This is Caleb. Caleb went into massive debt getting a degree in zoology only to end up working at Starbucks where his vast knowledge of animals can only be applied by making small-talk with his customers.
Posted Feb 19, 2019, 3:27 PM UTC
26245
Made me smile? What are these people? Sadists?
36
Why are people happy about this? "Look honey, our barista is actually really educated! How quaint! Let's leave him a 25c tip."
It made me really sad to read this. So much potential going to waste.
34
This belongs in r/ABoringDystopia
29
Caleb: “Get the hell out of my Starbucks with your camera phone before I attack you like the nearly-extinct blue-spotted rhinoceros.”
13
Who still says 'camera phone'?
2
Hahaha part of the joke. 😂
1
Perseverance porn.
12
Especially bad when considering he is working for an oligarch who is actively working against the working class.
8
Certain fun or cool jobs are always gonna be fast or famine. If you go for music production a few people will wind up working on movie sets or making albums and most will wind up working at churches in the av department making 30k a year trying to pay down 100k loans. I'd imagine zoology in some ways is similar
7
[deleted]
9
In general I dont disagree with you but people should realize if you wanna be a newscaster, radio personality, music producer, videogame designer, marine biologist etc your entering an incredibly competitive industry or field and your chances of success are much less than going into the trades or being an accountant
2
[deleted]
5
I'd rather use the hundreds of thousands I would be paying into student loans to have actual fun.
2
Shit, I wish I got 30k a year.
2
$30,000 per year comes to $15 per hour. If you're in a smaller city it could be harder, in a larger suburb or decent size city shouldn't be that difficult. I was just helping a buddy search for jobs. Some jobs that are paying $15 per hour...
caregivers, machine operators entry level, dishwasher at RedRobin hamburger, line cook, call center, data entry, parts driver, tire technician, receptionist, custodian, shipping receiving, mailroom, mcdonalds, Jersey Mikes, Meter reader, customer service for property manager
1
Yeah. $15 an hour. FULL TIME. Good luck getting that at most of these places.
2
Those are all active job listings in my city, i didn't just pull those jobs out of my ass. Shit White Castle is starting at $14 or $15 an hour near me. UPS is literally willing to hire anyone, starts at $10 per hour but if you stick around 30 days you'll be making $19 per hour. If your willing to work fulltime you should be able to earn 30k per year I would think. WHat are you currently doing for work and are you working fulltime?
1
What about being a veterinary tech? I dunno if it pays any better, and frankly I'd rather end my day smelling like crappy SBUX coffee than literal crap, but there's that.
5
With tips, the Starbucks gig may pay more and have room to advance
2
Better to smell like shitty coffee than, well, actual shit.
1
Pretty much the most lost generation thing ever.
5
This is one of the reasons why I ditched my biology degree and just volunteer at a zoo instead
4
I got a degree in film production and all I have to show for it is a job at a movie theater where I explain why all the 3D movies they release now suck.
4
high five I have a history degree and I work at the cafe at my theater! Nothing like making lattes and scooping ice cream in my 30's!
3
high five I have a B.A. from a top film university in Motion Picture Film. I graduated and got stuck doing retail for two years.
2
Nine years. I was supposed to get an internship in 2008, but I started my junior year just two weeks before the crash. I went directly into grad school after my bachelor's, but the stress of the classes combined with working long hours when not in class to afford my commute to class and work made me essentially snap and throw away great friendships and relationships I really wish I had now, with the much more relaxed job I have.
1
We could call it the Cooper Corollary. Training for jobs that don't exist.
3
also he has to force to give a fake smile
2
[deleted]
3
I would hazard a guess that there are way more zoology students produced every years than there are jobs in zoos. Anyone would know that going in - and know it will be competitive
A mate was into fish keeping, did some quals at age 30 and went to some big aquariums to try to get work experience/internship etc. They laughed he out the door as the jobs are high in demand - the fish people have PhDs, good looking marine biologists work on reception etc. He had barely a chance of even being the caretaker. Was a bit of an eye opener and he realised that, realistically, he should pick something not as competitive
It sucks that you can't do your dream job but it's the fate of most of us. It isn't a sign of a failing market where zoology is concerned. Perhaps it would be if he had a medical degree and had shown competence but couldn't get hired. So I'm not sure what the article is trying to prove - other than, do some research before you spend thousands on a dolphin training/dream job degree
2
The sad thing isn't so much that he wasn't able to get a job in his field, but more so he was clearly smart and capable enough to finish a degree and should be able to get a job with a living wage and good benefits.
2
[deleted]
2
Zoology, awesome, that's what my daughter wants to major in.
1
Nice, atleast he has a job unlike 90% of the people in this sub. Good for Caleb, nothing wrong with working at Starbucks while you find your career path.
0
was he not interested in working
for the US forest service
( i am assuming he is a us citizen )
-2
Did he go to a zoo before hand? I was super into zoology in middle school, and spent a summer at a little behind the scenes camp two days a week helping clean cages and feed mice to blind frogs and scared snakes.
The lady that was in charge of us had a degree from UF and had been volunteering 25+ hours a week for 4 years and still didn't have a shot at a paying job.
She was working as a bartender and at a Starbucks while she was applying for a Masters.
It killed all my desire to do anything in the field. They hold onto jobs for decades and not many open up that actually pay money.
They have hundreds of people who just do it to help out and don't care about money.
No kidding, working with exotic animals all day sounds fucking awesome. It's the kind of thing you would do with your time if you won the lottery. I would do it in a heartbeat over my shitty office job. I do this shitty office job because it pays actual money, the same reason Caleb is stuck doing a shitty barista job.
Yeah, zoo jobs are tough to get into and the pay usually sucks because so many people do it out of passion that they’re willing to accept low pay.
Yep, I've heard the same thing - my area has a big Marine Science Centre and a SeaLife Aquarium place. The latter is known to be a revolving door of volunteers from the students studying to be Marine Biologists and Marine Sciences.
There are constant promises of paid positions that never, ever eventuate. Or when they do, they do it on the down-low and end up getting someone from out of town just because they have a more impressive history to 'show off' - even if their degrees are decades older and their practices are completely out of touch with the current modern attitudes and standards for running a place like that.
Protests for that place have gone up in the last few years.
I was a vet tech decades ago and barely made more than min. wage. I could have done the "I love pets, animals are my life" thing and made it into a career, even would have had the vet's recommendation to go to vet school but I hated it.
[deleted]
Yes, and it always amazes me how much they'd spend. Because when we were poor, we spent the same on our pets' medical care as on ourselves: nothing.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. High costs usually mean the vet is doing a lot of work on the animal and that can be quite rough on them.
Yep this is what I found out also, that most keeper positions are volunteer-only. I'm so glad I learned that I had no future career working at a zoo early.
Minimum wage laws should apply to volunteers. Our economy is so fucked.
Then it wouldn’t be volunteer...
Good point. Serves him right for not going STEM.