Once thing that makes me cringe is people talking about how times are tough, and how hard it is to get a job. How tough was 1929? I never heard my grandparents saying “times were tough, we couldn’t find a job”, and they lived through WWII. They just got up their a**es and got to work. They grew a garden, had some animals so they could be mostly self sufficient, and raised 7 kids on one salary and food ration tickets.
There was no such thing as blaming the economy and collecting unemployment checks.
Flash forward to today, and my 34 year old classmates from one of the top 10 French business schools are underemployed or unemployed because “it’s hard”. One is getting a third PhD, just for the sake of not leaving the comfy cocoon of student life and facing real life. One goes between 6 months contracts and 18 months unemployment periods “because I didn’t get along with my boss”, or “I was too stressed”.
We are a generation of entitled brats who don’t want to put effort into anything. Because if you really want to find a job, there are tons of them available.
“But I am a philosophy major”.
Good for you. If you looked up the employment opportunities beforehand and still decided to go that route, you can only blame yourself. Have you emailed all the schools and universities in a 50 miles radius? Thought about moving to teach elsewhere? There are lot of bogus degrees. “Tourism” is one that always makes me laugh. For me, college is worth it to become a lawyer, a doctor, any career that requires passing an exam for, and maybe for business, although if you were born a businessman, college will be a loss of time. But if you fell for a “tourism degree”, the best thing you can do is accept any job and hope you’ll bounce up from there.
“But I can’t live off my art”.
Then why did you study art? I always scratch my head at art degrees. If you are talented, why go to college? And if you’re not talented enough, why go to college? In the meanwhile, get a minimum wage job close to home, as we discussed previously, they aren’t so bad.
“But I deserve six figures”.
You do. If you work hard and prove your worth. It will take a few years, maybe further education if you chose a low paying field, but with hard work and dedication you’ll get there. Not playing candy crush three hours a day.
“But it is hard… bla bla economy… bla bla recession…”
Why don’t you go learn a trade? Electricians, mechanicians, plumbers… all make a very good living and never run out of work. You can even work for yourself, since you “don’t really thrive in the corporate world”.
It is just a matter of adapting. The world is getting old, and death is the only sure thing. Nurses and mortuary workers never go unemployed. But no, that’s too hard for you. When you studied at your overpriced private school, teachers serenated you that you were an elite, that you were special, that you deserved six figures for not doing much. They lied. And now that you are 5 or 10 years out of school, if you haven’t held a real job, directly correlated to your field of studies, there may be a problem with you, not with the whole world around you.
I don’t think I have been particularly lucky, but the only time I have been unemployed was when I purposefully quit my jobs to go traveling for 6-12 months at a time. Before going back, I would send dozens of resumes (not five) and have at least a couple of interviews lined up. I prepared for them and was offered all the jobs I interviewed face to face for. There is no secret, I am no exceptional human being. With persistence and hard work you can get anywhere. Even in spite of “the economy”.
I have a number of friends who are like this and they are older than your friends. One in particular drives me nuts with the entitlement mentality. When you make practical suggestions there is always some excuse as to why it would not work without even trying it. Then you get the ‘you are so lucky bit’. Working hard, starting at the bottom and toiling for years never entered the thought process as they are too intelligent to start at the bottom and work their way up.
And yet the years they’re losing procrastinating could have taken them where they want to be already.
I agree with you Pauline that’s mainly on economy, but it’s really on people whether they get a job or not, what kind they want, and how soon they can get it, and etc. It’s really in our hands…
Yes, only you can choose where you want to go in life!
“It’s a matter of adapting.” So true Pauline. I get annoyed with people who tell me I’m lucky to do whatever I do in life…umm…I put a multitude of time and energy of all kinds in order to gain the results I’m after. A very simple formula that a lot of people don’t want to use.
Somehow other people’s success always looks easy to outsiders. There is rarely success without hard work.
I find it awkward when a recent graduate complains to me about not having a good job. Hello! I have a good job and I’m a recent graduate! It is possible, people! Quit feeling sorry for yourself!
oh and when the parents start saying “but you know, my poor baby, times are tough for him, it’s not like when we were young…”. My mum still grew up on post war food ration tickets, so yeah, I guess it’s not like when she was young.
Haha I just wrote a post on the value of arts degree, would love to hear your response.
Many people become successful under circumstances we can’t even dream of. While it is true some people have had times finding jobs right away, hard and smart work and persistence will land you a good position at some point. I think many complainers really have to evaluate how they use their free time, because that’s where the difference between success and failure lies.
The thing that people always forget is that even during a Recession or Depression, someone is still making money. Someone is still selling products or services, and those people still have to hire. Yes it is more competitive than it is during a boom, but that just means you’ve got to be your best.
Love this! Excuses never helped anyone. You can always go get a job, it may not be the job you want, but there is a job out there.
Yeah people can blame all they want, but that still isn’t going to get them a good job, hell even just feeling sorry for yourself won’t either. What sometimes irks the crap out of me is when millennials complain about how hard it is for them compared to other older generations and I think, “uh, we are looking for jobs too, and now have to compete with younger people who drive the market down by being dirt cheap. The point is it hasn’t been easy for anyone these last 7 years or so. Get in line! 🙂
What really gets me going is hearing ‘I won’t accept any job that pays less than x dollars/month’ coming from people with absolutely NO experience on the job, who barely made it through college and never had any real skills. And yes, my grandparents came from 2 separate parts of Romania with NOTHING on them but the clothing they were wearing. They never complained, they never refused any work and they did survive the really bad economy after WWII.
Great article! We have friends whose {very white} daughter majored in African studies in college and was amazed to find no employment when she graduated. So she went on to get her Master’s degree and still couldn’t find a job. Finally she wised up and got her degree in nursing and instantly found a job in a huge hospital. Many young adults today are too content to live in their parent’s basement. They have it good enough so they don’t have to work. Same goes for other adults who find living off government benefits satisfactory. They have not incentive to look for work and they also have no pride.
It is hard to get a minimum wage job when you make almost as much on welfare, maybe even more if you consider that you have no commute and work related costs like lunches out or daycare. I find it weird how people go back to study some more in the same field when they can’t find work in their field to start for!