Once again Grown-Up Party’s resident woman-of-awesomenesss, Lizzy Karp, has passed on a series of articles that struck a chord deep in my belly. Rob Carrick from the Globe and Mail dives into the important issues facing people in their 20s and 30s. Basically: the trials and tribulations of finding a job and “becoming an adult”.
Allow me to present an abridged “Laurenized” version of his great pieces:
This article article explains how young people today are not making a smooth transition into adulthood because they can’t find career-jobs or buy houses, and that we are the first generation to ever think we are “worse off” than the one that came before us (and this one proves that is statistically true). It goes on to explain that Gen Y’ers actually want to CONFORM, not rebel, and want to graduate, find a job, pay back student loans and buy a house (and this letter from a 29-year-old shows just how badly we want that but can’t make it happen). And with the job market and housing market being as terrible and ludicrous as they are and preventing this “adulthood conformity”, ultimately this may be bad for boomers, so they should start giving a shit.
And last but not least, we have this letter from a 29-year-old who has a great job. He commiserates with the job-seekers of our generation, but he explains how expectations are out of whack and that we are screwing ourselves over by comparing ourselves to the way the world was in the 90s (rolling in the dough!) instead of an era like the 60s (far more economically depressed). He points out that university is a business and provides no guarantee of a job (so WAIT a few years before taking on the debt until you know what you want out of it!), and when it comes time to actually look for a job you have to be one thing: A HUSTLA. You have to get out behind your computer screen and shake some hands or pick up the phone. You have to take initiative. And most of all, just starting doing what you want to be doing! You may not have money, but you have your time. So spend your free time getting experience in whatever it is you want to do as a career when you are not working at your lackluster non-career job – because in this market – no one is going to hire someone that has zero experience and just some fancy words on a piece of paper.
Moral of the story? The economic situation our generation finds itself in is undoubtedly shitty – and sometimes I would just like to hear the generations before us take some ownership of that and yell at them because it sure as hell isn’t our fault – but ultimately, Nike was right when they taught us this lesson in the 90s (I myself had a binder with this exact phrase on it): JUST DO IT. We can’t rely on school, degrees, or some golden age where everyone will be rolling in the dough. And if you JUST DO IT enough and become the go-to-person or an expert in IT, hopefully people will start paying you for it.
Do you agree or disagree with Rob Carrick, these 29-year-old-letter-writers or me? Let me know! I love debating this topic. I mean sometimes it makes me kind of depressed, but usually I find it motivating to get my hustla on.
