re: Have we really ruined the youth of America?

yeah, if you can’t get a job in a place like Texas with a college degree you’re either socially retarded or have something wrong in your applications.

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I struggled after school despite high earning STEM graduate degree. The good old boy bullshite kept me from getting good job in Louisiana.

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The good ole boy covered the entire fricking state? What the hell did you get a degree in?

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We are in one of the best economic times in decades.
Got any documentation or credible links to back this up?

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Um, reality.

If you aren't doing well in it, you are doing something(or multiple things) wrong.

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We have too many people.

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I agree. We need a purge.

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OP and the idiot in the quote perpetrating the myth that it’s still 2010

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Yeah. I’m responsible for perpetuating this “myth”

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I think it’s a bad idea to brainwash kids at an early age that they have to go to college.

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I know I post a lot of bullshite stuff on here, this isn't one of them.

This is something I agree with 100%. IMO, I think you have to introduce the idea of college to kids, but don't let them think that is their only option.

Since as far back as I can remember, it was put in my head to the point it came natural. After I graduate HS I would go to LSU. And after first, I had trouble picking a major because going to LSU after graduating was the goal that was put in my head since I was a kid. At one point my dad mentioned to me that I should also look into La Tech as well and at that point, my thought was "as in,,, Not go to LSU? That isn't happening",.

So for me, the thought of going anywhere else wasn't even an option in my mind. And as much pride I have in LSU, instead of putting it in a kid's head that going to a college (especially a certain college), I think the best thing to do is make them aware of their options. If they have an interest in something that is only offered at certain schools, they should go there.. Or that there are other ways to make a living without going to college.

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College wasn’t as expensive and education wasn’t as necessary for the same jobs coming out of college 40 years ago. Times have just changed.

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IMO, there's one universal human trait that is irrefutable: EVERYONE wants to be "somebody special," whether real or perceived, and a trade/profession is no different.

For example: Used to be, as long as the curriculum at a given school met the criteria and had the correct hours and types of land surveying classes, you could get an AAS in Civil Engineering Technology, graduate, take your Land Surveyor In Training (LSIT) exam, get a job as an intern for a minimum of 3 years, show a steady progression up the hierarchy of positions and responsibilities within the profession and of your knowledge gained to where you were deserving of an opportunity to take the PLS exam, have the appropriate # of licensed professional Surveyors (PLS) sign off for you to take your licensing exam, get licensed and be a Professional Land Surveyor.

Alternatively, you could go to a 4 year school and do the same as above, but only have to intern for 2 years, assuming all requirements were met. You could also work so many years (7 or 9 years, I can't remember) with only a high school diploma (or not, again I can't remember) and do the same.

Post 2009 graduation (I think), you have to have a BS with the required curriculum and hours. There are no more 2 year tech school pipelines to getting your own PLS stamp.

Everybody wants to be somebody: "We can't have some Joe Blow with a GED out here stamping legal surveys as a PLS and making our fancy CE degree look useless." Alternatively, "We can't have so much competition." (This "competition" example is one that has effectively decimated the crop of future PLS's. Even folks who very much put their time, blood, sweat and tears in and who deserved to sit for the PLS exam oftentimes couldn't get their respective surveyors and/or the company they worked for to sign off for them to sit. Again, everybody wants to be somebody.)

(And this analogy is coming from someone who graduated pre-2009 in CET, and also went and got his BS in Ag Engineering and Business with a concentration in Geomatics and Land Surveying.)

But there's one addition to the, "times have changed," theory and why it means more and more careers need more and more education and development of said career: We are learning. Every day, we learn more.

Every day the plumbing profession has a change, an addition, a new skill or knowledge base that needs to be added in order to serve the public and the trade; so why would a STEM subject like Land Surveying and Geomatics not be the same?

So long story long, I believe it comes down to a mixture of these two factors: The somewhat-selfish fact that, either real or perceived, everybody wants to be "somebody," plus the realization that we are learning more and more every day and technology is increasing so rapidly that even some of the most seemingly mundane of positions and jobs require far heavier dosages of education and starting knowledge of said position in order to "hit the ground running" on day 1 of the real thing. Things move fast nowadays- far faster than they did 40 years ago- and day 1 on the job and what is expected is no exception.

Clear as mud.

There is an utter resentment of Baby-Boomers from Millenials and Gen Z. The "have to go to college" mentality, propped up by sky-rocketing costs and flat wages is tough. The Baby-Boomer generation also created CDOs and the housing collapse in 2008. They will also be the ones to use up all of social security.

My hope for that generation is, they all saved enough for retirement. Call it age-discrimination or not, but myself and friends are now at the point where we are getting into hiring positions. I'd hire a well-educated high-schooler before I hire that... "wealth of experience."

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the good ole boy covered whole state

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Even in technical roles. Starting out you often need an "in" especially in Louisiana.

I've worked with companies with operations all over and Louisiana locations often have bizarre hiring processes for young employees.

For example. It was hard for a guy like myself to compete for a role. Compared with a graduate who spent the last 2 summers in the company's "sons and daughters program". Which gave summer employment to children of company employees who are in college.

I'd apply with a given company. Same resume. I'd get no response for role in Louisiana. Higher level role in Texas I'd get flown out for interview on company dime.

Most guys I went to school with got good jobs but outside the state. Besides myself the only 2 who got jobs in state work at same company as their Dad's. Small sample size. But, that was my experience.