Recession for college grads

I saw a bit on CNN about how veterans have been having a tough time finding jobs post-military. The big run up was "it's not for the reason you think!" In the end, the reason they "uncovered" was that employers have developed a negative stigma against veterans because of all the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the news. It used to be if there were two equivalent applicants, and one of them was in the military, the military thing would be a sort of leg up on the other guy. Now its the other way, according to this CNN story, because the employer would "rather just not deal with all that."

I couldn't find the link on their site, but I did find this interesting story: you might think that because its a recession there are fewer jobs and hiring has cut way back. On the contrary, the recession has caused companies to scale back their higher-priced employees, forcing even more of the baby-boomer generation into retirement. These companies still need workers, and so they look to the recent college graduates as a sort of bottom-of-the-barrel deal. Sounds promising for those of us running through college (which will hopefully circumvent the first bit of this post). On the down side, though, if you look at the list of companies that are planning on hiring the most recent college grads this year? Walgreens, Enterprise Rent A Car, and Progressive Insurance. I have to wonder how many of these jobs are really terrible ones with no room for promotion? The sort of jobs that a high school grad would've been doing 15 years ago?

Finally, something else I noticed which is a nice trend. CNN.com has a link on their video section to "live video." This pops up a browser of the various live feeds that are going on at the moment. When I tuned in, there was a speech by Hiliary Clinton in NC, another by Bill Clinton in PA, and some trial going on. Also, you have the option of watching the live headlines. This is nice for people who might not have TV but would like to get a little bit of national news, especially when speeches or events are happening. Usually the major networks won't air the longer live news feeds. And, as I write this, another feed is added to watch a live gold course fire in Cleveland... don't mind if I do.