Recent Grads See Starting Salaries Decline

For many recent graduates from colleges and universities all across the country, any job must feel better than no job at all. Shortly after graduation in May 2011, thousands of grads from Washington State to UNC-Wilmington, turned their back on student life and turned back on their computers only to begin their first official job searches—sending out e-mail-loads of resumes in what would become for many a months-long search for work….any work.

Once the summer had started in earnest many of this newly-minted workforce found that they had applied for dozens, if not hundreds of positions, only to hear back from a handful of potential employers, most of whom would likely reject them about as quickly as these same students were running through their bank accounts, savings, leftover student loans or whatever their parents could provide, during only the very beginnings of what would become an entire season of  just job searching.

But worse than what many are calling a bad case of chronic rejection is the fact that most recent grads are becoming more seasoned in hearing absolutely nothing back from potential employers at all. And so, for all of their tenacious and time-consuming efforts to find a job, in an environment of often double-digit unemployment, including North Carolina’s own 10.1% job troubles, these former students are learning a brand new, albeit hard, lesson: when and if someone does call you back, and you are offered a job, it’ll likely pay a paltry amount, and you’ll likely take it.

This “wage shock,” so much a sign of the times for recent grads, as well as those who left (or were forced) from the labor market during the tough economic times of the recent recession, is as much a part of the country’s “new economic reality,” as underwater homes and non-existent credit.

In fact, according to a new study released earlier this week by the Economic Policy Institute, a research and policy center, after adjusting for inflation, entry level wages for last year’s (2010) college graduates were approximately one dollar per hour lower than they were for recent grads were earning a full decade earlier.

And that’s the trend observed as well by Lawrence Mishel, a labor market economist and president of EPI, who told The Huffington Post, "Entry-level wages of college graduates have fallen. People coming out of college now are getting jobs that pay less than what older brothers and sisters got when they finished college."

So what can you do when you’re a recent college grad who has just waded through a wasteland of rejection, only to find jobs with sad starting salaries that don’t even require college degrees? Or what can you do if you’re new to the job market, unemployed or underemployed, and can’t afford to pay back your student loans, credit cards, basic bills or other debts?

You may be surprised to hear that it could be time to talk to a lawyer…a bankruptcy lawyer.

While bankruptcy can’t currently be used to wipe away your student loan debts, or at least not without a finding of an “undue hardship” like a sudden disability, what it can do is erase massive credit card debt and other consumer debt loads that are holding you back. Relieving these types of financial burdens early in your adult life and career can pay dividends later: allowing you to rebuild credit as you build your career and repay your educational loans earlier in the game.

If you too have been impacted by the economy and are wondering how to reduce your debts while you try to increase your income, knowing a qualified bankruptcy attorney can be your first best step on the road to a more hopeful financial future. The bankruptcy lawyers at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt offer a totally FREE debt consultation and now, more than ever, it’s time to take them up on their offer. Just call toll free to +1-833-627-0115, or during the off hours, you can make your own appointment right online at www.billsbills.com. Simply click on the yellow “FREE Consultation Now” button.