High school students are essentially given three choices when they graduate high school.
The first choice is to attend a two or four year college and get a degree for a career that they desire.
The second choice is to get a job that they enjoy without needing extra education and the third choice is to enroll in trade programs and schools to acquire a skill that will give them a career.
Those who go on to a college education or trade school program invest their own money and effort into making a better life for themselves, which used to be a good investment.
However, even those with college degrees today are not walking out of the education system into jobs that they trained for.
The news is constantly reporting on companies that are laying off, closing down, or standing still in the economy.
There aren't a lot of places that are hiring, and the ones that are will be few and far between.
College graduates are now facing the grim reality that they very well might have invested thousands of dollars into an education with no guarantee of a job any better than their fellow high school classmates who left high school headed for jobs in fast food or retail businesses.
This is a scary situation for anyone trying to find a little financial security and peace of mind, but it is happening and there isn't much to be done about it.
With all of this uncertainty, many people are left in a position not finding jobs that they love, but finding jobs that will get them through.
Now is not the time to be picky and many who are headed into the career world realize this.
You see executive level employees taking entry level positions in industries that they are well overqualified for, just so that they can make ends meet.
What's the future going to be like for today's college students and high school graduates? Education used to be the key to success in your career future, but today it's nothing more than an investment that students can only hope will pay off at some point.
With any luck, the economy will bounce back and the job markets will become a little more fruitful for young adults who are entering the workforce.
However, no one knows exactly when or if that day will come, which leaves everyone doing whatever it takes to get by.
They say that the children are the future, but what happens where there are no jobs for the children of the world? For many, it's just a matter of doing what can be done, and biding their time hoping and praying that things will get better.
Until they do, no one can really predict what's in store for future career seekers, if anything.