Can't find a job? Sue your college!

[Platapus]

I just got a chuckle out of this

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/03/new...ate/index.html

Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job

NEW YORK (CNN)

-- A recent college graduate is suing her alma mater for $72,000 -- the full cost of her tuition and then some -- because she cannot find a job.

Trina Thompson, 27, of the Bronx, graduated from New York's Monroe College in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology.

On July 24, she filed suit against the college in Bronx Supreme Court, alleging that Monroe's "Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through."

The college responded that it offers job-search support to all its students.
In her complaint, Thompson says she seeks $70,000 in reimbursement for her tuition and $2,000 to compensate for the stress of her three-month job search.

As Thompson sees it, any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record. But Monroe's career-services department has put forth insufficient effort to help her secure employment, she claims.

"They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that," she said.

Thompson said she has fulfilled her end of the job-search bargain, peppering companies listed on Monroe's e-recruiting site with cover letters, résumés and phone calls. But no more than two employers have responded to her outreach, and those leads have borne no fruit.

Her complaint adds, "The office of career advancement information technology counselor did not make sure their Monroe e-recruiting clients call their graduates that recently finished college for an interview to get a job placement. They have not tried hard enough to help me."

She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said.

Monroe College released a statement saying that "while it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search."

Thompson says she has not hired an attorney to represent her because she cannot afford one. When she filed her complaint, she also filed a "poor person order," which exempts her from filing fees associated with the lawsuit.

Asked whether she would advise other college graduates facing job woes to sue their alma maters, Thompson said yes.

"It doesn't make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned."

Gosh a 2.7 GPA in "information technology" and the world is not beating a path to her door. I am shocked!

Perhaps Ms. Thompson needs to stop hoping that the school will do all the work and that Ms. Thompson needs to get out there and hustle for a job.

Would it ever occur to Ms. Thompson that perhaps companies would prefer hiring a person with a 4.0 GPA vice a person with a 2.7?

BTW, what does one do with a BBA in Information Technology?

[Mush Martin]

Well in answer ........... I understand that Payless is hiring.

[CaptainHaplo]

"They help them more out ..."

And she expects someone to hire her to assist in the administeration - and thus in many ways - represent their business.

If the person writes a resume/CV the way she talks, I can see why she had little interest. While I applaud her ingenuity in stressing her attendance over her actual gpa, I would say that she missed her mark and should have gone into advertising or sales.....

What you have here is the ultimate proof that society is creating the entitlement attitude. However, lets see what comes of it, as her claim is that they discriminated against her because of her GPA. While the EMPLOYERS are more than able to DISCERN desired applicants using such criteria - the employment assistance office at a college cannot. Thus if she has a claim - then it will be seen.

[SteamWake]

Look its simple. The schools task is to educate you. Finding a job albeit with their assistance is your task.

[geetrue]

I wonder if she was a blond?

[Task Force]

well... if she cant get the job she wants... theres always fliping burgers.

[bookworm_020]

McDonald's drive thru awaits!

[XabbaRus]

Since when has any school or uni careers officer been any good? Seems to me like the cushiest job on earth.

[Takeda Shingen]

Wow. A 2.7. No wonder no one will touch her. Granted, she's not done for life, but she would probably have to work somewhere less ideal until enough time passes to render her transcripts less important.

By the way, schools do not have a class attendance record on their transcripts, so I'm not sure how her solid attendance would help her. If her attendance was poor, she could claim that as the reason for her poor performance. As it appears now, she went to class dutifully, but just lacked the intellecutal capacity to understand many of the finer points pertaining to the academically-heavy field of 'Information Technology'.

[NeonSamurai]

Could also be that the "degree" she has isn't worth the paper its printed on. There are a lot of those colleges out there which offer useless degrees that are poorly taught or totally out of date. You see them advertising on TV a lot aimed at people who want to stop working at Mc Donnalds.

[mookiemookie]

If we can sue for stress now, I'm suing everyone on my morning commute.

[FIREWALL]

4yrs@ $70,000.00 Cheap. Try 4yrs@ USC, UCLA, UofW, Harvard,ect.ect.

And I haven't even scratched the surface of top rated Colleges.

None of the above Gaurantee you a job.

How much of that 70 grand is She out of pocket ?

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

4yrs@ $70,000.00 Cheap. Try 4yrs@ USC, UCLA, UofW, Harvard,ect.ect.

And I haven't even scratched the surface of top rated Colleges.

None of the above Gaurantee you a job.

How much of that 70 grand is She out of pocket ?

True. Try adding some advanced degrees on top of that, all of which would be entirely out-of-pocket, and that still gaurantees you nothing. It's a hard world out there. I was valedictorian of my high school class and graduated suma cum laude as an undergrad. On top of that, I hold both a Masters and Doctorate, and I still had to go on quite a few interviews to find work, as I was rejected multiple times. Heck, I taught grade school after my Masters, and then moved on to high school, which is not where I wanted to be either.

This university job is nice, but it didn't just land in my lap. People just think that they're going to get it all handed to them, and seem genuinely suprised when that isn't the case.

[AVGWarhawk]

She should have looked into internships and would have walked right into a job when she graduated.

2.7GPA leads me to believe most of her internship was at the local frat house I TAPPA KEG.

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by Task Force

well... if she cant get the job she wants... theres always fliping burgers.

i know a few -highly talented and capable individuals with degrees in aerospace engineering or aviation sciences who are doing exactly that.