About 10 years ago the Bachelor’s Degree seem to be a popular desination to get after high school.  Get one, and a job will certainly be yours.  Nowadays a bachelor’s degree can barely get you a job at 7-11 or McDonald’s.

It raises the question Is the Bachelor Degree the new high school diploma?

In the past 10 years, bachelor degrees have increased by over 26-percent.  That’s four times as much than the growth with master’s in that time period (a shade over eight-percent).

Yes, the economy went to the dumps during the past four years and the theory that if you had a bachelor’s degree then it’ll guarantee you a job that moment you graduate, etc.

I’ve seen people post on facebook or on twitter sites, talk about it around town, “oh I finish my bachelor’s degree” or “I’ve finished my last college paper…ever” and I wonder, how well will this person or people will fair competing against other people with the same degree with similar or more experience?

I know this from experience.  I got my first degree in Journalism in June of 2011.  I was excited to be done with college, bragging on my facebook.  I thought I was on top of the world, thinking that I can land that “Dream Job” the moment I walked off that stage that warm June day.

But once I got to the real world it was difficult.

It took me three months and numerous rejection letters to even get a freelancing gig that was once a week while working full-time at 7-Eleven in California.  And I was last on the list every week because I was fresh out of college and was going up against other people with bachelor degrees and more experience.  Was this what I expected, no it wasn’t.  I was expecting a part-time gig writing somewhere.

This made me think, maybe I should work on my education some more and get more experience as an intern somewhere in the meantime.  So I decided to go back to school for my 2nd bachelor’s degree and hoping to get into a master’s program so I could have a better shot to get the “Dream Job” I always wanted.

So is the bachelor degree the new high school diploma?

I say yes.  It’s possible to get at least a entry-level job somewhere with it, as with most degrees; but because everyone is getting it, one must re-invent themselves to stick out from the crowd.  In my opinion either with a second bachelor’s degree or pursuing a master’s degree, whatever you need to stick out from the crowd.  Because I don’t see just a regular old Bachelor Degree cutting it anymore.

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