@JuantheGardener: Damn, at this rate, the company will have to reimburse me for my annual subscription to Consumerist.

My undergrad degree is in Corporate Communication (so, basically, PR) and my grad degree is in Communication (with a PR and organizational communication focus). So, I feel fairly practical. Maybe.

I think I'm the only one in the call center with a Master's. But at least half -- if not more -- of the employees also have college degrees. It's such a shame. Years of hard work, studying, and internships...and we're left on the front lines as the proverbial punching bag for customers.

Am I bitter?

@10-cent-sucker:

Really? That's odd three of my friends majored in communications. One is the director of marketing for a health care firm, one edits hospital publications and the other is a teacher at a local community college. Sorry not buying it.

Think about it - recession, people sad, depressed, want to escape reality - need for escapism materials :^)))

Plus, once you get caught and sent to jail, we'll have to build more jails and that spurs on the booming jail building (not to mention prison guard) industry :^)))

win win win

all right, I'm totally being facetious, but it was fun.

@CaptainSemantics: And, can you catch a bullet?

If you want some extra cash, they also need Census takers for 2010: [www.census.gov]

I had a resume that I had worked on while in school and I did update it a bit before I started applying for positions. I borrowed the format from some business school friends (after all business school doesn't really teach you anything but they do a heck of a job making sure you can land a job). I found that what I was really lacking was a good cover letter. I spent a few days reading up on what makes a good cover letter. The first (and only) job I applied to after revamping my system landed me an offer.

I think the issue is that there are so many qualified people with degrees out there that all the resumes start to look alike. Thus, what will really set you apart is a well written cover letter. I'm guessing that before I relearned how to write mine many employers may not have even looked at my resume because my cover letter didn't stand out. My advice to you is to do some research (I used about.com and a few of the bigger job sites) on what makes a successful cover letter and give it another go. No one with an advanced degree should be working in a call center (unless you got your degree in a liberal arts field...).

I'd say about 5% or so of the jobs I get in my feeds are for jobs that don't require degrees - manufacturing, maintenance, and technician positions.

Sigh

@Eric1285: I completely disagree with you. I graduated with a Master's degree in May, and when this "recession" bit was just beginning, I applied to 25 organizations. I got three interviews & one job offer. The only offer that I received was for work IN A CALL CENTER.

And I had to take it because I have loans to pay.

There may be jobs out there, but they all seem to be geared toward part-timers or those without advanced degrees.

I always see Scott's MG ads on Careerbuilder when I look for a job, they usually want a position filled I am not qualified for, but it is always up there so that would worry me if I was considering them as an employer.

An In and Out burger is going up near me and 1,000 showed up to apply for 50 jobs.

(Stop laughing.)

Do It before Obama starts taking peoples guns away

Already applied at 7-Eleven. I am terrified of getting robbed, however.

www.comcast.com is hiring.

(mad because Consumerist blocked my account for no reason, having to post from Facbook)

Add that with the history of asbestos health problems from past employees. They try to discreetly push out the overweight or disabled. Around 2002 part time employees were basically fired from Scott's and were forced to go through a temp agency to keep job with a huge loss in benifits (swimming pool, paid Master Gardener training, picnic, etc)

They are not the most ideal place to work for. I would not go back and I am a non-smoker.

[www.fbijobs.gov]

It really all just depends on your area and what you do. My friend graduated from college with some computer-related degree last august in Charlotte and he can't find a legit job to save his life. He's making 14/hr doing tech support (not that there's anything wrong with that, but you know what i mean.)

[/notorious b.i.g.]

My sister is graduating this year from B-School at Michigan and I hear that the average offer is down about $15-20k from last year. I've had a potential employer try to lowball me, but there are definitely still lots of jobs available if you know where to look!

That gives me an excuse to hang out at Consumerist.