Deep in Debt? Earn More

Posted by: Meredith K. | Jan 17,2008


You know what building up debt in college means: it means you’re going to have to earn more when you get out of school.  This is not the greatest job market in memory.  Though some sectors are expanding, some are tightening, so it’s not always a given that you’ll even be able to get a job out of college, let alone get a job with a decent salary.  

This survey shows that over 70% of young people between 18 and 30 are in debt.  The survey also points out that younger people are feeling more pressure to get a high-paying job after college, as well as wishing that they’d been more careful with debt during school.  If you’re already out of college facing the job market, this information doesn’t help you much.  Although I do have to think that knowing you’re not alone can be helpful.  If you’re scrounging to pay the bills to pay every month, it makes it a bit harder if everyone else in your age group is living large.  Clearly, this isn’t the case right now, as many young people are in the same boat: high debt and low pay.

Entering the real world is hard enough when the economy’s going strong, let alone when the job market is tight and debt is a widespread problem.  What I would recommend is to take courses in your chosen career at night.  Don’t scoff but online education courses are valid and are gaining respectability with employers.  A prospective employer will respect an employee who took the initiative to study in his spare time while still working a job.  Going into full time graduate school may not be feasible, and may just put you into deeper debt, so online distance education is a happy medium where  you can study on your own time and earn another degree.  

The more degrees you have the better.  The more you specialize, the better as well.  An employee with a graduate degree can make tens of thousands more a year than an undergrad, so this issue just should not be ignored.  You might not want to jump right back into school once you graduate, but if you’re having trouble locking down a good starting salary, your credentials may be the reason.  

Sponsored Resources Ads by Google