--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like us, many students had spent their…" description: "\"“Like us, many students had spent their years in college thinking they’d get that well-paying, planet-saving job, even if they’d heard horror stories f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/ken-ilgunas-26210_college-graduates_like-us-many-students-had-spent-their-ye_529723.jpg" --- # Like us, many students had spent their years in college… ![“Like us, many students had spent their years in college thinking they’d get that well-paying, planet-saving job, even if they’d heard horror stories from recent underemployed grads. Those jobs, of course, no longer exist (if they ever did). By 2009, 17.4 million college graduates had jobs that…” quote by Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/ken-ilgunas-26210_college-graduates_like-us-many-students-had-spent-their-ye_529723.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/ken-ilgunas-26210_college-graduates_like-us-many-students-had-spent-their-ye_529723.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/ken-ilgunas-26210_college-graduates_like-us-many-students-had-spent-their-ye_529723.jpg) > ““Like us, many students had spent their years in college thinking they’d get that well-paying, planet-saving job, even if they’d heard horror stories from recent underemployed grads. Those jobs, of course, no longer exist (if they ever did). By 2009, 17.4 million college graduates had jobs that didn’t even require a degree. There are 365,000 cashiers and 318,000 waiters and waitresses in America who have bachelor’s degrees, as do one-fifth of those working in the retail industry. More than 100,000 college graduates are janitors and 18,000 push carts. (There are 5,057 janitors in the United States who have doctorates and professional degrees!)”” [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Many graduates find themselves in low‑skill jobs despite expectations of high‑pay, meaningful work, highlighting a mismatch between education and labor market demand. **In simple terms:** College degrees don’t guarantee good jobs. Key Takeaway Align education with market needs. Themes education employment expectations economy Mood concerned realistic Type analytical informative When to use this quote - career counseling - policy reform - student loan planning - skill upskilling - job search strategies Key Concepts human capital labor market mismatch credential inflation Questions to Reflect On - How can students better assess job market trends? - What policies could reduce credential inflation? A Different Perspective Not all fields suffer equally; some sectors still value degrees. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bachelor Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bachelor-degrees-1091427/) [College graduates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college-graduates/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Grads Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grads-jobs-4452420/) [Graduates Janitors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduates-janitors-4452419/) [Graduation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduation/) [Professional Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professional-degrees-4452421/) [Retail Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retail-industry-213574/) ## Related quotes > [Well, I have an undergraduate degree, a couple of bachelor's degrees, from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kelly/well-i-have-an-undergraduate-degree-a-couple-of-bachelor-s-degrees/) [Mark Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kelly/) > [We know that to compete for the jobs of the 21st century and thrive in a global economy, we need a growing, skilled and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pocan/we-know-that-to-compete-for-the-jobs-of-the-21st-century-and-thrive/) [Mark Pocan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pocan/) > [Bachelor's degrees make pretty good placemats if you get 'em laminated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeph-jacques/bachelor-s-degrees-make-pretty-good-placemats-if-you-get-em-laminated/) [Jeph Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeph-jacques/) > [The retail industry has its own headache: it loses $16 billion a year to customers who buy clothes, wear them with the tags tucked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/the-retail-industry-has-its-own-headache-it-loses-16-billion-a-year/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“It wouldn't be so bad, really, if I wasn't paid so shit, if there wasn't the constant misgendering, if I didn't work in both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-evans/it-wouldn-t-be-so-bad-really-if-i-wasn-t-paid-so-shit-if-there-wasn-t/) [Alison Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-evans/) > [Wal-Mart is an amazing success story. What I particularly admire very much about the late Sam Walton was his policy of valuing his employees.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tadashi-yanai/wal-mart-is-an-amazing-success-story-what-i-particularly-admire-very/) [Tadashi Yanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tadashi-yanai/) > [College was pivotal for me. It broadened my horizons, taught me to think and question, and introduced me to many things - such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-ferling/college-was-pivotal-for-me-it-broadened-my-horizons-taught-me-to/) [John E Ferling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-ferling/) > [Embedding diversity and inclusivity, particularly with regards to disabled people, would help push the fashion and retail industry to be even more creative, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-mordaunt/embedding-diversity-and-inclusivity-particularly-with-regards-to/) [Penny Mordaunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-mordaunt/) > [Technology is fundamentally changing what it means to work - and the retail industry is no exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-mcmillon/technology-is-fundamentally-changing-what-it-means-to-work-and-the/) [Doug McMillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-mcmillon/) > [I want my kids to graduate from high school. But that's not enough. I also want them to go to college. Why? Because rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-canada/i-want-my-kids-to-graduate-from-high-school-but-that-s-not-enough-i/) [Geoffrey Canada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-canada/) > [Through high school, college, graduate school and beyond, I had a number of relationships that were wonderful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/through-high-school-college-graduate-school-and-beyond-i-had-a-number/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think it's sort of an outrage that companies should have to hire firms to teach the college graduates they employ how to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/i-think-it-s-sort-of-an-outrage-that-companies-should-have-to-hire/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [The college graduate is presented with a sheepskin to cover his intellectual nakedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/the-college-graduate-is-presented-with-a-sheepskin-to-cover-his/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [“Pleasure died forty years ago in America, perhaps further back, in a wave of carbon monoxide, gasoline, cigarettes for dames, the belief in everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-purdy/pleasure-died-forty-years-ago-in-america-perhaps-further-back-in-a/) [James Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-purdy/) > [John Shook's experience shows just how important problemsolving is at Toyota - it comes before any other job skill for the graduate intake. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-burns/john-shook-s-experience-shows-just-how-important-problemsolving-is-at/) [Martin Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-burns/) ## More by Ken Ilgunas > [“Perhaps there’s no better act of simplification than climbing a mountain. For an afternoon, a day, or a week, it’s a way of reducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/perhaps-there-s-no-better-act-of-simplification-than-climbing-a/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“... But these skeptics are only selectively skeptical. They think themselves enlightened for resisting all this new proof and remaining steadfast in mistrusting anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/but-these-skeptics-are-only-selectively-skeptical-they-think/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“I learned such a glimpse cannot be gotten with half-hearted journeys and soft endeavors. Nor could I hope for such a glimpse merely by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/i-learned-such-a-glimpse-cannot-be-gotten-with-half-hearted-journeys/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“I felt a strange twinge of anger looking at the stars. It was as if I’d just learned of an inheritance that had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/i-felt-a-strange-twinge-of-anger-looking-at-the-stars-it-was-as-if-i/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“I could sense the slightest abridgment of my freedom like a princess who can feel the impression of a pea under forty featherbeds. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/i-could-sense-the-slightest-abridgment-of-my-freedom-like-a-princess/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“I am a member of the “career-less generation.” Or the “screwed generation.” Unlike previous generations, the members of my generation won’t get jobs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/i-am-a-member-of-the-career-less-generation-or-the-screwed-generation/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“Sometimes, to cede control to fate, I realized, is to assume more control than ever before. I wasn’t just traveling anymore. I was traveling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/sometimes-to-cede-control-to-fate-i-realized-is-to-assume-more/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“We have trains to hop, voyages to embark on, and rides to hitch. And then there’s the great American wild—vanishing but still there—ready to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/we-have-trains-to-hop-voyages-to-embark-on-and-rides-to-hitch-and/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“On this voyage, I couldn't help but think we need need. We need to be forced to go outside. We need to be forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/on-this-voyage-i-couldn-t-help-but-think-we-need-need-we-need-to-be/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“Be a devotee in the Church of the Consumer and you’ll forever live in fear of the capricious God of Style. Freedom, though, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/be-a-devotee-in-the-church-of-the-consumer-and-you-ll-forever-live-in/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [ “It was strange how it was always the poor who picked us up \[hitchhiking\]...They dwelled beneath poverty lines and were undereducated, but they were...more… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/it-was-strange-how-it-was-always-the-poor-who-picked-us-up/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“We can only miss what we once possessed. We can only feel wronged when we realize something has been stolen from us. We can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/we-can-only-miss-what-we-once-possessed-we-can-only-feel-wronged-when/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“My SOUTH sign stopped working on an entrance ramp in a sleepy farm town called Kittitas in the state of Washington. A man who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/my-south-sign-stopped-working-on-an-entrance-ramp-in-a-sleepy-farm/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“only feel wronged when we realize something has been stolen from us. We can’t miss the million-strong flocks of passenger pigeons that once blackened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/only-feel-wronged-when-we-realize-something-has-been-stolen-from-us/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) > [“I graduated on a May afternoon. When the director of ceremonies ended her speech, I had no desire to triumphantly fling my graduation cap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ilgunas/i-graduated-on-a-may-afternoon-when-the-director-of-ceremonies-ended/) [Ken Ilgunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) [Explore all 22 Ken Ilgunas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ilgunas/) ## More College graduates quotes > [John Shook's experience shows just how important problemsolving is at Toyota - it comes before any other job skill for the graduate intake. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-burns/john-shook-s-experience-shows-just-how-important-problemsolving-is-at/) [Martin Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-burns/) > [“Pleasure died forty years ago in America, perhaps further back, in a wave of carbon monoxide, gasoline, cigarettes for dames, the belief in everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-purdy/pleasure-died-forty-years-ago-in-america-perhaps-further-back-in-a/) [James Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-purdy/) > [The college graduate is presented with a sheepskin to cover his intellectual nakedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/the-college-graduate-is-presented-with-a-sheepskin-to-cover-his/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [I think it's sort of an outrage that companies should have to hire firms to teach the college graduates they employ how to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/i-think-it-s-sort-of-an-outrage-that-companies-should-have-to-hire/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [Through high school, college, graduate school and beyond, I had a number of relationships that were wonderful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/through-high-school-college-graduate-school-and-beyond-i-had-a-number/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I want my kids to graduate from high school. But that's not enough. I also want them to go to college. Why? Because rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-canada/i-want-my-kids-to-graduate-from-high-school-but-that-s-not-enough-i/) [Geoffrey Canada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-canada/) > [“As a 2011 Brookings Institution study found, “compared to 2000, residents of extreme-poverty neighborhoods in 2005–09 were more likely to be white, native-born, high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-a-2011-brookings-institution-study-found-compared-to-2000/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [ The average college graduate's proficient literacy in English \[the ability to read lengthy, complex texts and draw complicated inferences\] has declined from 40 percent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/the-average-college-graduate-s-proficient-literacy-in-english-the/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/it-is-clear-the-future-holds-great-opportunities-it-also-holds/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lolo-jones/harder-than-training-for-the-olympics-harder-than-graduating-from/) [Lolo Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lolo-jones/) > [Life for young American college graduates is a festive affair. Free of having to support their families, they mostly have gay parties on rooftops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/life-for-young-american-college-graduates-is-a-festive-affair-free-of/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [If knowledge is power and power is knowledge, then how so many idiots be graduating from college?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coolio/if-knowledge-is-power-and-power-is-knowledge-then-how-so-many-idiots/) [Coolio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coolio/) > [When you leave here, don't forget why you came. ( to college graduates)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/when-you-leave-here-don-t-forget-why-you-came-to-college-graduates/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [A great many college graduates come here thinking of lawyers as social engineers arguing the great Constitutional issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/a-great-many-college-graduates-come-here-thinking-of-lawyers-as/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [“If I don’t succeed, I will try again and never stop trying. When I succeed, I will again explore new opportunities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/if-i-don-t-succeed-i-will-try-again-and-never-stop-trying-when-i/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) [Browse all 107 College graduates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college-graduates/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like us, many students had spent their years in college thinking they’d get that well-paying, planet-saving job, even if they’d heard horror stories from recent underemployed grads. Those jobs, of course, no longer exist (if they ever did). By 2009, 17.4 million college graduates had jobs that didn’t even require a degree. There are 365,000 cashiers and 318,000 waiters and waitresses in America who have bachelor’s degrees, as do one-fifth of those working in the retail industry. More than 100,000 college graduates are janitors and 18,000 push carts. 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