Death of a High School Degree

I knew this was coming, and maybe it's been around for a while, but I have finally come to the realization: A Bachelor's degree is worth what a high school degree used to be worth. Which therefore means a high school degree is really worthless. The only kind of jobs where this is not the case is a skill-based job, such as one in Graphic Design, where they look at your portfolio and your ability to use the software before they look at your resume.

I am applying for jobs all over the community, not just the Jewish community, and all jobs require a Bachelor's degree. For example, I have applied for an administrative job in an office, where my main duties would include managing schedules, answering phones and doing office slave work (filing, copying, etc). High school degree required, Bachelor's preferred. I am not one hundred percent sure what it would be that I would be doing that would require that I obtain a Bachelor's degree. I have a Bachelor's degree, so applying for administrative jobs does not seem to be an issue, but any other position "prefers" [requires] a Master's degree! So because so many of these jobs require Master's degrees, people with Bachelor's degrees are forced to apply to jobs that used to be staffed by high school graduates, which raises the standard of those jobs. And what about people who could not afford high school, or could only go to community college (which is an Associates degree)? Retail, restaurants, etc. Basically, you can't even break into the "white collar" working world without spending thousands of dollars on a degree, because you can't even get hired to file papers without one - even if you studied something random like under water basket weaving.

So, here I am, a college graduate with experience, fantastic resume and references, and the best I can hope for is an administrative position or possibly a part time, after school teaching position. I could also put myself on the list for substitute teaching in private schools.

I am feeling somewhat negative about my search this week because I am not receiving much response from anyone. I have had two interviews for one job, after which I was informed that the position I thought they were advertising was a tentative position and may not have been approved for next year. Another place had me come in for an interview, but after a week had not contacted me. I called to "check the status of my application," only to be told that they were still considering. Knowing this place and having heard through the grape vine how many people were applying to this position, it almost sounds like they are keeping me tethered to them while waiting for another candidate (maybe one who has a Master's in underwater basket weaving).

I am beginning to have fantasies of running off to Israel for a while. This is not realistic in any way possible. I could staff a birthright trip and then stay there, but this is irresponsible, considering I have pets and recently moved into a new apartment. I literally dreamed last night that I did this and stayed on a kibbutz for a few weeks.

Anyway, the conclusion I have reached is this: I can no longer function in this world without a Master's degree. I will never be happy with the kind of positions that say "High school degree required, Bachelor's preferred" or simply "Bachelor's required." Even though a Master's could cost thousands and thousands of dollars and only open doors for me to get jobs that bring in less than 50k/year, I just don't know how it would be possible to live otherwise. The issue for me is that I have to figure out exactly what I want to do and where I am willing to move to do it.

Word of warning to anyone who might read this who is currently working on an undergraduate degree: do not stop going to school until you have that Master's.