf

Considering that the unemployment rate for college grads is only 4.4%, it isn't as much of a leap down to those really small numbers.

They took the data from the American Community Survey (ACS - Census Bureau), so it is actually a nice set of data, but it is definitely going to miss things like whether you are working in the field of your major. In fact, the last page of the Physical Science section has the following breakdown for sector of employment for the At Sci majors:

1) Public administration

2) Professional services

3) Information

4) Manufacturing (durable)

5) Education services

Thanks for pulling the data! It was also interesting (though unsurprising) to note that in Atmos. Sci. and Meteorology, the number of males to females is 4:1. The only physical science with a bigger ratio is physics, which is 82% male.

[isohume]

Thanks for pulling the data! It was also interesting (though unsurprising) to note that in Atmos. Sci. and Meteorology, the number of males to females is 4:1. The only physical science with a bigger ratio is physics, which is 82% male.

Yeah, many of the NWS offices are overwhelmingly white male...GSP being one of the last ALL white male offices. I bet the m/f ratio is more even in broadcast met.

Kinda weird seeing new met programs spring up like UNC Charlotte and Virginia Tech...as if there is a real need out there. I imagine they're trying to cash in on weather's popularity right now...twc's storm chasing, Abrams, Cantore, etc.

[SnowGoose69]

My experience is that many people with a degree in this field often never work in it, either because they realize late in their college career that they do not want to relocate away from their home region, the pay is much worse than they anticipated, the shift work is an issue for them or for whatever reason they decide they'd rather do something else. It seemed back when I graduated school that those who wanted to find work in the field DID and the rest simply did not want to work in the field, now it seems its alot harder, even for those with high GPAs and internships during their college tenure.

[isohume]

My experience is that many people with a degree in this field often never work in it, either because they realize late in their college career that they do not want to relocate away from their home region, the pay is much worse than they anticipated, the shift work is an issue for them or for whatever reason they decide they'd rather do something else. It seemed back when I graduated school that those who wanted to find work in the field DID and the rest simply did not want to work in the field, now it seems its alot harder, even for those with high GPAs and internships during their college tenure.

I couldn't believe the high number of my classmates that didn't have a specific employment goal after college.

[baroclinic_instability]

I couldn't believe the high number of my classmates that didn't have a specific employment goal after college.

That or the folks who simply didn't have a backup goal. It certainly is a problem in meteorology given the relative lack of jobs. I would like to see universities more aggressively prepare undergrads for the reality of meteorology, but I have heard all too often of undergrads/grad students thinking they had guaranteed jobs out of college, so it is obvious students are unprepared. Of course, much responsibility falls onto the students themselves, but the university plays a major role as well.

[isohume]

That or the folks who simply didn't have a backup goal. It certainly is a problem in meteorology given the relative lack of jobs. I would like to see universities more aggressively prepare undergrads for the reality of meteorology, but I have heard all too often of undergrads/grad students thinking they had guaranteed jobs out of college, so it is obvious students are unprepared. Of course, much responsibility falls onto the students themselves, but the university plays a major role as well.

I'm sure it varies greatly by University...but Iowa State did a good job of keeping things realistic when it came to future employment discussions. Our professors always harped on us that competition was stiff in met and you need to really do all you can at any given time to make yourself competitive. They'd joke about it...saying some of us would end up working at the Union selling books after a bad test. That motivated me. I didn't exactly want to waste all the money I was paying for a noble, yet service job. I'm pretty sure we all got it.

[SnowGoose69]

That or the folks who simply didn't have a backup goal. It certainly is a problem in meteorology given the relative lack of jobs. I would like to see universities more aggressively prepare undergrads for the reality of meteorology, but I have heard all too often of undergrads/grad students thinking they had guaranteed jobs out of college, so it is obvious students are unprepared. Of course, much responsibility falls onto the students themselves, but the university plays a major role as well.

From about 1990-2005 the employment out of school was very good for those who had internships and went hard for jobs, it dropped markedly thereafter due to the stiff competition due to more graduates and slowing NWS openings (which really started more in the latter part of the 90s). The employment was pretty dismal in the 80s from I understand before the NWS expansion started occurring, I met a shoe salesman in a store in NYC when I was still in high school who graduated in 1984 who said he could not find any employment and a friend of the family also had a son who graduaed around 1985 with similar problems...the whole thing may be somewhat of a cycle, we could see a drop off 10-15 years in the # of Met grads due to spreading word of the employment problems and the whole thing could repeat again.

[Analog96]

I wasn't sure which thread to put this in, but Yahoo news came out with a list of 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates. Ironically, atmospheric sciences and meteorology was 9 on the list with a 1.6% unemployment rate. Where or how they came up with this information, I have absolutely no idea. This practically seems blasphemous to me given the number of unemployed mets out there. I'd be more than willing to bet that the actual figure is much higher than 1.6% and that this is simply an example of shoddy journalism. This piece is about as bad as the article US News came out with a while ago stating that mets had an average (or was it median?) salary of 85K, something we all now isn't true. Link to the article:

http://news.yahoo.co...-163049193.html

Yes, BUT does that specifically mean that all of these "employed' mets are currently working as meteorologists, or just working, in any job, period?

[baroclinic_instability]

I'm sure it varies greatly by University...but Iowa State did a good job of keeping things realistic when it came to future employment discussions. Our professors always harped on us that competition was stiff in met and you need to really do all you can at any given time to make yourself competitive. They'd joke about it...saying some of us would end up working at the Union selling books after a bad test. That motivated me. I didn't exactly want to waste all the money I was paying for a noble, yet service job. I'm pretty sure we all got it.

Yeah we had a similar experience at University of North Dakota as well, and our professors were very up front regarding the poor job market. They were pretty aggressive at placing students in volunteer/internship programs, and they put quite a bit of effort into preparing the students for the next step in their career whether it be TV met, grad school, forecasting, etc. It is really why I strongly suggest to all potential mets that they pursue a "smaller" program where they can get to know their advisers/professors and vice versa.

[wxmanmitch]

Neither the article nor the link to the data in the article specify whether the employment is within the actual field of study or not... I would venture a guess that it applies to any employment and not just within the field.

Yes, BUT does that specifically mean that all of these "employed' mets are currently working as meteorologists, or just working, in any job, period?

I hadn't really thought about interpreting it that way when I first saw this article, but you both may very well be correct. The Georgetown data that was posted seems to suggest this.

Question is, what can one with a meteorology degree do after school that is not related to the field? I'd welcome any degreed meteorologists who are not currently in the field to chime in.

The major trains one for a job in the profession, and it isn't really easy for one to change fields without pursuing additional education at their expense. This is why those already in meteorology school (or considering it) should simultaneously work toward a plan B while in school, or perhaps forgo it altogether for something else if you're not absolutely certain about meteorology as a career choice. In fact, even if you are, a plan B is still a good idea. I did not, and am now dealing with the drawbacks of my prior moves.

I love weather (always have, always will), but was never totally certain about the atmospheric sciences field as a career. Regardless, I followed my passion through a BS and MS in meteorology since I didn't really know what else to do. While I enjoyed the ride and have no regrets, I do wish I had thought about the career aspect of it more seriously. Although I hold my meteorology professors in extremely high regard, I do think that they should've done more to inform students of the reality after school, particularly early on during the course of the major. This may have influenced my decision making back then, something that would've saved me from now scrambling to go through the proper channels to find work in an alternate profession.

[SnowGoose69]

I hadn't really thought about interpreting it that way when I first saw this article, but you both may very well be correct. The Georgetown data that was posted seems to suggest this.

Question is, what can one with a meteorology degree do after school that is not related to the field? I'd welcome any degreed meteorologists who are not currently in the field to chime in.

In this economy, not much because when the job market is very poor you rarely find people with degrees too far outside of a career getting jobs in it. In 1999 people with Chemistry degrees were getting hired to work finance jobs because there were not enough people out there with business, marketing, or finance degrees looking for work to fill those jobs, but thats certainly not happening now. Earth Science teacher and environmental science positions are two that I know of where many people with meteorology degrees work, I'm sure there are others too.

[IMADreamer]

I'm a little late to the discussion but I'll add my two cents. It was tough getting a job after college because I was largely on my own, my school kind of sucked at that. However I did, I liked my job alot but I had an opportunity to make more money doing something else and I took it. It was a tough decision because I felt in a way that I wasted the first 20 some years of my life because all I wanted to do was be a meteorologist and even though I was doing that I knew it wasn't something I would do forever. I guess maybe I'm greedy, but I have expensive hobbies. Even the years immediately after not being a meteorologist I would have times when I felt like a failure because I wasn't using my degree. Sometimes now I still question my decision, but oh well. I feel like I use meteorology every day and even though I'm not a paid meteorologist I still study the weather and I'm glad I have the formal training to do so.

[wxmanmitch]

In this economy, not much because when the job market is very poor you rarely find people with degrees too far outside of a career getting jobs in it. In 1999 people with Chemistry degrees were getting hired to work finance jobs because there were not enough people out there with business, marketing, or finance degrees looking for work to fill those jobs, but thats certainly not happening now. Earth Science teacher and environmental science positions are two that I know of where many people with meteorology degrees work, I'm sure there are others too.

Sounds like me (and perhaps others) are pretty much screwed. Maybe I really should go back to college and get a second degree in Computer Science. Time for me to give up the red tag and register under a new username...

[beavis1729]

I hadn't really thought about interpreting it that way when I first saw this article, but you both may very well be correct. The Georgetown data that was posted seems to suggest this.

Question is, what can one with a meteorology degree do after school that is not related to the field? I'd welcome any degreed meteorologists who are not currently in the field to chime in.

The major trains one for a job in the profession, and it isn't really easy for one to change fields without pursuing additional education at their expense. This is why those already in meteorology school (or considering it) should simultaneously work toward a plan B while in school, or perhaps forgo it altogether for something else if you're not absolutely certain about meteorology as a career choice. In fact, even if you are, a plan B is still a good idea. I did not, and am now dealing with the drawbacks of my prior moves.

I love weather (always have, always will), but was never totally certain about the atmospheric sciences field as a career. Regardless, I followed my passion through a BS and MS in meteorology since I didn't really know what else to do. While I enjoyed the ride and have no regrets, I do wish I had thought about the career aspect of it more seriously. Although I hold my meteorology professors in extremely high regard, I do think that they should've done more to inform students of the reality after school, particularly early on during the course of the major. This may have influenced my decision making back then, something that would've saved me from now scrambling to go through the proper channels to find work in an alternate profession.

I have a B.S. in Meteorology and an M.S. in Math...I was a math instructor for a few years at a university, and I now work at an insurance company. Not sure if my Met. degree helped me get my current job...and unfortunately I hardly use my degree at all.

[Scotty Lightning]

It took me three years to get a job; just keep persevering and eventually something pops up. I did start taking some graduate classes online and in a few years if I get tired of the broadcast side I can jump into something else met related.

[weatherwiz]

It took me three years to get a job; just keep persevering and eventually something pops up. I did start taking some graduate classes online and in a few years if I get tired of the broadcast side I can jump into something else met related.

I understand the job market in the meteorology field isn't that great but is this really a reason for people to completely give up and not even make attempts or an effort to at least try to get a job in the field? Sure it may take a while but I know I would never, ever give up. I will definitely have a backup plan and stick with that but I will never just completely give up and throw in the towel just b/c the job market isn't that great. There are always job openings in this field somewhere, granted there may not be a ton of them but you just have to fight for it and do your best. If you're still in school, make sure you're getting excellent grades and find ways to get your name out there.

[isohume]

I understand the job market in the meteorology field isn't that great but is this really a reason for people to completely give up and not even make attempts or an effort to at least try to get a job in the field? Sure it may take a while but I know I would never, ever give up. I will definitely have a backup plan and stick with that but I will never just completely give up and throw in the towel just b/c the job market isn't that great. There are always job openings in this field somewhere, granted there may not be a ton of them but you just have to fight for it and do your best. If you're still in school, make sure you're getting excellent grades and find ways to get your name out there.

You should never give up on your goals without trying and I don't think anyone here did that. You should be willing to move just about anywhere CONUS to secure your first job tho. You should also realize you wont make much money during your first few years. In the meantime, your job is to make yourself as competitive as possible...ie: high grades, research papers, internships, volunteering, etc.

[Thunder Road]

The NWS road show stopped in at Valpo on Monday and this year it included a Valpo grad who was working for United Airlines (technically ENSCO) as well.

The MIC of LOT and IWX were both there, and they said right now they can't desperately want people who have GIS minors, or CompSci minors, or in LOT's case, people who can speak/write Spanish. It's all about diversifying yourself, interning EVERYWHERE you can, getting good grades, and being professional. This is why I like Valpo meteorology, the program is so small that I know all the professors and they all know me, and they are telling it like it is: be a go-getter and be better than everyone else or reconsider your major.

[vortmax112]

Yes, to succeed you have to REALLY, REALLY, want it. the advice you have been given is good but the problem is that not everyone can be better than everyone else. There are just too many mets and not enough jobs and the market is trying to send this message with the low salaries that exist in this field in the private sector. Usually this is what acts to bring things back into balance but it doesn't seem to be happening in this case. Probably because of these very misleading articles claiming things like "1.6 percent unemployment rate" among mets. I'm 100% sure they are talking about employment in general and not that 98.4% of graduating mets have found a job in this field. Good luck to you.

The NWS road show stopped in at Valpo on Monday and this year it included a Valpo grad who was working for United Airlines (technically ENSCO) as well.

The MIC of LOT and IWX were both there, and they said right now they can't desperately want people who have GIS minors, or CompSci minors, or in LOT's case, people who can speak/write Spanish. It's all about diversifying yourself, interning EVERYWHERE you can, getting good grades, and being professional. This is why I like Valpo meteorology, the program is so small that I know all the professors and they all know me, and they are telling it like it is: be a go-getter and be better than everyone else or reconsider your major.

[SnowGoose69]

The NWS road show stopped in at Valpo on Monday and this year it included a Valpo grad who was working for United Airlines (technically ENSCO) as well.

The MIC of LOT and IWX were both there, and they said right now they can't desperately want people who have GIS minors, or CompSci minors, or in LOT's case, people who can speak/write Spanish. It's all about diversifying yourself, interning EVERYWHERE you can, getting good grades, and being professional. This is why I like Valpo meteorology, the program is so small that I know all the professors and they all know me, and they are telling it like it is: be a go-getter and be better than everyone else or reconsider your major.

I'm a computer moron, what is GIS? I see and hear about it all the time, I want to say its the NWS comp system deal but isn't that GFE?

[baroclinic_instability]

I'm a computer moron, what is GIS? I see and hear about it all the time, I want to say its the NWS comp system deal but isn't that GFE?

Geographic Information Systems. It is an entire degree field in itself. It is becomingly increasingly common for mets to either minor in it or dual major in it. It is a good route to go since it really increases your value. We use quite a bit of GIS in the NWS, and I personally wish I had more experience than my one course. It comes in handy in a number of situations.

[SN_Lover]

I thought I would share this with you all, If it has not been shared already:

The 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates

Majors and their unemployment rate:

1. Actuarial Science—0 percent

2. Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent

3. Educational Administration and Supervision—0 percent

4. Geological and Geophysical Engineering—0 percent

5. Pharmacology—0 percent

6. School Student Counseling—0 percent

7. Agricultural Economics—1.3 percent

8. Medical Technologies Technicians—1.4 percent

9.Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology—1.6 percent

10. Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies—2.2 percent

[Thunder Road]

I'm a computer moron, what is GIS? I see and hear about it all the time, I want to say its the NWS comp system deal but isn't that GFE?

I'm glad baro could speak on it a little bit, because frankly I have no idea. I just know that I've heard from now 3 different NWS mets that whatever it is, it's very valuable. I think a GIS minor combined with Teresa's FORTRAN class and maybe a refresher course in Java should hopefully qualify me for whatever SCEP will become in the future.

[vortmax112]

Again, it is NOT saying that only 1.6% don't have jobs in meteorology and the other 98.4% are working in the field, it is saying that only 1.6% are unemployed with NO job. I'd say that at best only about half of today's met grads will end up working in the field of meteorology. There are a lot of mets and unfortunately not a lot of met jobs so a lot of people get forced out of the field. but met grads tend to be highly motivated intelligent people so most end up doing something, hence the low unemployment numbers. That stat is VERY misleading...

I thought I would share this with you all, If it has not been shared already:

The 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates

Majors and their unemployment rate:

1. Actuarial Science—0 percent

2. Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent

3. Educational Administration and Supervision—0 percent

4. Geological and Geophysical Engineering—0 percent

5. Pharmacology—0 percent

6. School Student Counseling—0 percent

7. Agricultural Economics—1.3 percent

8. Medical Technologies Technicians—1.4 percent

9.Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology—1.6 percent

10. Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies—2.2 percent

[Thunder Road]

Oh and by the way I see you're new, so welcome. But VortMax might not be the best choice for a username.

[isohume]

I'm glad baro could speak on it a little bit, because frankly I have no idea. I just know that I've heard from now 3 different NWS mets that whatever it is, it's very valuable. I think a GIS minor combined with Teresa's FORTRAN class and maybe a refresher course in Java should hopefully qualify me for whatever SCEP will become in the future.

The SCEP program has been canceled and it's being replaced by the Internship Program. The Internship Program will be different in that it doesn't allow a pathway to hire participants directly for federal employment like the SCEP program did. It's basically a cost saving measure, but the Internship Program will look good on any resume.

[jburns]

Oh and by the way I see you're new, so welcome. But VortMax might not be the best choice for a username.

Yeah. You might want to pick one that is less toxic. Something like, Osama.

[Thunder Road]

The SCEP program has been canceled and it's being replaced by the Internship Program. The Internship Program will be different in that it doesn't allow a pathway to hire participants directly for federal employment like the SCEP program did. It's basically a cost saving measure, but the Internship Program will look good on any resume.

Whose decision was this? I want to know who to be pissed off at.

The MIC of LOT explained the hiring system, from the application to the points to the "gold group" to the interview and whatnot and it sounds nearly impossible to get in unless it's through SCEP. So it really sucks that SCEP is going away.

[SnowGoose69]

Whose decision was this? I want to know who to be pissed off at.

The MIC of LOT explained the hiring system, from the application to the points to the "gold group" to the interview and whatnot and it sounds nearly impossible to get in unless it's through SCEP. So it really sucks that SCEP is going away.

The SCEP may be going away but with the # of Vets coming out of the service given a mass downsizing that occurred in the last year it may as well just cancel it out. And the SCEP was not really the only way to get in, at certain offices such as State College, Albany, Norman, Grand Forks and a few others it was a major obstacle to the non SCEP crew but in smaller locales away from universities it was far from a complete blocking issue. SCEPs generally took advantage of the fact they could get into desireable locations, the worst location I have ever seen a SCEP walk into a slot was Little Rock, AR and believe me, Little Rock is a relatively nice city, but by standards of someone used to a bigger city it may not seem that desireable. If you're looking to apply to Goodland, Elko, San Juan, or Caribo its highly unlikely you ever needed to concern yourself with SCEP applicants.

[famartin]

Here's a good essay which suggests that the situation in Meteorology is not at all dissimilar to what's going on in most other college majors...

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-we-ruined-occupy-wall-street-generation/

I quoted the 5, 4 and 3 below as they are related to this discussion topic...

I'm honestly apologizing for ...

#5. Making You Ashamed to Take Manual Labor Jobs

During one "Occupy Wall Street" protest, somebody from the Chicago Board of Trade dumped McDonald's applications on the protesters. This made me think of a viral Facebook post that David Wong showed me the other day:

Via Weknowmemes.com

If you know who that came from, we'd love to give him/her credit for the post. And a high five or something.

Because yes, you guys are getting hammered for being too lazy or "entitled" to take on a low-paying job, and for standing up and demanding help paying for college, etc., instead of just being happy "flipping burgers." People my age and older will go on and on about how in our day we weren't too good to get our hands dirty when the good jobs dried up.

But I'm pretty sure we taught you the opposite of that. And the Baby Boomers taught us.

See, we were raised on 1980s movies and sitcoms, and the "cold, unfeeling grownup who works too hard" was the villain in half of them. The whole point of these "body switching" comedies -- where a kid winds up in the body of a grownup -- was that the career-driven workaholic dad learned what life was really all about. The message was clear: If you work too hard, you'll lose your soul.

The characters who worked their asses off were shown to be stiff prudes who come down on the lighthearted main character with an iron fist. Or maybe that person is the main character, but by the end they realize that the only way to truly enjoy life is to lighten up and embrace their inner child. They finally stand up and quit their grindstone job in a hail of applause, and live a life of stress free bliss. As a side note, at some point, those people had to urinate ... so the little kid trapped in the dad's body was physically handling his dad's COC. That image is on the house -- you're welcome.

By the time the Grunge Era came around, the "slacker" and "loser" characters were heroes, the guys who knew that life was really all about having fun. We were a self-depreciating group of people who proudly declared that we were what our parents always wanted to be: laid back and carefree. "Loser" and "slacker" were terms of endearment. We knew that the whole suit-and-tie job was a one way ticket to becoming Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club. So many of us ended up slacking our way into fast food jobs. We were the guys from Clerks.

Flash forward a couple of decades, and most of us are now parents. We've since found out that there's not much market for making a really good honey bear bong or winning a contest for having the dirtiest flannel shirt (first place four years running, thank you very much). We've cut our hair, bought some decent work clothes and moved on -- lesson learned. But that fast food job stuck with us. It became a scare tactic to use on our own kids. We want them to have something better.

But here's the thing: Those Baby Boomers who started this "you don't want to flip burgers" bull**** did flip burgers. Or roof houses, or mine coal, or wax porn stars' ***holes. And that wasn't something to be ashamed of back then -- that was the era before you needed a bachelor's degree to get a job waiting tables (but more on that in a moment). But at some point between my grandfather's time and now, getting your hands dirty became something to be ashamed of. My generation perpetuated that. We made it socially unacceptable to:

A) Do any job that requires sweat and/or a uniform.

Work 70-hour weeks to get ahead.

So if you don't do either of those things, what's left? Getting an education and waiting for a good job in your field. But now, when we catch you doing that, we mock you and tell you to go flip burgers. And that's bull****. We told you your whole lives that those jobs were for idiots and failures. You think you're too good for those jobs because that's what we've been ****ing telling you since birth.

#4. Implying That College Would Guarantee You a Good Job

Last month, I overheard a conversation between a steakhouse waiter and an older couple he was serving. He knew the couple, but not intimately. They politely asked how his classes were coming along, and he said that he had in fact graduated with a degree in architecture. For the next several minutes, the old couple awkwardly tried to reassure him that something would come along while he attempted to justify to them why he was serving steaks for a living.

It was painfully clear that he felt like a failure, and that he dreaded having this conversation with every older member of his family he encountered. Having to put a positive spin on his own life, trying to reassure them that he wasn't a failure, or lazy, or hadn't dropped out of society due to a drug problem. Yes, I did get my degree. No, they're not hiring.

So, here's the thing. You have to go to college. Your parents told you that, I'm telling my kids that. Every high school teacher you have or had told you that. ("You don't want to wind up flipping burgers, do you?")

And they're not wrong; if I'm an employer looking at 200 applications to fill one job, and 50 of them have bachelor's degrees, those are going to be the ones I move to the top of the pile, even if the job is that poor bastard who shakes a sign outside of Little Caesars.

The problem is that we've sort of set you up to think that after high school, the next step is college, and after that you just jump in and start working at the job you went to college for. We kind of implied that this "college to job" transition is as natural and orderly as "high school to college." That is, if you get the right grades, you "graduate" to it. That's not true, and it's our fault that so many of you think that.

See, our parents told us that because they didn't actually know. As a generalized whole, they didn't go to college. You have to realize how recent the whole "everybody goes to college" thing really is. It was only two generations ago that college educations were rare -- in 1950, less than 10 percent of adults had bachelor's degrees (hell, only half even graduated high school). People back then were less mobile and more likely to stay in the town where they were born. That meant that their options were limited; men joined the military, or went to work at the local factory/warehouse/whatever was hiring. Women got busy having babies and being waitresses/secretaries/whatever was hiring. College was something that smart kids and people with money did. And they probably thought those college kids had a free ticket to a nice job in an air-conditioned office.

So when they worked hard and gave their kids the opportunity to get a degree, they thought they were giving us what those fancy smart kids got: an automatic job with a hotass secretary to feel up. Sexual harassment wasn't a thing yet.

Now everybody has a degree. It's the baseline minimum. So when you finally take those first steps out of university life and enter the work field, it's an absolute system shock to find out your $30,000 to $100,000+ bachelor's degree doesn't guarantee you a position in your field of study ... possibly ever. At least 40 percent of you who get degrees will wind up in jobs that don't require a degree at all. And the rest will wind up in jobs outside the field they studied.

Again, it's not that you shouldn't get a degree. Far from it. It's that the system we've declared to be the default also happens to be ****ed. And not in the good way ... in the "chick breaks a porn record" way. You're not going to use 90 percent of what you learn.

I have dozens of examples of this in my inbox right now. People who have been where I've been -- poor and struggling, willing to do whatever it takes to get out of that soul-crushing hole. After years of it, they finally have enough and decide to go back to college. So I ask, "OK, that's a good idea -- then what?" And they don't know. They hadn't considered that even after graduation, they might be in exactly the same position as they are right now ... plus another $50,000 worth of debt. Nobody told them, or at least didn't tell them loud enough.

So, yes, you're frustrated and angry about that. You have a right to be.

#3. Adding Seven More Years to Being a Teenager

In my parents' day, it was always just sort of assumed that at age 18, you pack your **** and get the hell out of the house. Go back 40 years and you find everybody getting drafted into the military at that age (Vietnam and before that, Korea, and before that, World War II). When you got back, you started having babies. So if you were still living at home at age 25, they made you stay in the attic and told the neighbors you had died from tuberculosis.

Things started to change with the "everybody goes to college" era. Going to college means you're probably not supporting yourself, you're living in temporary student housing and your parents keep your old bedroom in place for when you come back for the summer. So then if you don't get a job out of college, you're right back home at age 23, possibly still sleeping on a bed shaped like the Millennium Falcon.

So now you guys are living in a world where kids don't move away from Mom and Dad until their mid 20s to lower 30s. And it's the same story with marriage -- today you tend to marry in your late 20s, as opposed to my parents' generation, who did so five years earlier.

But this has created a very annoying, ugly side effect in the culture: the phenomenon of the immature Man-Child. The twenty-something dude with his collection of anime action figures, the guy pushing 30 who's still sticking it out with his garage band and spends his nights getting in screaming matches with teenagers on XBox Live, the hipster who spends 80 percent of his income on wacky ironic clothes and mustache growth supplements.

In other words, we've extended the awkward teenage years into the mid to late 20s. Now, I would not be apologizing for this if it was just the result of social and economic factors outside our control. But the problem is that we made a hero of that person. Think Kelso in That '70s Show, or Joey from Friends. My generation aspired to be that guy, the kid in a grownup body with simple, childish appetites and aspirations. I was that guy for years -- a dude can get very popular doing that.

But let me tell you from experience, the longer you put off adulthood, the harder the transition is.

And staying home longer does delay it -- a huge part of becoming an adult is living on your own and finding out through trial and error what works, living through seemingly simple things like balancing your budget, cooking your own meals and learning how to get blood stains out of your ceiling without repainting.

And what's going to happen is you're going to run into a whole lot of people who still judge you according to the age scale set by my parents' generation -- that you should have your **** together by 23.

So you grow up in a culture that tells you maturity is for boring ***holes, and then suddenly you get dumped into a world that expects maturity.