現代的年輕人變聰明了！

學生打工，不是只為了單純的賺零花錢。除了嘗試獨立自主，增加社會經驗之外，聰明有本事的孩子，在求學時期，除了要努力學校的學習課業，更多時候，不斷尋求和自己未來規劃，相關的工作機會挑戰自己。

學習獨立是一件值得鼓勵和驕傲的行為，打工一點也不可恥。

廣泛的興趣，強烈的學習動機，產生的忙碌的作息，相對重要的配合是，有效率的時間分配。

或許是和教授的研究要多花時間，下學期的選課表就要重新分配考量。或是很難得的工作資歷，願意就課業所能，值得全力爭取配合。繳了學費上課，才蹺課是太浪費錢。所以，如果要學業、職業兼顧，預先規劃及正確的時間管理，非常重要。

分享昨天在紐約時報上讀到一篇文章:

"大學文憑並不等於工作保証"

文中所提，指出現在社會上多的是大學畢業生，收入雖高於高中及其他較低的學歷者。但如果相關的工作機會無法有效創造出來，社會上還是有一大堆畢業即失業的的大學畢業生。

如何讓自己在畢業時，比其他的求職者更具競爭力，不要小看學生打工所累積下來的實力。各行各業，需要各式的人才，學生的本份是讀書，課堂之外，如何充實人生的本錢，就要靠個人本事去爭取。

更不用說很多工作機會，還得要有門路、靠關係。金融泡沫之前的華爾街的工讀生，大家都有機會，這兩年則是儘量保留給員工子弟申請。家裡没有什麼關係可走，年輕人日常就要累積實力和經驗，更高學歷的文憑，或可幫助面臨強勁挑戰的競爭。但對於基本的畢業入社會就業，許多公司還是會選擇有能力、年紀輕輕，便已有工作經驗的上進之人。

所以不要小看那些半工半讀的學生們，或許他們短期所得不高，但是他們畢業幾乎都找得到工作。

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/opinion/14tue1.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=college,%20jobs%20and%20Inequality&st=cse#

December 13, 2010

College, Jobs and Inequality

Searching for solace in bleak unemployment numbers, policy makers and commentators often cite the relatively low joblessness among college graduates, which is currently 5.1 percent compared with 10 percent for high school graduates and an overall jobless rate of 9.8 percent. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, cited the data recently on “60 Minutes” to make the point that “educational differences” are a root cause of income inequality.

A college education is better than no college education and correlates with higher pay. But as a cure for unemployment or as a way to narrow the chasm between the rich and everyone else, “more college” is a too-easy answer. Over the past year, for example, the unemployment rate for college grads under age 25 has averaged 9.2 percent, up from 8.8 percent a year earlier and 5.8 percent in the first year of the recession that began in December 2007. That means recent grads have about the same level of unemployment as the general population. It also suggests that many employed recent grads may be doing work that doesn’t require a college degree.

Even more disturbing, there is no guarantee that unemployed or underemployed college grads will move into much better jobs as conditions improve. Early bouts of joblessness, or starting in a lower-level job with lower pay, can mean lower levels of career attainment and earnings over a lifetime.Graduates who have been out of work or underemployed in the downturn may also find themselves at a competitive disadvantage with freshly minted college graduates as the economy improves.

When it comes to income inequality, college-educated workers make more than noncollege-educated ones. But higher pay for college grads cannot explain the profound inequality in the United States. The latest installment of the groundbreaking work on income inequality by the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez shows that the richest 1 percent of American households — those making more than $370,000 a year — received 21 percent of total income in 2008. That was slightly below the highs of the bubble years but still among the highest percentages since the Roaring Twenties.

The top 10 percent — those making more than $110,000 — received 48 percent of total income, leaving 52 percent for the bottom 90 percent. Where are college-educated workers? Their median pay has basically stagnated for the past 10 years, at roughly $72,000 a year for men and $52,000 a year for women.

A big reason for the huge gains at the top is the outsize pay of executives, bankers and traders. Lower on the income ladder, workers have not fared well, in part because health care has consumed an ever-larger share of compensation and bargaining power has diminished with the decline in labor unions.

College is still the path to higher-paying professions. But without a concerted effort to develop new industries, the weakened economy will be hard pressed to create enough better-paid positions to absorb all graduates.

And to combat inequality, the drive for more college and more jobs must coincide with efforts to preserve and improve the policies, programs and institutions that have fostered shared prosperity and broad opportunity — Social Security, Medicare, public schools, progressive taxation, unions, affirmative action, regulation of financial markets and enforcement of labor laws.

College is not a cure-all, but it will certainly take the best and brightest minds to confront those challenges.