Boo Downward Shift in Aggregate Demand, Hooray Beer!

So, just in case you've been living in Outer Kreplachistan, Haiti, or the abysmal depths of the Congo for the last year or so, the United States and most of the developed world have been going through a big-A recession. Whatever you believe the cause of this recession may be, I would like to submit right now that the wallets of everyone not named Barack H. Obama are pretty tightly sealed. It's actually China that really providing the capital, but that's tertiary. My point is that trying to find any source of cash, whether it's a g-o-b, or just selling off your Earthly possessions is a bit rough. In my case, I picked a really bad time to graduate from college and actually try to find a job.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been trying to come up with something of a Plan B that would actually be feasible in case I don't find a job by August. Previously, the only real alternatives that I could come up with were going to graduate school right after I finish my undergraduate degree or being drastically underemployed for some period of time until I could find a real job. Long story short; both of these options suck. Practically all of the grad school application deadlines for fall semester have evaporated and I don't have the cash to wait until January and starting on a Winter/Spring semester. Not to mention that I wouldn't have any cash for school and my course sequencing would be shot. Furthermore, I shouldn't need to mention that I really don't want to work at Dick's Sporting Goods while I wait for the economy to recover.

A few days ago I thought of a new option that I hadn't particularly considered before but seems to be more and more viable with each employment rejection email that I get. Since, at this point, I could literally withdraw from all of my summer classes and still get a bachelor's degree, I am now contemplating completing officer training/candidate school (OTS) and going into the military as a engineer officer. As I previously mentioned, this is still a Plan B. If I can find a civil engineering job in the private sector that I actually want, I'll almost undoubtedly take that over going in the military. However, I turned in 6 job applications this last Saturday and got 4 rejection emails by Monday afternoon. As the title of this post implies, there's just nothing out there. That being said, there is a definite question of which branch of the military I would want to go into if it came down to that. Since the Marines doesn't have engineers, I can't swim very well, and Navy engineers are called "Seabees," (literally, I'm not making this up, see Wikipedia) it pretty much comes down to the Army or the Air Force. A Pro-Con analysis follows:

Army:

PRO:

• I would get experience with two of the things I'm most passionate about relative to engineering: bridges and blowing stuff up.
• The Army generally has more openings and therefore easier placement for an engineer officer MOS.
• Connections in the Army Corps of Engineers definitely wouldn't hurt my career aspirations after I got out.
• I like the Army's uniforms.
• The pay for a second lieutenant with less than two years in is about 10% ($3000) higher.
  

CON:

• Designing infrastructure that helps troops advance often involves being IN FRONT of the front lines. Death or dismemberment is much more likely.
  
• I'd have to be almost 20 lbs lighter than I am right now in order to make weight.
• You get thrown into basic with all the other goons, even if you're going in as an officer.
  

Air Force:

PRO:

• Both of my parents were in the Air Force; in fact, that's how they met. As such, I've been raised liking the Air Force, rooting for the AFA in football, etc.
  
• Especially now, the Air Force seems to have plenty of opportunities for engineers and others with technical backgrounds, though not as many.
• Ironically, there are people with the title "Civil Engineer" in the Air Force.
• I'd only have to drop about 5 or 10 pounds to make weight.
• Seeing as the United States hasn't really conceded air superiority since World War II, the chances of death or dismemberment are greatly reduced.
• The Air Force's OTS program is like an integration of basic training and officer training. Not quite as much getting backslapped by TIs.
  
• I already know the US Air Force song.

CON:

• The pay isn't as good, though sufficient.
• Dang, those uniforms are ugly.
• Assuming I was commissioned as an engineer, I'd probably be working on projects that I'd be somewhat less excited about, namely environmental.

As of today, I have requested more information from both the Air Force and the Army. The Air Force asked me more questions about what degree I was getting and how it could be applicable to the things I'd be doing in the military. They also sent me a, more or less, thank you email. Let me just say that I found that whole process to be very classy on their part. The Army seemed to be business as usual. I'll look through the information that they send me and see what either one has to offer. Honestly, I'd really like to choose neither, but we'll see how that goes.