Not so much. If you follow the links you'll find up here: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/landing.aspx

Here's a sample question from the 12th grade mathematics test, specifically one marked "hard":

So in short, on top of all the other things you detail in your post which IMHO is spot on, the guy really is operating below a functional level when it comes to mathematics. Given this and those things, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's probably not really that great at much else either.

Actually, no, it's not. At least not for the last 30 years or so.

The only taxpayer money that goes to the USPS is ~ $100mm a year to cover things mostly for the disabled and overseas voters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service). They are only expected to break even.

And therein lies the problem. The basic fact of the matter is that e-mail has eroded their bread-and-butter; people needing to communicate with another person. Bills/invoices are also going this way. While not everyone uses e-mail, enough do that this is a buggy-whip manufacturing situation. Eventually there will simply be little reason for it to exist.

The fact that they suck at delivering actual packages when compared to UPS pretty much rules them out of that business. They're slower, don't provide adequate or accurate tracking, etc, etc.

Oh, and in new neighborhoods like mine? UPS, FedEx, etc actually bring things to my *house*, not a community mailbox a 1/4 mile away.

What it comes down to is either it needs to be completely overhauled and shrunk to fit today's reality, or be subsidized heavily by taxpayer money.

No kidding. I could write an article that is the complete opposite of this based on my own personal experiences.

I'm past this "half life" and get at least 3 inquires a week via LinkedIn (either via messages or people calling my phone). I just accepted a new position (Sr. Engineer) that I'll be starting after the first of the new year. I wasn't looking for a job as my current position is quite good; this company actively sought me out and recruited me.

The same as an earlier poster stated about himself, I'm also not the smartest guy on the planet. What I am is someone who really does love this field (been programming since I was 10), has decent logic skills, keeps up with technology, etc.

I've found yEd to be quite useful as well.

While this would be a reason for many not to get into engineering at all, I don't know that it supports the problem set described in the article(s), specifically the part that says "failing to get any degree".

The core of the problem I think is that the public education system nor the current methods of raising children prepares them for a world where you don't get accolades for just showing up.

Erm, no ... it doesn't. That would be that "somewhere else in the equation" part I was speaking of.

I agree with you completely and that was my point, though presented in a much more tongue and cheek fashion.

The post talks about changing things at the college level. This reeks of the same logic that got us to where we give kids medals for just showing up.

If the number of engineers has decreased and the teaching methods have been a constant ...

Seems like the problem is somewhere else in the equation.

You may be considering learning to read.

If I had mod points, I'd mod you up.

You know what I do when I happen upon one of those super-awesome flash sites? I navigate away as fast as possible. Because as you say - they *suck* (And that's being kind).

Luckily, I can usually hit the back button before they finish loading the "intro" and not have to suffer through whatever it is that's about to display on my screen.

And now ... we have large swaths of people who can't do column arithmetic in their heads. Have you been in a retail store lately and paid cash for anything? Dig that quarter out of your pocket so you don't get back $4.97 from your $20 after they've hit the magic "total" button on the terminal and watch the train wreck that ensues.

So while yes, the people *who already could do simple problems on paper* benefited from the calculator, I'm going to go out on a limb that many didn't.

And that's ignoring the part where video games didn't run on the calculator. Or Facebook.

Correct. Same as every "free" service you use on the internet. Social networks just make it easier than trying to track you with cookies, etc because you actually have a identifying login.

There's no such thing as free. You're paying with your behaviors and demographics.

I fully support someone choosing not to use a service because they don't care for this bargain, but people who don't seem to understand that businesses aren't in business to give them stuff for free kinda annoy me.

People who buy into an HOA don't want an old house. Or don't want to buy land in BFE and build something.

In many major metros there is no such thing as new construction (and by new, lets say 10-15 years) that isn't in an HOA.

Thankfully my current HOA is fairly benign (well, except for providing very little for your money - at least the trash gets picked up). The last one wasn't and just chock full of little Napoleons.

Exactly. I shoot motorsports with a canon DSLR (D20) and a 400mm lens. Not the same thing as pulling out a little point and shoot and pressing the button ;)

Are you asking for Masters graduates specifically? If so, why?

No. In fact, we don't require a degree at all.

My statement that "we feel this is perfect for a recent college grad" was not to exclude non-degree holders who know what they're doing but rather "If you just graduated college, we think this would be a suitable position".

I would happily hire someone with little to no paid professional experience that could demonstrate an understanding of the basics as well as an interest to learn. Sadly, they simply don't seem to exist these days. Much like college graduates able to do the same.

No, it doesn't. In fact, in our experience they are completely and utterly useless even when trying to make the argument that they "teach you how to learn".

We've been trying to fill two Jr. engineer positions; this is a position we feel is perfect for a recent college grad. Every applicant, without exception, has a Masters degree in Comp Sci.

They can't make it through our technical interview without extensive hand-holding, almost to the point of you having to do it for them. And I'm not talking about syntax; I'm even willing to be lenient in that dept. since it's on a white board, most of them are new at interviewing, etc. I'm talking about fundamental problems with logic - they aren't able to figure out fairly simple, straight forward problems. I've had candidates that couldn't properly create a for loop, and even after walking them through the logic (You can have *two* conditionals there ... what would those look like?) they still don't understand it. Yes, really. With a Masters degree.

And the ones that don't even make it through the phone screen? I question what it is they've been doing for the last 6 years, because it certainly didn't involve learning anything; basic questions about data structures and theory? Yeah ... not so much.

We've had to seriously beef up our phone screening and pre-screen test so as not to waste time bringing people in. We recently hired someone from the NY State University at Buffalo ... he was the first one who was able to walk in and simply breeze through the technical interview, and actually understood what he was doing. I highly suspect he didn't need to waste 6 years and who knows how much money on the degree.

Between phone screens and on-sites, that's probably a one-in-100 for us at the moment.