Teacher Checking Through Groceries
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This is an exciting time. Classes are ending for university and college students. These soon-to-be recent graduates will be looking for work and putting to use their acquired skills. It is also a time when the harsh reality of finding work intrudes upon the process.
One example is a recent graduate in education. She is in the top five of her graduating class. She has gone through the interview process with some campus recruiters who are looking for staff. The few jobs that have been offered are rural and the pay scale is much lower than work in the city. With student loans to repay, maximizing earnings is a necessity. There are simply few teaching jobs available. The present staff of schools have a very low turn-over rate and there are experienced teachers returning to the work force.
Therefore, this qualified teacher has secured other work. She will be working as a grocery checkout cashier for a national chain. She will be working some shifts and, sometimes, there will be weekend work. However, she will be earning more than what she would as a teacher and the work benefits are much better. It certainly is not what she was trained to do but it is work. And it is work that compensate her well for her hours.
It is a sad commentary about cultural values when the person checking out the groceries - the eggs, bread, milk - is paid more and has better work benefits than the classroom teacher who educates our children. She will be wonderful at her new job - and some kids will miss having an eager, wonderful teacher.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
2 Comments
Mike
May 7th, 2008
at 11:19am
I hear you about teachers and it is a shame about pay but this is in ALL types of jobs. I don’t think CEOs of companies that tank should be compensated at all much less given these multi-million dollar severance packages and benefits when they didn’t get the job done. Yet, boards gladly hand over money taken from investors. There are all types of inequities in pay in our society–that’s Capitalism.
As someone who worked 13+ years in the grocery business before going into IT (big mistake) I can corroborate the pay info. I would probably be making much more than I am now and would have never gone through the number of layoffs I’ve gone through in this crappy IT field had I stayed.
There is a price for that type of work though…physically demanding. I was in great shape while working but over time your back, knees, feet, hands, etc. pay the price so I’m not so sure the money makes up for those aches & pains.
Just food for thought. Nothing is “free”.
Peace
Bill
May 8th, 2008
at 12:07pm
It’s a sad story but one we’ve heard many times before. Unfortunately, a degree does not guarantee you a job or a salary today. Likewise the subject you studied so diligently in school may have little or no value in the job you take to support yourself or your family. It kinda sucks when your bubble gets broken after graduation but this isn’t a new development. There are just more of us in the same situation today, than there was a decade ago. Personally, I knew I should have stuck with that under water basket weaving correspondence course. I’d be getting paid the same as everyone else anyway, and it wouldn’t have cost nearly as much as my IT degree and certs.