The Job Market: Is a College Degree Worth Less?

The headline of the Time magazine article caught my eye, because in this area it's stated one of the reasons our employment picture is not as "rosy" is because of the lack of those with college degrees. I then think of those like my oldest daughter who has a degree in engineering, so I think at first reaction, that a college degree in some fields does still have value, but perhaps a degree in others, such as a business degree, where there are not professional job requirements this could be true.

As I read further, I discovered:

Left-brain abilities that used to guarantee jobs have become easy to automate, while right-brain abilities are harder to find — "design, seeing the big picture, connecting the dots," Pink says. He cites cognitive skills and self-direction as the types of things companies look for in job candidates. "People have to be able to do stuff that's hard to outsource," he says. "It used to be for blue collar; it's now for white collar too."

For now, graduates can steer their careers where job growth is strong — education, health care and nonprofit programs like Teach for America, says Trudy Steinfeld, a career counselor at New York University. "Every college degree is not cookie cutter. It's what you have done during that degree to distinguish yourself."