People Explain Why Baby Boomers Will Never Understand The Struggles Of Millennials, Make A Lot Of Valid Points
Pretty much every young adult these days has heard older folks complaining about them. Millennials have been of accused being “lazy”, “entitled” and put to blame for killing a variety of industries. This generational conflict gets even worse when baby boomers badmouth young adults for refusing to simply ‘get a job’ as a solution to the problems this generation faces. Well, according to some Tumblr users, they know the explanation why their grandparents think it’s so easy to get a job – it’s because they don’t realize how much the process of applying for a job has changed. Scroll down to read what they have to say on the topic! (Facebook cover image: IISG)
Image credits: never_edit
222Kviews
Share on FacebookI'm so darn tired of people being pitted against people, race against race, country against country. People need to quit pointing the finger at others and tend to their own backyards.
I think the media is responsible for so much of this. They try to work people up into a lather all in the name Iof getting more clicks and likes.
Load More Replies...People really need to stop pitching boomers against millenials. The boomers may not understand the current situation, but they are also not personally responsible for it as often claimed. The people actually responsible must be rubbing their hands in glee because the rabble is blamibg each other instead of them.
In my area, jobs routinely post s**t like this: "Entry level position, 5-10 years exp required, Bachelor's required, Master's preferred, biligual required. Starting pay $10 per hour (min wage)." This is the kind of s**t I've bern dealing with for decades. I have six degrees relevant to the jobs I apply fir, and get maybe 1% response rate (usually a rejection letter).
and you need to aged 18 with all of those qualifications.
Load More Replies...There is also the factor that in those days, there was a LOT more manual labor and unskilled jobs available. Being even moderately smart and strong were enough to get you a job, and just sticking to it were enough to keep you there and move up. Nowadays, there's a lot more tech, more knowledge, more specialist subject matter to grasp for even entry level jobs, coupled with an increasingly demanding customer base, you've got to have a lot more than a firm brow to get your foot in the door.
You need lots of experience and qualifications to even get an entry level job - how does that work?
Load More Replies...Ahah don't get me started... I still remember the conversation with a relatively famous guy in my field of expertise. He was head of some lab in France and liked mentioning this every 5 minutes. We started talking and my s****y situation came up (post-doc for 7 years here!). Tells me it's time to give up and start finding another job, because I'm just a lost case. That if I don't start really working hard every day of the week I won't get a permanent job. Fair enough, a permanent position is the grail for any post-doc these days... Then, after a few minutes, the guy tells me, without blinking "I never had to look for a job in my entire life. I was just offered it." I was tempted to tell him to go f**k zombies in Hell, but he was too powerful...
Those people are just the worst. They did nothing to get to their position but they talk s**t about others with much more experience than them when they got the job. I worked with people like that...
Load More Replies...I generally think that millennials have been unfairly criticized, but I disagree with this post - there are still tons of jobs available that you can walk in and apply for and pretty easily get. I just don't think most people want to work fast food or in a factory or on a farm picking produce by hand or stocking shelves in a grocery store. The example that was given was of a person a century ago getting a factory job, that's very different than trying to get a white collar job in an office. Or, heaven forbid, a cool job with an exciting company doing work that is meaningful. I'm all for people seeking the best job they can get, the one that makes them the happiest, but I'm a little sick of hearing that there are no jobs. The unemployment rate is at 3.9% right now, it's extremely low. There are jobs out there, maybe just not the ones people want.
There are very few jobs - several times the number of unemployed as there are job vacancies
Load More Replies...Industrial Revolution?? Really? I find it impossible to believe that someone who is alive today had a grandfather who was 13 during the Industrial Revolution...which was roughly from the 1790's through the 1830's....I'm guessing someone is thinking of the early 20th century instead...
Based on my 1983 birth year I’m *technically* a millennial. My dad and I just had a conversation today where I told him how some people I work with have the “it’s not in my job description so I won’t do it” mentality. He automatically jumped to “this younger generation...” and I I Interruped him by saying “I’m talking about both some of the newer hires and the ladies that have been there for 40+ years.” This whole boomers v millennials is just as pointless as stereotyping people by race. Work ethic comes from how you were raised and who you are as a person - not based on your birth year. Every generation will criticize the next, but in reality the criticisms are invalid, because the younger generations are raised in different conditions, so there’s no comparison.
Oh yes! I work at a university and the aging embedded boomers are the worst. Ppl my age who have never had the come to Jesus of working in the private sector.
Load More Replies...The difference that he accepted hard, manual labour as a job offering.
It’s amusing to me that people think going to college prepares one for getting a career when they graduate. Whatcha going to do with that psych degree? Or BA in English? You want a job: go into engineering, IT or learn a trade. The world will always need brick layers and car mechanics. If you go into a field with a low hiring rate upon graduation you need to understand you’re paying for a fun experience in college - not preparation for a career.
Except for decades now people werw told they needed a college degree to get a good job. Also, the world needs humanities as well as STEM majors. We can't all be engineers.
Load More Replies...I think if you want to work you will find work. During my Adult life from 15 to 27, I worked up until 2 weeks before my 1st baby was born, I was unemployed for a total of 3 weeks. I worked 51 hours a week AND payed my way through University 4 nights a week to get my Ledger keepers Diploma. (No computers back then). I worked in fast food, $89 for 51 hrs, Supermarkets, $122 p/w. Geriatric Nursing, $215 for a 48 hr week. While paying rent, utilities & groceries , transport etc., I left home at barely 15. I used public transport. I Cleaned toilets, I scrubbed filth off surfaces, I cleaned cement off bricks, I scrubbed floors on my hands & knees, I detailed cars, I did what ever I had to do to pay the bills until something better came along. I was not too proud to get my hands dirty, or to get sweaty. You don’t need experience to flip burgers or mop floors.
But - when there are 100 applicants for the same s****y job???
Load More Replies...This is so true. Its really difficult nowadays to find in some contries any paid job (i have even been rejected sometimes for free internships). I have a degree in Biology, two masters and I speak spanish, catalan and english fluently. I couldnt find any job in Spain (not even cleaning jobs or dishwasher). I needed to leave my country and learn flemish and until I am not fluent in that (my fourth lenguage) I wont be able to find a job...
Languages are always a benefit but too many degree/masters can put employers off. Sad fact of life.
Load More Replies...I'm a boomer. I've worked decades in tech, I've worked s****y office jobs, I've driven a bus, I've worked in construction. I'm looking at a creating new career for myself within the next few years, something where I'm not just another disposable resource in the labor market. I think anyone coming into the workforce over the past 20 years has had an increasingly s****y deal, and most of the boomers I know feel the same. I think millennials, give or take a generation, have some amazing, strong, true-hearted people. Also, plenty of s**t-heads. Pretty much like any other generation. I admire most of them. I'm also struck by how very much the millenials vs. boomers arguments sound like the boomers vs. depression kids arguments. You see people who have always been 20-40 years older than you, and it's hard to imagine them trying to understand and improve a world you never knew.
Hi there, I used to work for a recruitment agency. We'd get over 200 applications on some jobs. It's impossible to get back to everyone. You also have to make sure your CV (resume) stands out in a good way - of 200 applications imagine how many go straight in the bin because they look like they've been written by an incompetent (I had to tell my own husband that using 12-14 size font is the equivalent of a toddler's scrawl). And if your email address is crazysexbeast99@whatever.com, your CV is going straight in the bin. Boomers and Millenials both need to know these things.
I'm a Baby Boomer and know exactly what you mean - I go through the exact same thing when I'm looking for work! This doesn't just happen to millennials and not all Baby Boomers are in cushy jobs!
You know it's all what you put into it. Yes I am the technically the last year of the Baby Boomers. But I had to start all over again not too long ago. I went to prison for 2 years, got out in 2008, did some call center work and some other really crappy jobs that they only give ex-cons,. But I didn't want to stay in those jobs. So I taught myself HTML and CSS and now I have an excellent job building websites from home as a contractor as people who hire me don't do background checks. I know it's so much harder for an ex-con due to the background checks, so I had to figure out what kind of jobs didn't require background checks. Now I bring in six figures a year. Just 10 and a half years ago, I literally had nothing to my name and walked out of prison with only the clothes on my back and my parole papers. Now I have my dream job - I've always loved computers and design. I don't like hearing excuses when it comes to finding work. if you don't like your surrounding circumstances, then change them. I have always lived by the Nike motto, "Just do it."
Well done you Michelle. Glad you turned things around for yourself - and by yourself.
Load More Replies...I can understand the elderly people that get mad when they don't get any answer when they are applying. It used to be common courtesy that you at least get a message that you didn't get picked. And if they are using online applications it could be quite simple to build an automatic emailreply: "Thank you for your application. If you don't hear from us within the next 10 days you're not part of our selection. " But I wouldn't know if companies already do that. I'm one of those lucky people who just walked in and out of jobs without any difficulty. I'm retired now so my jobseeking days are over.
Many people do not even know what "baby boomers" are- as before their time
Load More Replies...There are lots of jobs if you need them. The problem is that people get out of college or university and assume that the perfect job is waiting for them. Where I'm from there are truckloads of people brought in to work in the fields because locals wouldn't stoop so low. Also, people are living longer and working longer and not leaving their positions to make way for millennials. Just because you can't walk into a high paying dream job and say "I'm here. Hire me." doesn't mean that you can't get a job somewhere else.
B******t, the choice is between a job that doesen't pay outside of your field and a job that doesen't pay in your field, so many people skip the first option. Nobody is searching for an high paying dream job, I did 8 months of free internship before getting hired and i've been extremely lucky! Many people spend years walking from internship to internship in the hope of being paid.
Load More Replies...I wouldn't hire someone who is that bad at formatting and starts their sentences with And. Plus the main reason why millenials need qualifications to get a job is that all manual handling jobs have been automated...
Finding a job is hard work, it was that way when I had to find a job and it's still hard (if not even harder). My dad said back then, it's not the same as when I was looking for a job. He changed job within a week, by just stopping by. And I asked him why he changed job within a week... well his new job paid 10 cents an hour more. When I had to find a job, I didn't have to ask for much, but needed tons of working experience and a load of degrees which wasn't even possible at my age. And a call back... what's that? It's just hard to find a good job, my SO is job searching right now, and so many things have changed since I was looking for one, it's like a complete different universe.
There are many jobs out there, paying much more than min wage, with great health care/dental insurance. They've been trying everything to get employees. Including paying for their schooling/trade school/etc.. Problem is kids nowadays expect & demand a high paying, cushy job that requires nothing of them, with no experience. So you got a degree, wohoo! So have millions of other applicants, all vying for the same job. Even worse are those who wasted $100,000's on worthless degrees! Sometimes you have to do a job you're not fond of to get to the one you want.
This whole story actually enforces the laziness and entitlement of Millennials, not defend it. When they talk about walking around in seeing a sign and getting a job, yeah, you had to walk hundreds of miles and go from job to job to job to job knocking on doors and asking for a job. And then when you got that job it was minimum wage, and you were glad to get it. Now that you can put in hundreds of applications in an afternoon, and then all I hear is how they're not going to do that job for that amount of money. And yes, applying for jobs that require all kinds of college when you don't actually have any of that college, yet that's a real problem with jobs. LOL.
Here in Finland nowadays also the most easiest jobs require a proper education and various licences before anyone can get that job. So for example if you want to become a dishwasher in a restaurant you need a chef's education, 'hygiene passport' (hygieniapassi), 'envinronment passport (ympäristöpassi)', etc. And if you have all the papers that you need to do that easy job that job probably will not be permanent.
When I applied at Whole Foods for a produce job...I was told that 30 people were being chosen from over 3500 applicants. If you think the bosses have time to call EVERY applicant that didn't get the job, you're sadly mistaken. And also, with todays electronic application systems and screening processes...well you have to look at it like you are applying to be on Next Food Network Star or The Titan Games. You're competing against thousands and thousands of people. These HR departments are drawing candidates from close to home to a few thousand miles away. The days of personal courtesies is impossible in this technologically driven market.
Besides the obvious stupidity of pitching one group against another (which is what every form of racism is based upon) there are some other societal truths that ought to be addressed, such as that we no longer respect manual labour in any form. Children are brainwashed into firmly believing that only jobs that come with higher education are worth pursuing. The "Polish plumber" is making a very good living while the graduate is trying to stay afloat financially, with hefty student loans on their back. Bear in mind that there simply would be no food to buy if no one tilled and harvested, milked, picked and packaged fruit and vegetables etc.
don't think the super-rich sent your job to mexico? perfect example: yesterday, I bought a car battery for $50 at bigbox store. It has "Made in Mexico" on it. The auto parts store down the street had the equivalent US made battery for $150. Hmm, not so hard a choice. I'm retired, and don't have an extra $100 to send to a union worker in the midwest or their inefficient manufacturing company. See comment below....
let's do something here besides whine, millennials...the problem is that the super-rich have sent your job to china or mexico. That's why no job for you. The second problem is that they have flooded the economy with bogus fiat money since 1965. It took a while to catch up with reality, but that reality has settled in. Worse than that, the super-rich have had their tools in congress spend $47 T, yes, that's trillion, in debt. Someday the balloon will pop, & we will have hyperinflation. So what't the solution? Look to Israel. They took a barren desert and in one hundred years, turned it into a modern technological booming economy. Their people work and don't whine. The US has more resources than they ever did. So go to work like they did: innovate, invent, find a way through, be the best, and invest. Get out of debt, save, invest, get as much education as you can use, and own your own business. Hmm...that's how the super-rich got rich in the first place. Your turn.
My only problem with this is that I still feel like the people calling are still being a bit lazy. Do some research on the company you're applying to and then get up and go there in person with a resume and I bet you'll get a better response than simply leaving a voicemail.
The Boomers did not invent unpaid internships. We worked them. Aside from that, there is a great deal of difference in the experiences of early and late Boomers. My eldest brother graduated from college and immediately got a decent job. It took me years before I got job in my field. There's Boomers and there's Boomers.
It’s a combination of high housing costs and general cost of living versus what is paid. The dollar went further before inflation. Also rental markets are tough these days, with values and mortgages dictating rents.
Load More Replies...I have a college degree I went through hell and back to receive and I'm lucky if I even get a rejection email. I currently have a decent job where I get paid more than I would with a job with my degree. The thing is no one will give me a chance because I "lack experience". My college degree that i'll be paying for until i'm retired probably isn't good enough. If I do "obtain experience" I'll have to work some entry level position making way less money than I make now and have to fight to climb the ladder. Baby boomers have essentially destroyed the job market and any ability to get a decent job for millennials.
People really need to stop pitching boomers against millenials. The boomers may not understand the current situation, but they are also not personally responsible for it as often claimed. The people actually responsible must be rubbing their hands in glee because the rabble is blaming each other instead of them.
Load More Replies...Tradicionalists: Baby boomers are rebels and lazy... Baby Boomers: Generation X are rebals and lazy Generation X: Millenialls are the worst... Got the idea?
an applicant could have qualification if they started at the bottom in a company and worked their way up to a position they wanted. problem is most millennials want to just start at a high level position right away. two year community college, then go to a state college, do an intern ship and work your way up. the CEO of my company has a economics bachelor from a dumpy college in Utah. dont give me this s**t about debt and all that. you arent going to graduate college and have a five bedroom house. scrape together a living, get out of debt and climb the ladder like everyone before you had to. quit bitching.
Whilst you've been studying hard, and gained degrees etc, it's been drilled into your head by numerous 'teachers' 'professionals' that by working hard at uni you'll get into those better positions quicker - it's not until you try to find a job that you often realise how important experience is. Students often get sold a dream when the reality is much different
Load More Replies...Ik a mechanic i make near 20 dollars an hour no student loans and because all you lazzy aas milenials dont want to get your hands dirty anymore Garages struggle to find staf so I have my pick of jobs Peace college losers
I work for the workforce investment board which is a federally funded program that originated in the 50s (it has changed a lot since then). My job literally is to understand labor force. Given my scope of work, i eat, sleep, breathe workforce...and from what I hear in my state, this post is 100% absolute not true. Our nation has an average unemployment in the 4% (less where I am), this means there is so much productivity happening that businesses can’t keep up. Most businesses want to hire more, in fact a lot of requirements are going away fast.. but not all requirements are because of Labor and Industry laws. This is what stops us for getting jobs, not baby boomers. You are blaming the wrong thing. Now, I get baby boomers might be the easy target because they also are misinformed (I am a millennial FYI) but it’s actually our laws that stop us from getting jobs at 13 and puts tons of requirements of certain positions.
My friend with 0 German skill (American) walked into a newspaper office 2 days ago in our small city (20-30k people), signed paperwork today for a full-time delivery job with company car, insurance (as normal for Germany) for 1880€ brutto starting and 1st raise after 3 months and another after 12 months. When people are not too picky and are willing to move (and able) it is still possible. He came here with nothing and now it basically set in no time. I am looking for something in my (small) area (only online possible and small market) which is ofc harder, but if you are open there is always "something".
I thought I was going to read something thought provoking but instead read a single, boring anecdote that proves nothing. Regardless, if you are healthy you can get a job in construction. Starting wages pay well and if you have any work ethic at all you can advance rapidly. I absolutely guarantee you that if you bust your a*s you will always have a decent job in construction. Labour jobs are not nearly as hard to get, pay better to start and will keep you employed. It'll be awhile before a robot can build a house. Just sayin.
I suppose women, half of the population, simply don't figure in your line of thinking... Everyone on this planet is male and physically capable of construction work, huh?
Load More Replies...Yes, it is harder to get a job today than in the past. Often, the person you talk to at the location doesn't have the authority to hire on the spot. But, to me one of the comments listed with the post is extremely telling. It talks about 'the job you would actually want". Very few people are ever going to have the career they want in the beginning. And way too many folks, my own children included, have difficulty understanding the difference between a career and a job. There are plenty of jobs out there, just be willing to work below your own self perceived worth until you can find your career.
Except that in most cases you barely make enough money to cover the expenses to actualy go to work (gas, rent, etc) IF you get paid at all, we are plagued by the free internship culture, some of us work for years without getting paid. So no, if i don't like the job i will not do it free nor i will pay to do it.
Load More Replies...I'm so darn tired of people being pitted against people, race against race, country against country. People need to quit pointing the finger at others and tend to their own backyards.
I think the media is responsible for so much of this. They try to work people up into a lather all in the name Iof getting more clicks and likes.
Load More Replies...People really need to stop pitching boomers against millenials. The boomers may not understand the current situation, but they are also not personally responsible for it as often claimed. The people actually responsible must be rubbing their hands in glee because the rabble is blamibg each other instead of them.
In my area, jobs routinely post s**t like this: "Entry level position, 5-10 years exp required, Bachelor's required, Master's preferred, biligual required. Starting pay $10 per hour (min wage)." This is the kind of s**t I've bern dealing with for decades. I have six degrees relevant to the jobs I apply fir, and get maybe 1% response rate (usually a rejection letter).
and you need to aged 18 with all of those qualifications.
Load More Replies...There is also the factor that in those days, there was a LOT more manual labor and unskilled jobs available. Being even moderately smart and strong were enough to get you a job, and just sticking to it were enough to keep you there and move up. Nowadays, there's a lot more tech, more knowledge, more specialist subject matter to grasp for even entry level jobs, coupled with an increasingly demanding customer base, you've got to have a lot more than a firm brow to get your foot in the door.
You need lots of experience and qualifications to even get an entry level job - how does that work?
Load More Replies...Ahah don't get me started... I still remember the conversation with a relatively famous guy in my field of expertise. He was head of some lab in France and liked mentioning this every 5 minutes. We started talking and my s****y situation came up (post-doc for 7 years here!). Tells me it's time to give up and start finding another job, because I'm just a lost case. That if I don't start really working hard every day of the week I won't get a permanent job. Fair enough, a permanent position is the grail for any post-doc these days... Then, after a few minutes, the guy tells me, without blinking "I never had to look for a job in my entire life. I was just offered it." I was tempted to tell him to go f**k zombies in Hell, but he was too powerful...
Those people are just the worst. They did nothing to get to their position but they talk s**t about others with much more experience than them when they got the job. I worked with people like that...
Load More Replies...I generally think that millennials have been unfairly criticized, but I disagree with this post - there are still tons of jobs available that you can walk in and apply for and pretty easily get. I just don't think most people want to work fast food or in a factory or on a farm picking produce by hand or stocking shelves in a grocery store. The example that was given was of a person a century ago getting a factory job, that's very different than trying to get a white collar job in an office. Or, heaven forbid, a cool job with an exciting company doing work that is meaningful. I'm all for people seeking the best job they can get, the one that makes them the happiest, but I'm a little sick of hearing that there are no jobs. The unemployment rate is at 3.9% right now, it's extremely low. There are jobs out there, maybe just not the ones people want.
There are very few jobs - several times the number of unemployed as there are job vacancies
Load More Replies...Industrial Revolution?? Really? I find it impossible to believe that someone who is alive today had a grandfather who was 13 during the Industrial Revolution...which was roughly from the 1790's through the 1830's....I'm guessing someone is thinking of the early 20th century instead...
Based on my 1983 birth year I’m *technically* a millennial. My dad and I just had a conversation today where I told him how some people I work with have the “it’s not in my job description so I won’t do it” mentality. He automatically jumped to “this younger generation...” and I I Interruped him by saying “I’m talking about both some of the newer hires and the ladies that have been there for 40+ years.” This whole boomers v millennials is just as pointless as stereotyping people by race. Work ethic comes from how you were raised and who you are as a person - not based on your birth year. Every generation will criticize the next, but in reality the criticisms are invalid, because the younger generations are raised in different conditions, so there’s no comparison.
Oh yes! I work at a university and the aging embedded boomers are the worst. Ppl my age who have never had the come to Jesus of working in the private sector.
Load More Replies...The difference that he accepted hard, manual labour as a job offering.
It’s amusing to me that people think going to college prepares one for getting a career when they graduate. Whatcha going to do with that psych degree? Or BA in English? You want a job: go into engineering, IT or learn a trade. The world will always need brick layers and car mechanics. If you go into a field with a low hiring rate upon graduation you need to understand you’re paying for a fun experience in college - not preparation for a career.
Except for decades now people werw told they needed a college degree to get a good job. Also, the world needs humanities as well as STEM majors. We can't all be engineers.
Load More Replies...I think if you want to work you will find work. During my Adult life from 15 to 27, I worked up until 2 weeks before my 1st baby was born, I was unemployed for a total of 3 weeks. I worked 51 hours a week AND payed my way through University 4 nights a week to get my Ledger keepers Diploma. (No computers back then). I worked in fast food, $89 for 51 hrs, Supermarkets, $122 p/w. Geriatric Nursing, $215 for a 48 hr week. While paying rent, utilities & groceries , transport etc., I left home at barely 15. I used public transport. I Cleaned toilets, I scrubbed filth off surfaces, I cleaned cement off bricks, I scrubbed floors on my hands & knees, I detailed cars, I did what ever I had to do to pay the bills until something better came along. I was not too proud to get my hands dirty, or to get sweaty. You don’t need experience to flip burgers or mop floors.
But - when there are 100 applicants for the same s****y job???
Load More Replies...This is so true. Its really difficult nowadays to find in some contries any paid job (i have even been rejected sometimes for free internships). I have a degree in Biology, two masters and I speak spanish, catalan and english fluently. I couldnt find any job in Spain (not even cleaning jobs or dishwasher). I needed to leave my country and learn flemish and until I am not fluent in that (my fourth lenguage) I wont be able to find a job...
Languages are always a benefit but too many degree/masters can put employers off. Sad fact of life.
Load More Replies...I'm a boomer. I've worked decades in tech, I've worked s****y office jobs, I've driven a bus, I've worked in construction. I'm looking at a creating new career for myself within the next few years, something where I'm not just another disposable resource in the labor market. I think anyone coming into the workforce over the past 20 years has had an increasingly s****y deal, and most of the boomers I know feel the same. I think millennials, give or take a generation, have some amazing, strong, true-hearted people. Also, plenty of s**t-heads. Pretty much like any other generation. I admire most of them. I'm also struck by how very much the millenials vs. boomers arguments sound like the boomers vs. depression kids arguments. You see people who have always been 20-40 years older than you, and it's hard to imagine them trying to understand and improve a world you never knew.
Hi there, I used to work for a recruitment agency. We'd get over 200 applications on some jobs. It's impossible to get back to everyone. You also have to make sure your CV (resume) stands out in a good way - of 200 applications imagine how many go straight in the bin because they look like they've been written by an incompetent (I had to tell my own husband that using 12-14 size font is the equivalent of a toddler's scrawl). And if your email address is crazysexbeast99@whatever.com, your CV is going straight in the bin. Boomers and Millenials both need to know these things.
I'm a Baby Boomer and know exactly what you mean - I go through the exact same thing when I'm looking for work! This doesn't just happen to millennials and not all Baby Boomers are in cushy jobs!
You know it's all what you put into it. Yes I am the technically the last year of the Baby Boomers. But I had to start all over again not too long ago. I went to prison for 2 years, got out in 2008, did some call center work and some other really crappy jobs that they only give ex-cons,. But I didn't want to stay in those jobs. So I taught myself HTML and CSS and now I have an excellent job building websites from home as a contractor as people who hire me don't do background checks. I know it's so much harder for an ex-con due to the background checks, so I had to figure out what kind of jobs didn't require background checks. Now I bring in six figures a year. Just 10 and a half years ago, I literally had nothing to my name and walked out of prison with only the clothes on my back and my parole papers. Now I have my dream job - I've always loved computers and design. I don't like hearing excuses when it comes to finding work. if you don't like your surrounding circumstances, then change them. I have always lived by the Nike motto, "Just do it."
Well done you Michelle. Glad you turned things around for yourself - and by yourself.
Load More Replies...I can understand the elderly people that get mad when they don't get any answer when they are applying. It used to be common courtesy that you at least get a message that you didn't get picked. And if they are using online applications it could be quite simple to build an automatic emailreply: "Thank you for your application. If you don't hear from us within the next 10 days you're not part of our selection. " But I wouldn't know if companies already do that. I'm one of those lucky people who just walked in and out of jobs without any difficulty. I'm retired now so my jobseeking days are over.
Many people do not even know what "baby boomers" are- as before their time
Load More Replies...There are lots of jobs if you need them. The problem is that people get out of college or university and assume that the perfect job is waiting for them. Where I'm from there are truckloads of people brought in to work in the fields because locals wouldn't stoop so low. Also, people are living longer and working longer and not leaving their positions to make way for millennials. Just because you can't walk into a high paying dream job and say "I'm here. Hire me." doesn't mean that you can't get a job somewhere else.
B******t, the choice is between a job that doesen't pay outside of your field and a job that doesen't pay in your field, so many people skip the first option. Nobody is searching for an high paying dream job, I did 8 months of free internship before getting hired and i've been extremely lucky! Many people spend years walking from internship to internship in the hope of being paid.
Load More Replies...I wouldn't hire someone who is that bad at formatting and starts their sentences with And. Plus the main reason why millenials need qualifications to get a job is that all manual handling jobs have been automated...
Finding a job is hard work, it was that way when I had to find a job and it's still hard (if not even harder). My dad said back then, it's not the same as when I was looking for a job. He changed job within a week, by just stopping by. And I asked him why he changed job within a week... well his new job paid 10 cents an hour more. When I had to find a job, I didn't have to ask for much, but needed tons of working experience and a load of degrees which wasn't even possible at my age. And a call back... what's that? It's just hard to find a good job, my SO is job searching right now, and so many things have changed since I was looking for one, it's like a complete different universe.
There are many jobs out there, paying much more than min wage, with great health care/dental insurance. They've been trying everything to get employees. Including paying for their schooling/trade school/etc.. Problem is kids nowadays expect & demand a high paying, cushy job that requires nothing of them, with no experience. So you got a degree, wohoo! So have millions of other applicants, all vying for the same job. Even worse are those who wasted $100,000's on worthless degrees! Sometimes you have to do a job you're not fond of to get to the one you want.
This whole story actually enforces the laziness and entitlement of Millennials, not defend it. When they talk about walking around in seeing a sign and getting a job, yeah, you had to walk hundreds of miles and go from job to job to job to job knocking on doors and asking for a job. And then when you got that job it was minimum wage, and you were glad to get it. Now that you can put in hundreds of applications in an afternoon, and then all I hear is how they're not going to do that job for that amount of money. And yes, applying for jobs that require all kinds of college when you don't actually have any of that college, yet that's a real problem with jobs. LOL.
Here in Finland nowadays also the most easiest jobs require a proper education and various licences before anyone can get that job. So for example if you want to become a dishwasher in a restaurant you need a chef's education, 'hygiene passport' (hygieniapassi), 'envinronment passport (ympäristöpassi)', etc. And if you have all the papers that you need to do that easy job that job probably will not be permanent.
When I applied at Whole Foods for a produce job...I was told that 30 people were being chosen from over 3500 applicants. If you think the bosses have time to call EVERY applicant that didn't get the job, you're sadly mistaken. And also, with todays electronic application systems and screening processes...well you have to look at it like you are applying to be on Next Food Network Star or The Titan Games. You're competing against thousands and thousands of people. These HR departments are drawing candidates from close to home to a few thousand miles away. The days of personal courtesies is impossible in this technologically driven market.
Besides the obvious stupidity of pitching one group against another (which is what every form of racism is based upon) there are some other societal truths that ought to be addressed, such as that we no longer respect manual labour in any form. Children are brainwashed into firmly believing that only jobs that come with higher education are worth pursuing. The "Polish plumber" is making a very good living while the graduate is trying to stay afloat financially, with hefty student loans on their back. Bear in mind that there simply would be no food to buy if no one tilled and harvested, milked, picked and packaged fruit and vegetables etc.
don't think the super-rich sent your job to mexico? perfect example: yesterday, I bought a car battery for $50 at bigbox store. It has "Made in Mexico" on it. The auto parts store down the street had the equivalent US made battery for $150. Hmm, not so hard a choice. I'm retired, and don't have an extra $100 to send to a union worker in the midwest or their inefficient manufacturing company. See comment below....
let's do something here besides whine, millennials...the problem is that the super-rich have sent your job to china or mexico. That's why no job for you. The second problem is that they have flooded the economy with bogus fiat money since 1965. It took a while to catch up with reality, but that reality has settled in. Worse than that, the super-rich have had their tools in congress spend $47 T, yes, that's trillion, in debt. Someday the balloon will pop, & we will have hyperinflation. So what't the solution? Look to Israel. They took a barren desert and in one hundred years, turned it into a modern technological booming economy. Their people work and don't whine. The US has more resources than they ever did. So go to work like they did: innovate, invent, find a way through, be the best, and invest. Get out of debt, save, invest, get as much education as you can use, and own your own business. Hmm...that's how the super-rich got rich in the first place. Your turn.
My only problem with this is that I still feel like the people calling are still being a bit lazy. Do some research on the company you're applying to and then get up and go there in person with a resume and I bet you'll get a better response than simply leaving a voicemail.
The Boomers did not invent unpaid internships. We worked them. Aside from that, there is a great deal of difference in the experiences of early and late Boomers. My eldest brother graduated from college and immediately got a decent job. It took me years before I got job in my field. There's Boomers and there's Boomers.
It’s a combination of high housing costs and general cost of living versus what is paid. The dollar went further before inflation. Also rental markets are tough these days, with values and mortgages dictating rents.
Load More Replies...I have a college degree I went through hell and back to receive and I'm lucky if I even get a rejection email. I currently have a decent job where I get paid more than I would with a job with my degree. The thing is no one will give me a chance because I "lack experience". My college degree that i'll be paying for until i'm retired probably isn't good enough. If I do "obtain experience" I'll have to work some entry level position making way less money than I make now and have to fight to climb the ladder. Baby boomers have essentially destroyed the job market and any ability to get a decent job for millennials.
People really need to stop pitching boomers against millenials. The boomers may not understand the current situation, but they are also not personally responsible for it as often claimed. The people actually responsible must be rubbing their hands in glee because the rabble is blaming each other instead of them.
Load More Replies...Tradicionalists: Baby boomers are rebels and lazy... Baby Boomers: Generation X are rebals and lazy Generation X: Millenialls are the worst... Got the idea?
an applicant could have qualification if they started at the bottom in a company and worked their way up to a position they wanted. problem is most millennials want to just start at a high level position right away. two year community college, then go to a state college, do an intern ship and work your way up. the CEO of my company has a economics bachelor from a dumpy college in Utah. dont give me this s**t about debt and all that. you arent going to graduate college and have a five bedroom house. scrape together a living, get out of debt and climb the ladder like everyone before you had to. quit bitching.
Whilst you've been studying hard, and gained degrees etc, it's been drilled into your head by numerous 'teachers' 'professionals' that by working hard at uni you'll get into those better positions quicker - it's not until you try to find a job that you often realise how important experience is. Students often get sold a dream when the reality is much different
Load More Replies...Ik a mechanic i make near 20 dollars an hour no student loans and because all you lazzy aas milenials dont want to get your hands dirty anymore Garages struggle to find staf so I have my pick of jobs Peace college losers
I work for the workforce investment board which is a federally funded program that originated in the 50s (it has changed a lot since then). My job literally is to understand labor force. Given my scope of work, i eat, sleep, breathe workforce...and from what I hear in my state, this post is 100% absolute not true. Our nation has an average unemployment in the 4% (less where I am), this means there is so much productivity happening that businesses can’t keep up. Most businesses want to hire more, in fact a lot of requirements are going away fast.. but not all requirements are because of Labor and Industry laws. This is what stops us for getting jobs, not baby boomers. You are blaming the wrong thing. Now, I get baby boomers might be the easy target because they also are misinformed (I am a millennial FYI) but it’s actually our laws that stop us from getting jobs at 13 and puts tons of requirements of certain positions.
My friend with 0 German skill (American) walked into a newspaper office 2 days ago in our small city (20-30k people), signed paperwork today for a full-time delivery job with company car, insurance (as normal for Germany) for 1880€ brutto starting and 1st raise after 3 months and another after 12 months. When people are not too picky and are willing to move (and able) it is still possible. He came here with nothing and now it basically set in no time. I am looking for something in my (small) area (only online possible and small market) which is ofc harder, but if you are open there is always "something".
I thought I was going to read something thought provoking but instead read a single, boring anecdote that proves nothing. Regardless, if you are healthy you can get a job in construction. Starting wages pay well and if you have any work ethic at all you can advance rapidly. I absolutely guarantee you that if you bust your a*s you will always have a decent job in construction. Labour jobs are not nearly as hard to get, pay better to start and will keep you employed. It'll be awhile before a robot can build a house. Just sayin.
I suppose women, half of the population, simply don't figure in your line of thinking... Everyone on this planet is male and physically capable of construction work, huh?
Load More Replies...Yes, it is harder to get a job today than in the past. Often, the person you talk to at the location doesn't have the authority to hire on the spot. But, to me one of the comments listed with the post is extremely telling. It talks about 'the job you would actually want". Very few people are ever going to have the career they want in the beginning. And way too many folks, my own children included, have difficulty understanding the difference between a career and a job. There are plenty of jobs out there, just be willing to work below your own self perceived worth until you can find your career.
Except that in most cases you barely make enough money to cover the expenses to actualy go to work (gas, rent, etc) IF you get paid at all, we are plagued by the free internship culture, some of us work for years without getting paid. So no, if i don't like the job i will not do it free nor i will pay to do it.
Load More Replies...
223
134