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805+ Level|   Resolve Paradox|            
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generis
People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed. There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers. Surprisingly, however, 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?

A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.

B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.

D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.

E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.

CR67850.02
While working, people with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job. Argument mentions a surprise finding of 2009 which is opposite to what is a generic pattern.

So, we are looking for an option that explains why it is so?
Possible causes can be:
- Significantly large number of college degree holders joined workforce in 2009.
- External conditions, as one-off event, led to Economic slowdown which caused widespread job-losses. Thus, college degree holders stayed in the their present jobs.
- A distant possibility is that in 2009 people employed as managers and other professionals were not college degree holders.

All in all, the right answer should explain about the 2009 scenario. Here E looks to do that - cause I.
E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.

As per OA, C is correct.
I agree that C makes sense in general but it nowhere relates itself as a 2009 event.
C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
If C is taken as is then weren't people with degrees thinking themselves qualified in 2009.

C, on the other hand, more so explains why it is in general the case now-a-days.

Why C?
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generis
People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed. There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers. Surprisingly, however, 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?


A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.

B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.

D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.

E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.

CR67850.02

The only thing that I can think of is "there are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers."

So there were people working in Service and clerical jobs who did hold college degrees as well who might think that they were overly qualified for the job. This disproportion could have been a very little say 51-49%. Now if all these 49% people felt that they were overqualified and only a few amongst 51% felt they were overly qualified can the proportion of people who were looking for jobs amongst these groups make them equal. And as per the argument it is more likely that people who have college degrees will be managers or equivalent position than be clerical workers. Hence there is a high chance for a clerical worker to feel that they are overqualified for just being a clerical worker holding a college degree than a manager

option C most resonates with this thought.

option E on the other hand, talks about those with no degrees were more likely to be replaced with college degrees if they held managerial position than if they held clerical positions. This would encourage those with college degrees (most likely those who held managerial positions than those who held clerical) to be searching for jobs and thus would have weakened the argument.
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generis
People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed. There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers. Surprisingly, however, 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?


A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.

B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.

D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.

E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.

CR67850.02

OK ! Straight to point: choose the best that helps resolve the paradox(workers and managers are equally likely to search for job).


A)So is it anyway effecting or even trying to solve the confusion? NOOO

B)So what? y are managers leaving? are they joining a worker position for money? Don't know. KICK OUT


C)Aah, this one's providing an alternate reason why they might quit or search for new jobs. MAYBE: Let's keep this

D)Both workers n managers decreased, but it's still not solving confusion. KICK OUT

E)So? It is wordy and has some relevant words but what it says is: managers' positions( with no degree)are more likely to be replaced with degree holders thank worker position. It just adds a point, but how is it saving confusion that both are leaving jobs more or less in similar numbers. ?
It just makes it even more complex. KICK OUT


Choosing the best answer: C

TAKE AWAY: DON'T JUST RELY ON WORDS RELEVANCE, ON D DAY CHOOSE THE BEST ONE


HOPE THIS HELPS.:)

THANKS :thumbsup:
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generis
People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed. There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers. Surprisingly, however, 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?


A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.

B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.

D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.

E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.

CR67850.02

Let's use a bit of math to summarize the given information.

Let d = # of people with a degree working as managers and other professionals
Let D = # of people with a degree working as service and clerical workers
Let MP = TOTAL number of people (degrees and no degrees) working as managers and other professionals
Let SC = TOTAL number of people (degrees and no degrees) working as service and clerical workers

There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers.
We can write: d/MP > D/SC

The paradox: 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.

Step #1: Explain the paradox to yourself
Since people with degrees are more likely to look for a new job, the 2009 figures SHOULD indicate that the proportion of managers and professionals looking for work is GREATER THAN the proportion of service and clerical workers looking for work. HOWEVER, the 2009 figures tell us this is NOT the case.

Step #2: Try to identify one or more things that would explain this paradox
I can't think of anything.

Step #3: Check the answer choices...

A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.
This doesn't resolve the paradox, since it would apply to both groups of people.

B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.
This doesn't resolve the paradox.

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
Even though this is the correct answer, it's still a bit of a stretch.
The assumption here is that, in 2009, degree-holders employed as service and clerical workers were more likely to feel overqualified in their positions than degree-holders employed as managers and professionals were.
IF that assumption is true, then it explains the 2009 figures.
That is, in 2009 (for some reason), the degree-holders employed as service and clerical workers became more motivated to look for work than did the degree-holders employed as managers and professionals.
This explains why people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.
KEEP C for now.

D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.
This doesn't resolve the paradox, since it would apply to both groups of people.

E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.
If anything, this deepens the conclusion by telling is the proportion of managers and professionals with degrees INCREASED.
If the proportion of managers and professionals with degrees increased, then we should expect that people employed as managers and other professionals would be MORE LIKELY than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.

So, the least bad answer choice is C.
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GMATNinja, have read this reasoning but have a query on E, maybe I'm overthinking or maybe I'm not. When more non college degree managers are retiring and are being replaced by managers who have college degrees, aren't total no of employees that are managers and looking out reducing? This in turn explains why either fewer managers are looking out / more workers are looking out.
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ShaliniSathapathy
GMATNinja, have read this reasoning but have a query on E, maybe I'm overthinking or maybe I'm not. When more non college degree managers are retiring and are being replaced by managers who have college degrees, aren't total no of employees that are managers and looking out reducing? This in turn explains why either fewer managers are looking out / more workers are looking out.
We can't conclude from (E) that there is a reduction in the number of managers looking for a job. From the passage, we know that "people with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed."

So, the fact that these college grads are in a job does NOT mean that they're not looking for another job. The passage actually tells us the opposite -- these new hires are MORE likely to be looking for a job than the non-grads were.

This makes the paradox worse. The 2009 survey results really don't make sense given the info in (E).

I hope that helps!
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­Let's break down the argument and then evaluate each option to identify the one that resolves the paradox.

Simplified Argument:
  1. Observation 1: People with a college degree are more likely to search for a new job while employed.
  2. Observation 2: There are more college-educated individuals among managers and professionals than among service and clerical workers.
  3. Surprise Element: Despite more college-educated individuals among managers and professionals, 2009 figures show that managers and professionals were not more likely than service and clerical workers to search for a new job.
The paradox lies in the expectation that, since managers and professionals have a higher proportion of college graduates, they should be more likely to search for new jobs compared to service and clerical workers.

Evaluating the Options:

Let's examine each option to see if it helps resolve the paradox.

A) People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.
  • Rejection Reason: This statement explains why people might accept a new job, but it doesn't address why managers and professionals are not more likely to search for jobs compared to service and clerical workers.
B) Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.
  • Rejection Reason: This introduces variability in pay but doesn't address why job searching behavior differs between the groups.
C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
  • Evaluation: This could resolve the paradox if service and clerical workers, despite having fewer college degrees, felt more overqualified in their positions compared to managers and professionals. Thus, this could equalize or surpass the job searching behavior seen in managers and professionals.
D) The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.
  • Rejection Reason: This provides a trend over time but does not differentiate between the behavior of managers/professionals and service/clerical workers specifically in 2009.
E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.
  • Rejection Reason: This statement is about hiring trends and replacements but does not directly address the job searching behavior among currently employed individuals in different job categories.
Correct Answer:

C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
  • Reason: This helps to resolve the paradox because it suggests that service and clerical workers, who might feel overqualified for their positions, are more likely to search for new jobs. This feeling of being overqualified could balance or exceed the job searching activity seen among managers and professionals, who have more college degrees but might not feel overqualified to the same extent.
Thus, option C provides a plausible explanation for why the observed job searching behavior among managers and professionals is not higher than that among service and clerical workers, despite the higher proportion of college-educated individuals in the former group.­
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Hi Expert, for C I'm thinking along the lines of a 2x2 Matrix with "Managers" and "Workers" forming the two columns, and "College degree" and "No college degree" forming the two rows. It's much easier to argue (and logically make sense) that people with College Degree who are Workers will be much more likely to feel overqualified, and hence search for a new job compared to people who don't have a college degree but are Managers. Is this reasoning correct?
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Hi Expert, for C I'm thinking along the lines of a 2x2 Matrix with "Managers" and "Workers" forming the two columns, and "College degree" and "No college degree" forming the two rows. It's much easier to argue (and logically make sense) that people with College Degree who are Workers will be much more likely to feel overqualified, and hence search for a new job compared to people who don't have a college degree but are Managers. Is this reasoning correct?
­The visual can certainly help, but you'd want to compare "Degree, Worker" with "Degree, Manager." We know that people with degrees search for jobs more, and that degrees are more common among managers. What we need to explain is why we don't see more job searches being done by managers than by workers. So we're comparing the two groups with degrees. However, your reasoning still applies. The idea is that the "Degree, Worker" group may be more likely to feel overqualified (they have a degree but not a fancy job) than the "Degree, Manager" group who actually *do* have the fancy job they may be qualified for.
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