There’s a reason they call Economics “the dismal science.” “Mark,” an anonymous quarter-lifer, reports.
I am 27 years old. I am one of the lucky ones. I made it out of college without debt because my parents planned well enough to cover my undergraduate tuition. This grace is not lost on me and I am grateful. At graduation, I was on top of my own little world. Back then, hard work, talent and planning lead directly to success.
But, I graduated in 2008. A degree in Economics gave me a unique insight to the plight about to fall on myself and those in my age group. My quarter-life crisis is reflected in a tiny paycheck, if I can manage one at all. The culture around me says that at 27, I should be closer to stability, closer to a normal life than at that moment of college graduation. At least, I should be on a career path I want. No such luck.
It took two years beyond graduation to begin to crawl out of the hole I landed in after the crash. I spent most of those two years feeling sorry for myself. Eventually, I decided that I did not want to waste away in my parent’s house with a beer belly and a fading hairline. I tried everything I could think of to find work. I took extra classes to expand my education. I got extra certifications in subjects I had little interest in, but offered a marginally better work opportunity. I pressed staffing agencies to help me snag something, anything, longer than a month. Those efforts amounted to very little.
In all this flailing, I steadied myself with physical exertion, martial arts and fitness. It was a simple world. I worked hard, I adjusted for my mistakes and I improved. The anxiety evaporated with my sweat and a bit of confidence re-emerged. The stress demanded mental engagement that brought my mind out of the empty, drone-like state it succumbed to when I was working another dead end job. But, it was only an escape. It never took long for reality to reassert itself.
|
The older folks who had been there before, and had wisdom to spare, suddenly were standing beside me at the job fair, more despondent than I was.
|
All this instability took a hell of a toll on my psyche. Eventually, I came to a point when the advice of others rang hollow. This was a new world, the old rules and guidelines were irrelevant. The older folks who had been there before, and had wisdom to spare, suddenly were standing beside me at the job fair, more despondent than I was. At that time, I could hardly see another way around the problems I was facing. I wanted to panic. I came very close.
From that bottom, to where I sit now, much has changed but very little has improved. I am in a new city that I picked on a criteria of job prospects and vibrancy. As a person, I am as lively and complete as I have been in a long time. All the “involuntary leisure time” I’ve had, brought opportunity for personal reflection and improvement. Plenty of time to digest engaging books, indulge in fulfilling hobbies, learn new skills and see interesting sights. I’ve managed to collect a few more good stories to tell to my friends. Truthfully, in most any measure beyond my wallet, I am thriving.
I’ve been an intern, a clerk, an auditor, a call center rep, a construction worker, and for a short time, even a bouncer. However, I have never been offered a full time job. Despite grinding away in mostly white collar roles, with a white collar degree, my earnings have barely exceeded the poverty line each year. Even better, my attempts to find employment through temporary jobs have begun to work against me. In my work history, employers see someone who can’t commit, instead of one doing anything to find work.
It is fair to say, that I haven’t gotten anywhere yet. Many people look at my lack of a career path and attribute it to a character flaw. I’ve felt that sting most prominently in the dating scene. In the reflection of American culture, which measures men most by their occupational prestige and financial standing, I do not amount to much right now. It is not fair to say that I haven’t tried.
The dismal science has tinted my view of the world. At this point, I’ve resigned much of the control of my little world to forces unseen. All I can do is improve my odds and hope the roulette wheel stops on my number. Adjust my resume one more time, try one more angle in a cover letter, attend one more networking event and hope something, anything, sticks around for a little while. Otherwise, the crisis will continue.
About Anonymous
I really struggled when reading this piece. Mostly because of the similarities: I’m 28, I also majored in economics.
I have trouble reading pieces like this because they are too foreign to my experience to be able to reasonably contemplate. I want to believe that the author is being completely honest, and yet it doesn’t match my experiences at all.
It took me years to get through undergrad because I was working full time (and carrying a part time course load) for most of it. I was still working full time in 2008 and 2009, the worst years of the economic downturn.
I worked as the assistant manager of a small retail store. In my job, one of the author’s sentiments was uttered to me repeatedly, the author was eerily spot-on in this when he wrote:
“It is not fair to say that I haven’t tried.”
I heard these exact words from an employee that I had to fire for repeatedly showing up to work stoned. This was in March of 2009. Jobs are scarce and you’re going to show up to work stoned? And then tell me that you’re “trying” at the job?
That wasn’t the only time, just the most blatant. I had a similar experience with an employee who eventually had to be laid off towards the end of 2008. She would usually come to work very late (~ 1 hour) hung over any time she was assigned to work on a Friday or Saturday. I distinctly recall having a discussion with her when she told me “I might get here late and hungover, but when I’m here I’m working! Don’t say I’m a bad worker!” When it came time to lay someone off, she was the natural choice: why retain someone who couldn’t be depended upon?
In 2010 I left the company because state budget cuts to the California University system meant that I could no longer dependably take night classes: I would have to become a full time student in order to graduate. My boss called me in and asked me to interview my replacements with him. We both agreed on a guy with a college degree and a great deal of leadership experience. Let’s call him “Dan.”
Six months after I left, I stopped by for a visit and asked my old boss how Dan had turned out. Indeed, Dan had felt that retail work was beneath him and had begun to goof off instead of do any task that he thought someone with a college degree shouldn’t be required to do. Apparently his “willingness to do whatever it takes” had only been something he said in interviews. He had to be let go.
I’m in law school now. It’s been in the papers that right now is not a great time to be in law school; graduates are having a very difficult time finding work. This did not keep the guy who sat next to me from sleeping through criminal law every single class session. He would open his laptop, fold his arms over the keyboard, put his head down and just go to sleep. One day, before class, he engaged me in small talk about how “unfair” one of our professors had been when grading our finals the previous semester. That he didn’t see a connection between sleeping through every single class and his perception of “unfair” grading literally blew my mind. I just had no idea that people continued to labor under such delusions into graduate school.
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve all seen people sleep through class. Anyone who has been involved in retail management has seen some ridiculous employee behavior. As someone who has personally witnessed a great deal of this, it’s very hard for me to put all of this aside and just accept an article like the one at face value.
Instead I keep remembering how everyone who ever screwed up in a real, substantial way, would insist to my face that it “wasn’t fair” and they they had really “tried.”
Maybe this author really has tried. I don’t know him, and it’s entirely possible. I’m sure there are people who are just unlucky at every single turn of chance, just barely missing out at each opportunity. I’m certain it happens, and I’d really like to be compassionate for them.
But I just can’t shake the feeling that, in their own minds, each and every person I mentioned above was selling themselves on the same narrative. How can I be compassionate, when doing so would seem to deny years of my own experience?
That is the attitude I touched on in the article. I don’t begrudge you for it because the scenarios you described are very typical. There are a lot of people out there who don’t get it and act like a job is owed to them just for existing.
I’ve seen that very mindset, too, and as a 40-something architect still desperate for a job ten months into my third layoff in three years, it is galling. Not everyone who can’t find a job is in that situation due to lack of effort.
I really hear what you guys are saying, and I’m willing to believe that there are people out there who really just cannot get a break.
But I don’t know how to tell them apart from the ones who are just terrible employees.
When I was still in retail management in 2009 I came across a guy who seemed great. He showed in a suit(!) to interview for a retail position. He had a six month gap in his resume, but he explained that this was due to the poor economy and his references from before the gap were good.
Long story short, the six month gap actually concealed 2 other retail jobs that he worked at for about 30 days before being fired for stealing, from both employers. By leaving them off his resume, we just assumed he was unemployed the whole time and didn’t get the truth until later, when it turned out he was already stealing from us.
My boss and I had multiple meetings after to try and figure out what we old have done differently to avoid that situation. We never came up with a good solution.
I would love to hear about ways that employers can tell the difference. I bet employers (especially small ones that cannot afford background checks) would love to hear suggestions too.
Any ideas?
@Mike. There are a lot of shysters out there and some are really good at what they do. A lot of employers hands are tied as to who they can contact (former employers) and information that those employers can disclose.
In my case, I would fully engage the prospective employee beyond the “job expectations and experience” and attempt to get his/her guard down. Once it’s down and in a much more relaxed setting is when the “interviewee” becomes the person and starts talking. Even the best shyster manages to lose consistency and opens holes his background and what they put on an application or have on their CV. I don’t want it to sound like my interviews we staged to “trip” someone up but for me, it was important to know the prospective employee for who he/she is and not just a face to go with information on the CV.
Geez, I FEEL your pain. I just graduated last year–honor’s, double-major, work experience, extracurricular experience, paid myself through school–and it feels so hopeless out there.
I have to commend you specifically for this line: “In my work history, employers see someone who can’t commit, instead of one doing anything to find work.” I am in the same exact boat and the closer I get to the end of a contract job, the more panicked I get. I ask myself “Do I even put this on my resume? What’s a couple months in a non-related field?”
I just recently surrendered to my 20s. I figure if I continue to work hard, stay hungry for opportuninity, and work on things that make me happy in the mean time, something will fall through. I also realize I can’t hold my breath…mosel tov to college friend roommates all living in despaire!
Years ago, when I was in the corporate world, something that was obvious when I was interviewing was that people right out of college with their new degree appeared to believe that the degree was enough to warrant them the job and pay that they wanted. Being in sales management and development, I needed people who could come out of the gate quickly. Are colleges leading students to believe that once they have a college degree, the rest is a cake walk? I don’t know but I do know a lot of college grads disappointed that they aren’t able to simply walk into the jobs they want with the pay they want.
I’m not saying that anyone who has responded here feels that way but it’s simply an observation I had.
We’re currently in the process of hiring an administrative assistant for the unit. We’ve had everything from Masters level candidates to store clerks apply. The job market in Illinois sucks and unemployment is still way out there. For anyone to take their inability to land the job they want sure as heck shouldn’t take it personally. Employers can cherry pick the people to fill these jobs … they have countless candidates to choose from.
Common thread I often see is “show me the money.” People, it’s not there! Truth is and I hear it all the time, “people are lucky to even have a job.” This is the first year in three years that the company I work has given any raises. And at that, the most anyone is getting is 2%. I work for an international company where we are a subsidiary that can be on the block any time if we don’t show a profit. They’ve made it perfectly clear where we stand. Very small cog in a very big wheel.
As an old guy who had been on top, who has experienced cut backs, mergers, acquisitions on both ends, back when things were going well, no one at any time in last 30+ years was never immune from the potential of being drop kicked and shown the street. Back when I was in my early 20’s, I strived to get into management. A wise boss once said, “careful what you ask for.” I asked for it and got it and I have to tell ya, it looks great from the outside. After years of hard work I had what I asked for. The Company car, expense account, corner office …. I “thought I had it all. But what one has to wonder, is all the stress worth it? At the age of 40, I had my first heart attack. At the age of 41 I had a quintuple bypass. I have since had 4 more heart attacks.
When guys ask me I tell them one thing about this “career” thing and that is whatever you do, don’t lose sight of what’s important and by all means BE HAPPY in the career you choose. Yeah, you have to make enough to live but take a close look at what you need to live. When it’s all said and done, people really won’t remember you for the income level, the office you had, the titles you achieved.
LOL, 5 minutes ago my coffee pot shorted out. I guess I’ll be going to Salvation army after work today to get a new one. This economy in my view has been a blessing … getting people on track again. Life is good for me these days, life is great having less.
Did I mention that my last corporate position was with AIG?
I can empathize…I finished college in the midst of the recession also. Getting my first job was really hard, I had to fight like hell for it, and it didn’t pay much. But I was fortunate that it gave me the experience I needed to move into something I enjoyed and was more financially rewarding.
Tom B’s advice is so important for all of us young guys to remember, but at the same time, it’s hard advice to really take to heart until you’re in a place where you’re not in the constant strain of financial tension.
Even with a steady, good job, being a single income family with a stay-at-home wife/mom puts a lot of financial pressure on us. But it’s important to us and we’re doing everything we can to make it work…I understand for some people it’s not possible.
All that to say, it sounds like we all pretty much agree that (1) there’s a lot more important things out there than money, but (2) until you have a standard of living (even one far simpler than most in the West expect) it’s hard to live in that reality.
Well, I got my coffee pot. A black and Decker (coffee pots with a tool trade mark are cool) 10 cup for $3.
Ya know Brian, you are so right about the financial pressure when you are the sole supporter of a family. The area where we raised our kids would be considered an upper middle class community where my wife and I were kind of the odd balls. We didn’t have all the “stuff” other families had but one thing that we had that many of them didn’t was a parent that was home all the time. Our old farm house was the gathering place for a lot of my kids friends.
With fair planning, we were able to have a cushion if something happen. At the same time, although my wife was living her dream as a stay at home mom, she was always capable of working as well if we needed it.
One last thing. Back in the old days (my old days) potential employers who I would interview with (career opportunities generated through head hunters or executive searches) the question would come my way about my not staying with a company for more then maybe 4 years. I was blunt. I would tell them that my commitment to the company is no less then their commitment to me. I would address their own mergers and acquisitions and I would go so far as to tell them that if they could guarantee that my division would be intact for the next 20 years, I would guarantee that I would be with them for the same 20 years.
I’d more then likely still be with AIG had my division (medical case management for workers comp and general liability) hadn’t been sold. I ran a 13 state region.
I wish you guys all the best. Make job hunting fun and don’t forget that a lot of career opportunities are not advertised. Like to work for a company? Contact them, send them your CV and tell them how interested you are.
These days, it’s who you know. That’s what it comes down to. It helps to expand your network to include people in the career you would like to be in. Here in Toronto, Canada, it’s the same thing; people can’t get into the career of their dreams, so they stay in whatever job they have until the right opportunity opens up. Opportunities are more likely when you network.
As I read this article, that old, familiar feeling of the cold hands wrapping around my neck and squeezing came back. I have been out of work for ten months since I was laid off last year and am now in a position of having to find something, anything after 22 years as an architect. I was a project manager, licensed, and good at what I do (did). The prospect of temping or taking something far outside my field filled me with dread and in all honesty wounded my pride. But I have no choice. I am still looking in my field, and things are bleak but slowly improving, but I need something now. I recently took a part-time job in retail (for a company whose products I really enjoy and that I have a lot of respect for as a business) and I am so far outside of my comfort zone as to be on another planet.
But what else can we do? This is a new world order, where luck seems to have unfair sway over what happens to us. It’s hard to play the game when skill isn’t as important and no one can be certain of the rules. And, ‘Anonymous’? I’ve felt the same pains and misgivings, which drove me to write about it here: Salarymen in the Mist. Across demographic groups and experience levels, we are not alone. We will figure something out.