Is a BA worth anything now?

[QueenCat]

A friend makes $160 per day as a sub in a big school district. Her kids are in public school. Their home is in a lower COL city and almost paid for. Her husband works but if he was layoff, her pay as a regular sub would be sufficient to tide over.

 

That's twice what it is here for someone with a teaching degree. It's less if  you don't have a teaching degree.

[bettyandbob]

How does one learn how to get a decent job? I have a MS but have never had a job that paid more than $10 an hour. I have zero charisma, and was once told at a temp agency because I wasn't qualified for their lowest-tier job, a receptionist position. I never had a good job---just crummy service-industry jobs after my degrees, and now I've been out of the job market for 9 years. My biggest fear is that my husband will leave and have full custody of the kids because I'll be living in a cardboard box.

If you don't a vocationally focused degree, you need some skills to get a foot in the door for entry level. For some people that may mean taking adult ed classes to get certificates in office skills (like Microsoft applications). Then you get a low level admin job or other low level job depending on the direction you are going. This step is hard. Getting the first job is hard if you haven't been working. You need to tell everyone you know you are looking. You need to show your resume to everyone advice about key words. You may have to take something small (10 hours a week at $10/hour) and then take every opportunity to add shifts.

 

Then you do that job while paying attention to what skills people above you have acquired. Look at the jobs above you and start doing what you need to do to acquire the skills for the next level. Thus could be as easy as "Boss, the next time there is a training for X can I take it?"

 

I've been on this path rather slowly for a few years. I could have progressed faster, but for several years I was fixed on getting back into a previous career. I realized that wasn't going to happen and got on with another direction.

 

FTR my starting skills for my current focus were not office skills. I teach swimming. That started as very part time while focused on trying to get back into something else. Now I'm moving toward recreation programming and management. I've had the help of a supervisor. I followed him to a new facility when he offered me higher pay and benefits (I haven't had benefits from a job in years). So yes I got my foot in the door for this in a job that didn't require even a high school diploma. As I move up I can see positions that require all the stuff I've done plus degrees. So taking a job that doesn't require a degree may be necessary to get the job that does require a degree.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Diana P.

[MomatHWTK]

study interviewing and networking the same way you would study an academic topic. (I much prefer academics, but I have to learn the game if I want to get paid.)

Edited June 23, 2016 by MomatHWTK

[TranquilMind]

As I've started looking at jobs, careers, and what to do with the next half of my life, I've noticed something. A shocking (to me) number of jobs require a Masters degree. It seems like there are two kinds of jobs. A low low paying job that only requires a high school diploma and a better paying job (but not huge money) that requires a Masters.

 

Is a BA worth anything now? And what does this mean for me (always looking out for #1!!)? I have no desire to go back to school. The reason I need to work is to pay for my kids to go to college; they will be graduated before I finish a masters! Plus, the cost! That is going in the wrong direction. And a low paying job-our tax rate=not worth the trouble.

 

I keep telling DH that our only option is to start some kind of business but he isn't convinced.

Wow. That is a terrifying thought, that a BA might not be worth it, except as a stepping stone to advanced degrees.

I do expect my own children to get advanced degrees, actually, but to think it is a requirement for any kind of job other than entry level is a scary thought. 

[FaithManor]

That's twice what it is here for someone with a teaching degree. It's less if  you don't have a teaching degree.

$80.00 a day for me with my out of profession license (I have a music ed degree but let my license lapse), and $95.00 for  a full teaching license.

 

Not good pay as it means arriving at 7:30 a.m., staying until 4:00 and usually supervising lunch so no real breaks in the day.

[FairProspects]

Wow, I'm realizing I live in a highly educated, HOL area. There is no way you could teach at a CC here with just a BA. Maybe in some very specific technical field with a scarcity of instructors, but MAs struggle to win CC teaching jobs locally. They nearly always go to PhDs.

 

There are virtually no jobs available for a BA in Psychology. We post unpaid internships asking for those credentials and get applications from all over the country.

 

And yes, you can teach with a BA here, but you'll be looking at a salary of $35K and you'll be required to get an MA within two years.

[FairProspects]

$80.00 a day for me with my out of profession license (I have a music ed degree but let my license lapse), and $95.00 for  a full teaching license.

 

Not good pay as it means arriving at 7:30 a.m., staying until 4:00 and usually supervising lunch so no real breaks in the day.

 

Subs here get paid $150 per day and $200 in OR in my mom's district. It is almost enough to make me want to move. There are major sub shortages locally and districts are recruiting Emergency Substitutes. You do need a BA, but you can work virtually every day once you are on the list.

 

[redsquirrel]

Wow, I'm realizing I live in a highly educated, HOL area. There is no way you could teach at a CC here with just a BA. Maybe in some very specific technical field with a scarcity of instructors, but MAs struggle to win CC teaching jobs locally. They nearly always go to PhDs.

 

There are virtually no jobs available for a BA in Psychology. We post unpaid internships asking for those credentials and get applications from all over the country.

 

And yes, you can teach with a BA here, but you'll be looking at a salary of $35K and you'll be required to get an MA within two years.

 

It is state requirements.  I live in a very highly educated area as well,  In the same county as the CC there are two private universities, one of them an Ivy. I can see them both from my backyard. Each is up on their own hill overlooking the city. Sometimes I feel like everyone in the world but me has a PhD in something or other. 

 

But in our state you only need a BA or BS to teach adjunct at a 2 year college.  All 2 year CCs (different from private 2 year colleges) are part of the larger state university system, so requirements are universal. I couldn't get hired to work there as staff, but I could work there as an adjunct. And more and more often CCs are staffing with adjunct b/c they don't have to pay benefits.

 

In order to work as an adjunct at the universities you generally need a BA/BS and at least an MA/MS. But there are always some small exceptions to that.

Edited June 23, 2016 by redsquirrel

[Arcadia]

That's twice what it is here for someone with a teaching degree. It's less if you don't have a teaching degree.

This is at and near where my friend lives. We were discussing possible jobs for me as I live south of her.

 

"$28.34 - $36.18 Hourly. $170.04 - $217.06 Daily." (Fremont)

"$150 Per Full Day" (Hayward & New Haven Unified & Los Altos Elementary)