With unemployment as low as ever, many have gone back to the books to get better degrees. Along with better job opportunities, more education is bringing these jobseekers higher paychecks.

 “People are going back to school for better or completely new degrees,” says Donna Graham at ClassesandCareers.com. “They see the necessity to be more competitive in the job market.”

 Even the employed are seeking higher education to ensure they always have a job and get a higher salary.  Most continue working full-time because they can’t afford to cut back on their work hours. 

 “I got my bachelor’s degree in Business Management a long time ago.  I’ve been working as an Account Executive for the past 12 years. Others have come into my company and quickly surpassed my position and salary because they had their master’s degree,” says Megan Ferrell, from Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  “Because times are so rough, I decided it was the appropriate time to get a better education.”

 That’s when a friend recommended she visit ClassesAndCareers.com, a free online education information resource. She was contacted by an education counselor who set her along the path to getting her MBA.

 “It’s been nice to keep working full-time while taking online classes at night,” she says.  “As soon as I finish I will be more qualified for higher salary jobs.”

 If you want to be more competitive in the work force, visit ClassesAndCareers.com to be connected with a live education advisor.  After discussing your career goals, he or she will recommend the best program for you.

A woman that just earned a bachelor’s degree from Monroe College in the Bronx is suing her college because she can’t find a job.  The 27-year-old claims she hasn’t been able to find employment since her graduation in April.  In the suit she is seeking $70,000 that she had previously spent on tuition.

Trina Thompson the woman that filed the suit claims the school has not provided her with leads and career advice that they promised.  The spokesman for the college reports the lawsuit has no merit, but the college continues to insist it helps graduates find jobs.

Apparently this woman has realized that there is a financial crises going on.  Thousands of individuals are losing their jobs everyday.  The school cannot possibly guarantee that they can find their graduates a job, especially in this economic situation.  They just promised to help graduates in the search.

This lawsuit is ridiculous.  I can think of several people I know that graduated from college at the same time as  Thompson and they are also experiencing difficulty in finding a job.  Does she think she’s the only one that can’t find a job?  It sounds like she hasn’t been paying attention to the news for the past year.  Several states have unemployment numbers in the double digits.

I’m sure that this school had previous success in helping students trying to find work four years ago or however long it took her to complete the degree.  The school can’t predict the future.  I’m sure that they did say people with degrees generally get better jobs than people without degrees, and that they have a lot of contacts, where she might be able to get a job, but I have doubts the school flat out guaranteed her a job for the rest of her life.

This case goes to show that America has become lawsuit obsessed.  Lawsuits are just a quick way to make a buck.  Instead of Thompson understanding the difficulties with the economy and that there are 50 people lined up for a single job, she has decided to sue her school. 

She needs to forget the lawsuit, her sense of entitlement, and look for a job that will pay the bills.  In this economy she can’t afford to be picky.  When the economy improves she can get a better job in information technology, and be as picky as she wants.  Until then everyone should toughen up and realize that life isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
 

The last six months have been a wild ride for our economy. We had our official financial meltdown at the beginning of October. The first bailout came and went. Insurance and banking giants continued to fall. U.S automakers teetered on the edge of failure propped up only by the government. Millions of jobs have been lost since the start of the year. A second bailout (er, stimulus, I mean) was approved. Bailed out companies have continued to post dismal results. And all throughout, economists, financial gurus, and conspiracy theorists alike have been prognosticating such calamities as the collapse of the U.S. dollar, the Second Great Depression, food shortages, and civil instability. Journalists both fringe and mainstream are becoming more comfortable with revolutionary language.  And yet, with so many storm clouds on the horizon, why does it seem like we have just stalled, like we’re just sitting on the precipice looking at the view below?

True, real life change does not happen at the pace of a TV disaster miniseries (gosh, I miss those). But for all the bad stuff that has happened and the harrowing stuff that’s being foretold, it feels like we’re in limbo.

Please note, I am in no way happy about our nation plunging into an economic hellhole. I like peace and plenty. But I’ve done enough homework to know, and I’ve listened to enough credible voices to know, that we are not going to get a free pass on this one. I would like to believe that we dodged the bullet and it’s time to rebuild. But that belief would in no way be built on logic or reason. It’s time to pay the piper and our credit cards are maxed out.

In my opinion, that leaves only one explanation for the current state of limbo in which we find ourselves. This is the calm before the storm, the deep breath before going over the falls.

So, ask yourself: what do you do when you’re about to go over the falls?

Do you make sure your seatbelt is on tight? Do you get ready to scream your head off and wait to hit the bottom? Do you bail out and swim for shore? Do you just enjoy the view, the cool mist of the falls? Do you just close your eyes and hope you’re still alive at the bottom?

I like to think that I and my neighbors would get out and start swimming the other direction. By the looks of things, however, most people are looking around, enjoying the view, hoping against hope that someone will turn the boat around. Yet others are taking a deep breath, preparing to scream their lungs raw.

Which one are you?