They lied to me. They told me I could be whatever I wanted, that I was gifted and talented and that my choices and my resume and my volunteer hours and my letters of recommnedation and certifications would get me on a career path and make my life happy and long and rich in every way. Where am I and how did I end up here?
I read the books, took the notes, did the time, and now, after so much preparation, I'm highlighting jobs in the classifieds with headlines like "part-time driver wanted- $15.02 an hour". I spend more time on my MacBook and my Blackberry looking at ads for jobs than working at my part-time job. And I'm not the only one. For the last job I was really interested in, oddly enough the position of "Recruiter" at a temp agency (ironic), I saw the demographics for the applicants on one of the search sites: over 75% had a bachelors degree and over 60% had worked at a professional type job. My generation is fighting over semi-professional jobs that educated workers 10 years our elder would scoff at as temporary jobs muchless career choices.
As a 23 year old in 2011, I am in crisis. I don't like the looks of any of the blue collar, services, industrial jobs that are covering the classifieds. I don't want to go back to school only to become more educated than any kind of future employment will need me to be (or too educated to even compete for those jobs for fear of the employer that I'll flake out right away). Plus, why pay for more school when this is all it's got me? I'm constantly fighting an inner battle of dignity; I know it's dignified to work for the money you earn, but working alongside those who only care about their next smoke break, their child support bills, and their next happy hour feels just about as satisfying (not to mention that at that kind of work I feel like a complete outsider for my lack of cultural similarities) as a smack across the face.
Is the only thing for us to start at the bottom and work our way up? Are there no jobs for people who study and pay for education? What industries are safe? Where are the jobs? I thought part of the plan, part of the promise, was a job for me to spend the rest of my life at, find my purpose in?
Looks like I'll have to find something from the classifieds to tie me over.
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