College Graduates Fare Well in Jobs Market, Even Through Recession

The unemployment rate for college graduates in April was a mere 3.9 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for the work force as a whole, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Even when the jobless rate for college graduates was at its very worst in this business cycle, in November 2010, it was still just 5.1 percent. That is close to the jobless rate the rest of the work force experiences when the economy is good.

Among all segments of workers sorted by educational attainment, college graduates are the only group that has more people employed today than when the recession started.

The number of college-educated workers with jobs has risen by 9.1 percent since the beginning of the recession. Those with a high school diploma and no further education are practically a mirror image, with employment down 9 percent on net. For workers without even a high school diploma, employment levels have fallen 14.1 percent.

But just because college graduates have jobs does not mean they all have “good” jobs.

There is ample evidence that employers are hiring college-educated workers for jobs that do not actually require college-level skills — positions like receptionists, file clerks, waitresses, car rental agents and so on.

“High-skilled people can take the jobs of middle-skilled people, and middle-skilled people can take jobs of low-skilled people,” said Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. “And low-skilled people are out of luck.”

In some cases, employers are specifically requiring four-year degrees for jobs that previously did not need them, since companies realize that in a relatively poor job market college graduates will be willing to take whatever they can find.

That has left those who have spent some time in college but have not received a bachelor’s degree to scramble for what is left. Employment for them fell during the recession and is now back to exactly where it began. There were 34,992,000 workers with some college employed in December 2007, and there are 34,992,000 today.

In other words, workers with four-year degrees have gobbled up all of the net job gains. In fact, there are more employed college graduates today than employed high school graduates and high school dropouts put together.

It is worth noting, too, that even young college graduates are finding jobs, based on the most recent data on this subgroup. In 2011, the unemployment rate for people in their 20s with at least a bachelor’s degree was 5.7 percent. For those with only a high school diploma or a G.E.D., it was nearly three times as high, at 16.2 percent.

Americans have gotten the message that college pays off in the job market. College degrees are much more common today than they were in the past. In April, about 32 percent of the civilian, noninstitutional population over 25 — that is, the group of people who are not inmates of penal and mental facilities or residents of homes for the disabled or aged and who are not on active military duty — had a college degree.

Twenty years ago, the share was 22 percent. Given the changing norms for what degree of educational training is expected of working Americans, employers might assume those who do not have a four-year degree are less ambitious or less capable, regardless of their actual ability.

These forces might help explain why there is so much growth in employment among college graduates despite the fact that the bulk of the jobs created in the last few years have been low-wage and low-skilled, according to a report last August from the National Employment Law Project, a liberal research and advocacy group. Today nearly one in 13 jobs is in food services, for example, a record share.

Clearly, positions in retail and food services are not the best use of the hard-earned skills of college-educated workers, who have gone to great expense to obtain their sheepskins. Student loan borrowers graduate with an average debt of $27,000, a total that is likely to grow in the future.

But nearly all of those graduates are at least finding work and income of some kind, unlike a much larger share of their less educated peers. And as the economy improves, college graduates will be better situated to find promotions to jobs that do use their more advanced skills and that pay better wages, economists say.

The median weekly earnings of college-educated, full-time workers — like those for their counterparts with less education — have dipped in recent years. In 2012, the weekly median was $1,141, compared with $1,163 in 2007, after adjusting for inflation. The premium they earn for having that college degree is still high, though.

In 2012, the typical full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree earned 79 percent more than a similar full-time worker with no more than a high school diploma. For comparison, 20 years earlier the premium was 73 percent, and 30 years earlier it was 48 percent.

And since a higher percentage of college graduates than high school graduates are employed in full-time work, these figures actually understate the increase in the total earnings premium from college completion, said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an independent research organization.

So, despite the painful upfront cost, the return on investment on a college degree remains high. An analysis from the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington estimated that the benefits of a four-year college degree were equivalent to an investment that returns 15.2 percent a year, even after factoring in the earnings students forgo while in school.

“This is more than double the average return to stock market investments since 1950,” the report said, “and more than five times the returns to corporate bonds, gold, long-term government bonds, or homeownership.”

The Boss: Advisory Board Co.’s Chief, on Seeing Solutions Through

My mother is Dutch, so I didn’t grow up around her family, but my grandfather would often mail me games and puzzles, starting my lifelong love of solving problems. I would figure them out and mail the answers back to him in the Netherlands. He turned 100 last year, and we attended his birthday celebration there.

I started swimming competitively at a young age but still found time, during vacations in high school, to scoop ice cream at a local ice cream parlor, deliver magazines and give swimming lessons.

I attended Princeton and was a member of its swim team. One time, while our team was competing in the N.C.A.A. championships, I substituted as anchor of a relay race for an injured teammate and was almost caught by our opponents. We won, but that close call showed me how discipline and hard work could put you in a position to be lucky.

After graduating with an economics degree in 1992, I spent a year skiing in Colorado. I moved to Crested Butte and got a job in accounting. I spent my paycheck on rent and a ski pass and applied to law schools. The next year, I enrolled at Harvard Law School, where I met my future wife, Jeannie. After I graduated in 1996, I returned to Dallas to be a clerk for a Federal District Court judge. I had always assumed that, like my father, I would practice law, but Jeannie helped me realize that I do best around people, building teams and relationships, rather than being immersed in legal research.

I joined McKinsey & Company in 1997, working on a study of the petroleum industry, first in Dallas and then Houston. In 1999, I transferred with McKinsey to Amsterdam, where Jeannie and I lived for two years. When we returned to the United States in 2001, we moved to Washington, where we have since expanded our family to include three children.

At the Washington office of McKinsey, I continued to work with a range of clients in consumer products and other industries. I loved the problem-solving. But management consultants figure out the solutions and generally leave the implementation to others. I wanted to help drive the solutions through to completion.

In 2003, I joined the Advisory Board Company, working first as its executive director of strategic planning and new product development. I moved up to the company’s business intelligence unit, becoming executive vice president for general management.

Our principal clients are hospitals and health care systems, where we provide strategic guidance and analytic software and help them improve the quality of services they deliver at a lower cost. I was named chief executive in September 2008, just as the financial recession began. Despite that, we have grown steadily and now serve some 3,000 health care institutions. It has been very satisfying to work with health care leaders like the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic and to work with other institutions to reduce hospital readmissions at a time when this issue is receiving national attention. We have also been branching out to work with higher-education institutions. We now have about 2,300 employees.

We are also committed to our communities. Staff members last year worked close to 20,000 free hours on community service projects. I serve on the board for Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit organization in Washington that is dedicated to ending chronic homelessness.

Whether Through the Law or Dance, Attorney Follows Her Passion

Most people wouldn't find a common thread between a cheer, a dance and an argument. But for Fisher & Phillips attorney Terri Stewart, weaving them together makes perfect sense. Aside from law, dance is Stewart's passion.

Stewart explains to the Daily Report how she has incorporated dance throughout her life.

First things first. I understand you were an Atlanta Falcons cheerleader in the 2005-2006 season. How did that come about?

I grew up dancing, and it was always my passion. I competed throughout high school, college, all the way from elementary school. I captained the University of Georgia dance team and danced all four years for the university. When I was in law school, I really just missed it and so my third year of law school -- while I was clerking -- I tried out and made the team. It was wonderfully fun, a lot of work and kind of like a second job.

I think often people may have preconceived ideas about professional cheerleaders, and you just told me it's a lot of work. Tell me a little bit about it and your experience.

There are many preconceived notions, but when you actually get down to it, there are a lot of wonderful girls and the Falcons have always put an emphasis on having well-rounded women. My year, there were stockbrokers, lawyers, accountants, pharmaceutical sales reps, because professional cheerleading isn't a career in itself. Most people have other jobs, and it's just a continuation of the passion that they've had growing up. So that's exactly what it was, and we were more like ambassadors to the community, encouraging young girls and students to stay in school, to read, to choose their first path career while still being able to realize that you can have fun, too, doing something like Falcons' cheerleading or anything that's your passion.

Do you have any takeaways from that experience?

There's a strong emphasis on community and outreach. We did 20 to 30 outreach events a year where we would go into the community with charities with children. It might be reading a book to a class, it may be teaching underprivileged kids to dance, and all those charitable experiences really helped the community and kind of made Falcons and the experience what it was.

Is your volunteer work with the Falcons how you became involved with the organization Moving in the Spirit?

I was actually introduced to Moving in the Spirit through my LEAD Atlanta class this year. LEAD Atlanta is a division of Leadership Atlanta for 25- to 32-year-olds. It's a leadership development program … and it is a really unique experience, because you are placed with a very diverse group. There are so many things that you do, but one that I was exposed to was a group called Moving in the Spirit. Obviously, it fit perfectly with my history, because it is a charity, and what they do is dance-based. They get underprivileged kids or kids that may not have exposure to something like dance because of the cost or whatnot and they … use dance as a method to teach them commitment and leadership. Their main goal in life is not to make them the best dancers in the world, but to give them a dance skill that they can take throughout life.

You've said you've always loved to dance. What is it about dance you like so much?

Well, to put it bluntly, I was really bad at everything else with respect to sports. When you're a kid, your parents try different things and see what fits. Once I found dance, it was just a natural connection. Being a lawyer, I have always been analytical and very fact-specific. Type-A personality. So dance is like the other side of the coin, that artistic outlet. I think it's just fun. I love the opportunities it's brought me. It really helped me as a kid develop the confidence and life skills you need for the rest of your life.

Dance is very athletic. I don't think a lot of people realize that.

I used to teach football players in college to tap dance so they could be the first one off the line.

You taught UGA football players tap dancing?

Yes, to get quicker with their feet and faster on the line. So, that was fun.

How were they?

It was just a small, little group, so it wasn't everybody. But it was fun. I didn't know they made tap shoes that big.

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Lawyer's Sandy Saga Runs Through the High Court

Joshua Rosenkranz of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was in Washington, D.C., last Thursday and Friday getting ready to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.

Learn to Shine Through Mediation

With court closures, funding crises and long delays for justice, the full picture of the developing state of our court system still remains to be seen. As the legal industry navigates this new reality, those developing their legal careers as up-and-coming litigators face a whole new set of challenges. How can these litigators find opportunities to shine in the courtroom with delays and backlogs? Following are some recommendations on how the mediation process can help those attorneys raise their profile.

An effective mediation requires trust and communication between the mediator, attorney and client. Mediation is often seen as a way to manage and curtail the ongoing cost of litigation and provide closure to the litigants. The role of the lawyer is a critical component to this process and positive results can make lasting impressions on clients and a law firm -- building lasting professional relationships and creating future business opportunities. A well-thought-out strategy is essential to ensuring a successful resolution to any commercial disagreement through any ADR process.

ADR processes can create opportunities for advancement of younger lawyers like trial practice in the past.

Some ideas: Help your clients by introducing ADR and explaining the advantages of the mediation process from the beginning. It's important to manage and clear the litigants' mindset of any unrealistic expectations. Occasionally lawyers and clients place too much focus on the fight rather than resolution, which can hinder the best end result for the client. Certain factors may influence this mindset, like the stage of litigation, economic disparities or emotional ties to issues in dispute.

Use this opportunity to become a trusted adviser to your client. Counsel the client about the consequences of the unpredictability of trial, related costs and emotional drain. Sometimes clients might lose faith in the process or worse yet, lose faith in their attorney. It's important to demonstrate your commitment and continue communicating with your client throughout the process. Depending on your level of experience, volunteer to prep the client on the mediation process or ask to shadow the client prep meeting. The more clients understand about mediation, the better they'll feel and the better you'll look.

Further, a skilled lawyer approaches mediation with a different set of tools than going to trial. Start shaping the process to reach your desired outcome well before the mediation takes place. Make recommendations based on your knowledge of the matter, style of the clients, opposing clients and their lawyers, desired end goal.

Initiate discussion about neutral selection early to signal your understanding of considerations most important for the matter at hand. Gather information about potential mediators by pulling articles, biographical information, recommendations from fellow attorneys or the mediator's case manager and seek references from both sides of the bar. Some important criteria to consider include reputation, subject matter expertise and whether they're evaluative or facilitative in style. Other questions to consider: Is the style of the mediator aligned with the personalities or the sophistication of the parties? Does the mediator have the appropriate business acumen if necessary? If there are outstanding questions, suggest an interview with a potential mediator before selection to ensure the mediator's style or expertise is aligned with the needs of the dispute. The mediator interview is becoming more popular and generally there is no additional cost to the parties.

Volunteer to write the mediation brief, using it as a vehicle to demonstrate your grasp of pivotal issues and facts in the case. Exchanging a brief allows the mediator and opposing counsel to understand your clients' position, concepts and sought results. Without your brief there is a chance that you may need to take more time in mediation to clarify or expand upon your clients' position. The brief should be succinct and include a time line for facts and case law. If there is something you don't want the other side to read, you can always provide a confidential mediator's letter or email or call the mediator to be more candid about sensitive issues. Exchanging briefs can help educate your own client and opposing counsel on potential weaknesses in their respective positions. It can be more difficult to convince the client to accept a vulnerability of their case without understanding possible outcomes at trial.

Recommend or initiate pre-hearing calls in preparation for the mediation. This serves as an opportunity to give "behind the scenes" information on the case along with identifying certain dynamics not found in the brief. You may ask the mediator to reaffirm messaging, "good/bad/ugly," with your client during the actual mediation session. You may also want to discuss the format of the proceedings, such as consideration of whether or not to have a joint session.

Joint sessions can work. Not all cases are appropriate for joint sessions; however, many times they can be an effective and productive introduction to the mediation process -- and for participants to interact with the mediator. Today's joint session is an opportunity for the mediator to set the "ground rules," demonstrating their familiarity with the matter and to give each side a chance to answer their questions in front of each other before breaking out in caucus. If joint session is not appropriate at the beginning of the mediation session, consider whether it might be helpful midway or toward conclusion of proceedings.

Learn to Shine Through Mediation

Vicki Satrap, JAMS vice president, northwest region
Image: courtesy photo

With court closures, funding crises and long delays for justice, the full picture of the developing state of our court system still remains to be seen. As the legal industry navigates this new reality, those developing their legal careers as up-and-coming litigators face a whole new set of challenges. How can these litigators find opportunities to shine in the courtroom with delays and backlogs? Following are some recommendations on how the mediation process can help those attorneys raise their profile.

An effective mediation requires trust and communication between the mediator, attorney and client. Mediation is often seen as a way to manage and curtail the ongoing cost of litigation and provide closure to the litigants. The role of the lawyer is a critical component to this process and positive results can make lasting impressions on clients and a law firm -- building lasting professional relationships and creating future business opportunities. A well-thought-out strategy is essential to ensuring a successful resolution to any commercial disagreement through any ADR process.

ADR processes can create opportunities for advancement of younger lawyers like trial practice in the past.

Some ideas: Help your clients by introducing ADR and explaining the advantages of the mediation process from the beginning. It's important to manage and clear the litigants' mindset of any unrealistic expectations. Occasionally lawyers and clients place too much focus on the fight rather than resolution, which can hinder the best end result for the client. Certain factors may influence this mindset, like the stage of litigation, economic disparities or emotional ties to issues in dispute.

Use this opportunity to become a trusted adviser to your client. Counsel the client about the consequences of the unpredictability of trial, related costs and emotional drain. Sometimes clients might lose faith in the process or worse yet, lose faith in their attorney. It's important to demonstrate your commitment and continue communicating with your client throughout the process. Depending on your level of experience, volunteer to prep the client on the mediation process or ask to shadow the client prep meeting. The more clients understand about mediation, the better they'll feel and the better you'll look.

Further, a skilled lawyer approaches mediation with a different set of tools than going to trial. Start shaping the process to reach your desired outcome well before the mediation takes place. Make recommendations based on your knowledge of the matter, style of the clients, opposing clients and their lawyers, desired end goal.

Initiate discussion about neutral selection early to signal your understanding of considerations most important for the matter at hand. Gather information about potential mediators by pulling articles, biographical information, recommendations from fellow attorneys or the mediator's case manager and seek references from both sides of the bar. Some important criteria to consider include reputation, subject matter expertise and whether they're evaluative or facilitative in style. Other questions to consider: Is the style of the mediator aligned with the personalities or the sophistication of the parties? Does the mediator have the appropriate business acumen if necessary? If there are outstanding questions, suggest an interview with a potential mediator before selection to ensure the mediator's style or expertise is aligned with the needs of the dispute. The mediator interview is becoming more popular and generally there is no additional cost to the parties.

Volunteer to write the mediation brief, using it as a vehicle to demonstrate your grasp of pivotal issues and facts in the case. Exchanging a brief allows the mediator and opposing counsel to understand your clients' position, concepts and sought results. Without your brief there is a chance that you may need to take more time in mediation to clarify or expand upon your clients' position. The brief should be succinct and include a time line for facts and case law. If there is something you don't want the other side to read, you can always provide a confidential mediator's letter or email or call the mediator to be more candid about sensitive issues. Exchanging briefs can help educate your own client and opposing counsel on potential weaknesses in their respective positions. It can be more difficult to convince the client to accept a vulnerability of their case without understanding possible outcomes at trial.

Recommend or initiate pre-hearing calls in preparation for the mediation. This serves as an opportunity to give "behind the scenes" information on the case along with identifying certain dynamics not found in the brief. You may ask the mediator to reaffirm messaging, "good/bad/ugly," with your client during the actual mediation session. You may also want to discuss the format of the proceedings, such as consideration of whether or not to have a joint session.

Joint sessions can work. Not all cases are appropriate for joint sessions; however, many times they can be an effective and productive introduction to the mediation process -- and for participants to interact with the mediator. Today's joint session is an opportunity for the mediator to set the "ground rules," demonstrating their familiarity with the matter and to give each side a chance to answer their questions in front of each other before breaking out in caucus. If joint session is not appropriate at the beginning of the mediation session, consider whether it might be helpful midway or toward conclusion of proceedings.

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