Hello,

This is my first post here. I am afraid that most of what I write will be redundant, as all I've read and discovered, both online and elsewhere, has made me realize that I am hardly alone in my plight. So I will try (and fail) to keep it short:

I graduated in 1996 with a Business Certificate, and then Graduated in 2003 with a Fine Arts degree in Media Arts and Digital Technologies, a brand new program (being introduced at a reputable art and design college) that was initially sold to me as a practical, real-world, creative, vocational major. In the end, it ended being purely a theoretical and discourse-based, gallery art-oriented major. Well, I took the risk, so I blame myself for this mistake, but I did my best within the major I had started in, and did very well. So having no real job qualifications aside from what I gained working before and during school, I entered the 'world' with a $48,000 deficit. I have worked hard to teach myself web and graphic design skills along the way, and have done some free-lancing, but pound on doors as I might, I have still failed to get a fulltime degree-related job.

I have moved to three different areas of Canada since graduation, have worked one entry level job that was remotely related to my studies (digital photographer... $8 an hour), mowed lawns, painted apartments, hauled debris from job sites, etc. Most recently, in London, Ontario, I have applied to over 100 jobs, ranging from entry level design jobs all the way down to shoveling snow. Most companies won't hire me because (I assume) I'm over-educated or (in the case of design firms) under-experienced. I was recently instructed by a government sponsored employment agency to take my education off of my resume. I did this once before in Calgary during near-desperate times, and ended up landing a labour job immediately. But now I refuse! Earning that degree was one of the most challenging things I have ever accomplished. I had to tree plant during summers to help pay for living and driving costs, and work part time during most of my schooling years, just to remain afloat. It was a mountain! So I will not hide the fact that I am educated.

Unfortunately, my education doesn't seem to amount to much in the real world, and my monthly payments of approximately $550 a month are simply impossible to make. Fortunately, I have been on top of the interest relief deal, and all of my loans remain in good standing. With the help of my charitable mother and a short stint of teaching I did overseas, I have managed to chisel $10,000 away from my debts. After 2 months of looking for decent work in Canada (the only jobs I have worked since Oct 1st were raking leaves and a brief call centre job), I have signed another teaching contract in South Korea. I now plan on teaching ESL until I pay off my loans, and then I hope to settle somewhere. I will not settle in Canada if they don't get it together. Even still, the bad taste may remain.

I love this continent, but we are the most duped people on the planet (well, tied with the States!). Other Uni-grads I meet from Aus and NZ don't have this kind of burden after graduation. Conditions are nearly impossible here if you are starting out, especially if you are 33 yrs old, have a $38,000 student loan and no valued occupational skills (and no experience, because, paradoxically, most entry-level jobs want you to have 3-5 yrs experience!!!).

At 25 (a little late, I confess), I embarked on a risky educational enterprise to elevate my standard of living and find meaningful work that drew upon my talents. Besides, I thought, a degree in anything would enhance my chances of finding decent work. Eight years later, I'm in a somewhat tougher position than I was in then. Bye, Canada. Sadly, only Korea has at least recognised the value of my hard-earned degree in a way, and will pay me accordingly.

If I had children, I would steer them clear of Canada's educational system unless I was wealthy enough to pay their way. There are too many of us 'educated poor' in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. This has to say something to the leaders of this country. But as I'm a surviver, I will do what I have to do, and now that means turning my back on my country of origin. Perhaps permanently.

Steve Orr

Hello ...

I know exactly what you mean. I have been told too to take my education off of my resume, but my response to that is "Why should I?" In addition, because a lot of my short term jobs of 4 months or less were while I was attending university and a direct result of me being in university. To take out my education means taking out all but a couple of my most recent jobs off my resume too. To do so, put it another way, would put many "holes" in my resume from a chronological point of view. I think it is very important for all of us to keep our education on our resumes not only because we worked so damn hard to accomplish it, but leaving it out causes other problems such as the holes or gaps in a resume. Also, it is more beneficial too to let employers know what you have been doing because I think it shows prospective employers that you have been making good on your time since leaving high school.

I have to admit that many employers don't see it that way and they have the narrow-minded view that if they hire us "overqualified" people that we would be only taking the job until something else better comes along and they are too afraid of us jumping overboard to something better paying and hopefully related to our training. Some employers as a result are not supportive of our bottom line which is to move up and move on to bigger and better things.

I have had to deal with employers telling me that I am either overqualified or inexperienced which is so discouraging to say the least. There seems to be little gray area in between.

I have no hopes of getting gainful employment in my fields because they require a graduate degree (meteorology/climatology) or my computer skills (IT) became obsolete before I could gain meaningful employment. With IT, employers kept coming back to me saying I need experience. I am left now trying to find anything that pays a sensible wage with or without requiring an advanced education.

For the overwhelming majority of us with Student Loan problems paying them back and stuff, the root cause of our inability to pay back these loans is due to a lack of gainful employment opportunities out there. The only opportunities out there are reserved for the ones with experience and/or connections.

I am from Newfoundland and in the last 6 years I have had only 3 jobs including my present job and I went back to school 2 and a half years ago for a three year course that I had to drop out of due to severe mental fatigue. By doing this of course I set the 10 year clock back to zero as of June 2004 inadvertently and I did not borrow Student Loans for this course.

Right now, I am in Alberta (Calgary) and I am making a net income of just under $1200.00 and pretty much living from paycheck to paycheck with money to save up too for me and my fiancee's wedding next October. My budget is very tight and I am hoping to get better paying jobs soon. My current job is working as a Stock Clerk/Warehousing Clerk and I have a pending interview with the Home Depot this week and if this job pays the same as what I am making now or more I am definitely taking it as my present job chews up a lot of my time in the form of lengthy commutes.

Where Calgary is a large city and the standard of living costs are much higher than in Newfoundland, $1200.00 a month leaves me with nothing to pay my Student Loans and as far as getting married next year is concerned, I am going to be 33 years old next year and I am not putting my new life with my spouse and future family on hold because the Student Loan guys want me to give them what disposable income I have left over and then some.

My attitude is that until I am gainfully employed and want to avoid bankruptcy, with or without that 10 year law (now 7 years due to new legislation) of course, none of my Student Loans are going to see a dime from me and I will buy whatever time I can until I am gainfully employed.

Mr. Orr ... in conclusion you are not alone and many of us do share in the same problems you are having. Part of the problem is in regards to the Student Aid system's inefficiency ... but a large part of it is due to the inability to get past what I call the "No Experience Syndrome" or NES.

Best of luck to you and to all of us and hopefully employers out there will wake up!

Congratulations, Mr. Orr.

Your choice of leaving a country that has turned its back on you is courageous, and I suspect, eye-opening. You have comported yourself with integrity and reason, something that cannot be said for  the politicians that let the system exist in its current state, the bureaucrats who implement it, or the institutions that grow wealthy on it.

Like others in your position, I suspect that you have discovered that in the big world out there, there exist alternatives that make sense;that simply accepting without question the poposition that Canada is in every way a shining example for the unenlightened rest of the world is in fact a crock of s hit.

Good luck in your career; you will have had a far broader and much richer set of experiences in your life than you would have, had you chosen to knuckle under, dodge bill collectors and rail against the system that betrayed you while living on welfare and having your nose pressed against the glass, wondering why your "fellow Canadians" won't let you in from the cold.

It's a big world out there; there are lots of places and people that will accept what you have to offer, and compensate you for it. You have taken the option that makes the most sense. More people should think outside of the box and beyond their comfort zones; they would be astonished at the opportunities that exist and they had never even imagined locked away in their parochial Canada-centric habits.

Go, Steve!

Hey Steve,

Did you say London, Ont.?  No wonder you're in Korea.  I wish I'd had the sense to leave years ago after that city chewed me up and spat me out. Too many rich people (Labatt's etc.)  A few get lucky, but most leave that discriminatory, conservative, tight-ass, status conscious city because they didn't have the connections.  But it could have happened anywhere so I won't engage in just London-bashing. 

I blamed myself for the longest time...something was wrong with me...I wasn't good enough....lacking somehow.  I looked for employment for over 10 years, but the only jobs I could find were student jobs.  But then I realized that it wasn't me, it was them.  I ended up on welfare every time I tried to leave the school, wondering, as Jack so accurately described, "why my fellow Canadians wouldn't let me in from the cold". 

I went hungry, slept on floors, visited food banks, had my telephone disconnected, electricity cut off, lived in shelters, and was treated like I was less than human.  Marginalized in the midst of a civilized community.  I believe they wouldn't let me in from the cold because they were too busy taking care of themselves.  Thus, I stayed in University for far longer than I would have otherwise, and have a huge debt load today.  But I escaped with my life and my sanity. 

The "NES" no experience, no job syndrome has got a lot to do with it.  But many places train their employees on-the-job.  I have heard an employer remark "I don't even know what that is (Sociology), why would I hire them?"  I believe that some of those who have hung on to their jobs for 20 years, are now having their revenge or feel threatened.  Go ahead and turn your back on them Steve.

Merry Christmas