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Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

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Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#41

Post by Anechoic »

yaakov34 wrote: post #37
Anechoic wrote: post #25

He has a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Purdue University (a very good acoustics school) and he can't find a job in the Boston area (home of a dozen or so acoustical consulting companies, another dozen or so loudspeaker manufacturing companies including Bose, Boston Acoustics & Loud Technologies), several active audio & acoustical engineering associations (including Bosotn chapters of the ASA, A…

I also suspect there is more to the story, and I would like to point out that he was unemployed from 1993 to 2007, which is a period that included an immense economic boom. I don't see how the current tottering state of the economy explains his inability to find any employment at all from 1993 to 1999, which was as good a time for an engineer to be hired as I can imagine. I was there in that job market, and there was…

>I also suspect there is more to the story, and I would like to point out that he was unemployed from 1993 to 2007

This is an excellent point. I was working for a Boston-area acoustical consulting firm in the late 1990's and we had a hell of a time recruiting people. After an unwillingness to so so, the firm had to start giving out signing bonuses to attract candidates and still lost applicants to competing firms.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#42

Post by mgkimsal »

I didn't quite understand the story - he liquidated all his assets to buy his parent's home then moved in with them to take care of them. It sounded like he bought the house altogether. If so, why homeless? Could he not pay the taxes?

In any event, while his sentiments were laudable, I'm reminded of a Dave Ramsey saying - "you can't help someone from a position of weakness". I think it was DR, anyway. In other words, to be able to help someone financially, you need to be able to keep yourself financially strong. As crappy as that might have been what would have happened had his mom still been alive? He'd be on the streets with an elderly Alzheimer's parent.

I realize people can't predict the future, but I've got friends that are continually doing really dumb things with money for their kids and even grandkids, and are going broke (and beyond) in the process. I think it does little to help the kids learn a sense of responsibility. My parents both helped out some when I was growing up and migrating to adulthood, but never to the point where they put themselves at serious financial risk. I'm grateful for their help, but we all felt I needed to do most of it on my own, which I have.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#43

Post by burgerbrain »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #32
barik wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Start with the library, that's free" The library doesn't reset your resume. This does. You don't actually need to finish the degree, find a job while in school.

Ok, fair enough, I'm talking about getting another degree often being a bad investment, you're talking about going to school simply to prevent or fill a gap in your resume. If that's the goal, let's say you only go back to school for a year. What does grad school cost these days? 28k for public, 38k for private? So you're paying $30,000 for someone to essentially vouch that you're doing something with your days while…

If you are in desperate need of a job, then don't go to grad school for a year to reset yourself, take a handful (at most) of classes at a community college. Paying a handful of thousand (at the most) so that you can find any work in particular is well worth it if that is what you need to do.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#44

Post by javaecc123 »

barik wrote: post #27
dave_sullivan wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hate the go back to school argument. It sounds to me like this: Hey, you know that degree that is doing absolutely nothing for you right now even though you loaded yourself with debt to get it in the first place? Well, the problem is that degree, which you're still paying for, that's the old model. What you need to do is upgrade to a better degree by taking on more debt. Then you'll really be able to get a j…

"Start with the library, that's free" The library doesn't reset your resume. This does. You don't actually need to finish the degree, find a job while in school.

Perhaps this is the strategy he was pursuing when he took on a second masters in acoustical engineering. Getting more degrees will probably not solve his problems, especially for a 55 yr old man.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#45

Post by gavinlynch »

burgerbrain wrote: post #28
muhfuhkuh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's what I don't get. Everyone says "hey, all these unemployed could work at McDonald's". The last time they had that massive hiring event millions showed up to fill 50000 positions. No one wants to admit that nearly every business except tech is sitting on cash and just working their existing employees to the bone because they can (and because it's more profitable). The real hiring is overseas, as it should…

If you are able bodied and hard working, you can almost always find jobs in construction or demo (one or the other is almost certain to be doing well in any particular economic situation). These are not good jobs, but they are jobs . At the very least it is generally quite easy to get under the table work with these sorts of gigs. If you are able bodied, hard working, and reasonably bright, then contact local apprent…

This getting down-voted? This is an eminently reasonable suggestion. If I had need of money and was able bodied I would absolutely apply for such a job if the alternative was homelessness.

Two extra points:

1) At the age of 55, I am not sure how vast a swath of jobs are available in construction. I know crane operators make major bucks, but there is a long waiting list for the training. Perhaps someone with more experience knows of other non-labor intensive jobs in these industries a 55 year old man could find. But maybe in this instance, for this man, it's not the right fit.

2) Regarding asbestos: I hope you're joking. Having three degrees does not entitle anybody to any job. But everyone in America deserves safe working conditions at the jobs they can find!

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#46

Post by flatline »

yaakov34 wrote: post #37
Anechoic wrote: post #25

He has a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Purdue University (a very good acoustics school) and he can't find a job in the Boston area (home of a dozen or so acoustical consulting companies, another dozen or so loudspeaker manufacturing companies including Bose, Boston Acoustics & Loud Technologies), several active audio & acoustical engineering associations (including Bosotn chapters of the ASA, A…

I also suspect there is more to the story, and I would like to point out that he was unemployed from 1993 to 2007, which is a period that included an immense economic boom. I don't see how the current tottering state of the economy explains his inability to find any employment at all from 1993 to 1999, which was as good a time for an engineer to be hired as I can imagine. I was there in that job market, and there was…

He spent ten years liquidating all of his assets and caring for his aging parents until they passed on. I don't know that it explains the entire employment gap but it seems reasonable that he would be a tough sell for many companies: older, and despite the good education and prior employment history, his skills are bound to be rusty. He was deliberately not working during that period.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#47

Post by georgieporgie »

burgerbrain wrote: post #28
muhfuhkuh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's what I don't get. Everyone says "hey, all these unemployed could work at McDonald's". The last time they had that massive hiring event millions showed up to fill 50000 positions. No one wants to admit that nearly every business except tech is sitting on cash and just working their existing employees to the bone because they can (and because it's more profitable). The real hiring is overseas, as it should…

If you are able bodied and hard working, you can almost always find jobs in construction or demo (one or the other is almost certain to be doing well in any particular economic situation). These are not good jobs, but they are jobs . At the very least it is generally quite easy to get under the table work with these sorts of gigs. If you are able bodied, hard working, and reasonably bright, then contact local apprent…

Regarding apprenticeship-type programs, my father works for the Corps of Engineers, and my uncle is a life-long electrician. Both are work with training programs these days. Each of them has said that it's extremely hard to find someone who is both reasonably intelligent (or able to put down his/her smartphone long enough to appear so) and able to stick with a program through completion.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#48

Post by maren »

Mz wrote: post #34
Anechoic wrote: post #25

He has a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Purdue University (a very good acoustics school) and he can't find a job in the Boston area (home of a dozen or so acoustical consulting companies, another dozen or so loudspeaker manufacturing companies including Bose, Boston Acoustics & Loud Technologies), several active audio & acoustical engineering associations (including Bosotn chapters of the ASA, A…

There's either more to the story here or people are missing out on a potentially fantastic hire. I've taken a class on homelessness. The short version is that it is usually rooted in intractable personal problems: Chronic health issues, abusive childhoods, mental illness and so on. That is not intended to blame the victim. That's just reality: Employers pay you for value added to the business, not as a charitable act…

Definitely more to the story... but still a fascinating look at how degrees don't mean everything (obviously)

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#49

Post by javaecc123 »

gavinlynch wrote: post #35
javaecc123 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. He's 55 yrs old and has been out of work for sometime. At that age no one expects to train you so you have to have had a great track record, be practically a guru and be bringing something to the company to get hired over a recent graduate. His race might play a part in potential employers being doubtful that he has those skills (probably a bit understandable given the number of black acoustical engineers) or n…

I don't really understand this comment. Why would it be understandable that some employers would not believe that he is a capable black acoustical engineer? And even if they did, wouldn't it take maybe 5 minutes worth of correspondence to figure out if he was or was not? Unless you are saying there is rampant racism in the acoustical engineering industry to the point that he would not even advance to a correspondence…

Many times you need to get your foot in the door to even get those 5 minutes to prove yourself. Not arguing that racism is a factor here just playing the devil's advocate and pointing out that it is possible even if implausible.

Re: Homeless Man Has Three Degrees and Can't Find a Job

#50

Post by [deleted] »

maren wrote: post #48
Mz wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's either more to the story here or people are missing out on a potentially fantastic hire. I've taken a class on homelessness. The short version is that it is usually rooted in intractable personal problems: Chronic health issues, abusive childhoods, mental illness and so on. That is not intended to blame the victim. That's just reality: Employers pay you for value added to the business, not as a charitable act…

Definitely more to the story... but still a fascinating look at how degrees don't mean everything (obviously)

[deleted]
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