# Nerds survive unemployment



## csb (Nov 9, 2011)

From Yahoo today:



> *Majors and their unemployment rate:*1. Actuarial Science—0 percent
> 
> 2. Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent
> 
> ...


Looks like it pays to learn math and science, or to stay in school and then work at school.


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 9, 2011)

who would have thunk?


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

Hmmm, makes you wonder what the unemployment rates are for Music Appreciation, Art History, Philosophy, etc...


----------



## DS58 (Nov 9, 2011)

maybe it just means that the nerds in question that couldn't find a job in their own field were able to find some kind of employment elsewhere and not report as "unemployed". I don't know about you-all, but where I live the quality of employees at Walmart and the grocery has definitely gone up. It seems like a lot of them have college degrees...


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 9, 2011)

Ours are farmers, farmers wifes, farmers kids, etc...


----------



## RIP - VTEnviro (Nov 9, 2011)

Dexman PE said:


> Hmmm, makes you wonder what the unemployment rates are for Music Appreciation, Art History, Philosophy, etc...


I knew a woman my wife was friends with in grad school getting a master's in 'women's peace studies' from an Ivy League school. Just brilliant.

Re: csb - I am licensed in environmental. I've said this before, but when looking at majors in the engineering school, my mom suggested that one, reasoning that things will just get more polluted and regulations will just get tighter. Made sense to me at the time. Though I'm really more of a civil with an environmental slant at this point.


----------



## csb (Nov 9, 2011)

My parents didn't suggest anything to me, but I'm glad I switched to civil engineering. It seems to have paid off, for sure.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

csb said:


> My parents didn't suggest anything to me, but I'm glad I switched to civil engineering. It seems to have paid off, for sure.


Me too. I was leaning towards pre-med for my undergrad, but quickly realized that organic chemistry is my nemisis. Luckily I had taken a couple electives from the Civil dept at the same time and decided after getting a 35% on my O-Chem final that I would be transferring to civil.


----------



## benbo (Nov 9, 2011)

Here's the full listing-

http://graphicsweb.w.../NILF1111/#term=

You can get a better idea of what it means and where the people are employed by looking at the salaries. It certainly doesn't look like all the nerds are asking if you want fries with that.


----------



## benbo (Nov 9, 2011)

> after getting a 35% on my O-Chem final


I think that was a B+ where I went to school


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

Psychology - 19.5%

Misc Fine arts - 16.2%

US History - 15.1%

Ouch.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

benbo said:


> > after getting a 35% on my O-Chem final
> 
> 
> I think that was a B+ where I went to school


The OChem professor was also the Chemical Engineering department head and told us on the first day of class that the department had too many students and they would be using this class to "weed out" those who weren't serious. I think he said they wanted to drop ~40% of those in the class by the end of the semester.


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 9, 2011)

Our first semester adv chem class was like that. First day the famous Zumdalh spoke and said this is a weedout course. Zumdalh, if you don't know him, writes the chemistry textbooks for probably most of your high school students....and college too.

its how he pays for his car musuem in his garage.


----------



## Master slacker (Nov 9, 2011)

Among the engineering degrees, mechanical is the most popular (23%). w00t!

It's just one tick above "general engineering". :blink:


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

^^^ Electrical Engineering is #17.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Nov 9, 2011)

All I know is that EE's are really good at installing ceiling fans...


----------



## csb (Nov 9, 2011)

"Miscellaneous Fine Arts"

I can't even begin to wonder what the means, since Liberal Arts is listed by itself. I'm also concerned that "Geology and Earth Science" are under their "art" tab. I did have to color a lot of strata in Geology classes...


----------



## MGX (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm told 'fine arts' is actually creating or doing something i.e. pottery, paint, dance.

'Arts' are math, philosophy etc.

Geology should be a science since you use the scientific method to make hypotheses and can disprove theories.


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 9, 2011)

misc fine arts are your dance, art, acting etc majors


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 9, 2011)

heck my chemical engineering degree was from the liberal arts college section of the university. Geology, chemistry, and all the other sciences were as well.


----------



## envirotex (Nov 9, 2011)

My recent project descriptions could fall under three of the top ten engineering fields.

Would these be nerd or geek jobs? Not that it really matters for me anyway; I have a pair of glasses held together with a staple...


----------



## Master slacker (Nov 9, 2011)

ngnrd - PE said:


> Dexman PE said:
> 
> 
> > ^^^ Electrical Engineering is #17.
> ...


Ya know, I was going to say something to the effect of EE not really being an engineering discipline, but that's like proclaiming that blue is a primary color. And ngnrd has a point... I really don't know how I made it past 2nd grade.


----------



## mudpuppy (Nov 10, 2011)

So you think electricity just magically appears at your house?


----------



## snickerd3 (Nov 10, 2011)

^isn't that how it works? ;-) Just like Santa its magic


----------



## Capt Worley PE (Nov 10, 2011)

mudpuppy said:


> So you think electricity just magically appears at your house?


I don't think it.

I know it.


----------



## mudpuppy (Nov 10, 2011)

I guess that makes me a Magical Engineer. Hmm, that sounds a little :ghey:


----------



## Ble_PE (Nov 10, 2011)

mudpuppy said:


> I guess that makes me a Magical Engineer. Hmm, that sounds a little :ghey:


Not that there's anything wrong with that...


----------



## Master slacker (Nov 10, 2011)

Do you know Harry Potter?


----------



## MGX (Nov 11, 2011)

You're not insinuating a Harry wand is behind it all?


----------



## mudpuppy (Nov 11, 2011)

^That reminds me, the Lansing, MI area United Way chair's name is Harry Johnson. Seriously, see it for yourself: http://www.capitalareaunitedway.org/


----------



## Roy T. (Mar 14, 2012)

"My parents didn't suggest anything to me, but I'm glad I switched to civil engineering. It seems to have paid off, for sure."

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

Civil Engineering Unemployment: 13.3%

Mechanical Engineering Unemployment: 6.3%

and then...

History Majors Unemployment: 4.9%

Maybe as a minority or female there are government jobs available. But there is no whitewashing the disaster of picking civil engineering as a major... Just ask the kids getting out of school. It is the *worst* major this side of architecture - which is downright pitiful.


----------



## engineergurl (Mar 14, 2012)

^^ probably cause all the history majors are working at minimum wage jobs and they are technically not unemployed...


----------



## Slugger926 (Mar 15, 2012)

DS58 said:


> maybe it just means that the nerds in question that couldn't find a job in their own field were able to find some kind of employment elsewhere and not report as "unemployed". I don't know about you-all, but where I live the quality of employees at Walmart and the grocery has definitely gone up. It seems like a lot of them have college degrees...


That is called under-employeed in the world of Economics. Anyone who is doing tasks other than what they could get maximum pay for is under-employeed. I have been in that boat even in an engineering position for a while now.


----------

