Ok, so this is limited to USAian millennials but I’m betting many enough will agree.
-We grew up with advice to go to college and get a degree. Hell you could get it in anything and businesses will love a diverse degree added to their company.
Recession hit with jobs only hiring niche resumes with massive experience.
-Just walk in the door and ask for a job. They will hire you for your gusto.
Go online and upload your resume and then fill out the questionnaire that asks you everything on your resume. We might hire you if you have a good referral. Beat out of luck if you are a first generation in this career choice.
-Stay loyal to your job and they will treat you well with pensions and competitive compensation as they see you as family.
Dime a dozen hiring. If you can’t handle the hours or workload then leave because the next Joe on the street would be happy to get half your pay. All while new hires get paid double. No pensions. Insurance tied to your job but it’s junk. Raise freezes because the company didn’t make enough but management got their bonuses.
-And NOW build up your 401k so you can retire comfortably.
HAHAHA!!!!! (Deep breath in) Hahahahahhaha! (Loud sobbing)
Comments
Graduating from University during a economic downturn or destabilized time really sucks. In the 90s where I live, everyone I went to school with who wasn’t studying education never got a job in their field.
Sometimes the best way to get a raise is getting a new job. It’s really hard and I feel for you. The only thing I can tell you is most of us took longer to land on our feet compared to those who graduated in a healthy economy. But we now have the most interesting jobs. Because we ended up in unconventional jobs. What did you graduate in?
And don’t forget to have children who you have to raise to perfection just as you were. /s
It’s not the worst timeline but I’m struggling to have a good time
Well college is a scam at this point. Other than that I don’t understand a point you were trying to get at.
My son is living this. 2 years he’s been searching for a job in his field. He at least doesn’t have loans since my husband worded at the U.
It took us relearning that the world isn’t what it was for life planning and job hunting.
The world is screwed right now. People being laid off have years of experience in his field. I don’t know how he will ever get hired.
His dad suggested they start a business. Well in his name. Same field different skills. I’d sell my soul to have it work out for him.
bro i’m 16 shit’s gonna be so fucked for me
Why are you asking advice from people who you know God damn well had a different experience coming up in the world?
If you didn’t ask and it was unsolicited advice why are you taking it with a grain of salt?
I guess, what I’m asking is, I see this kind of advice being repeated on Reddit over and over again. We all know where the advice is coming from and we all know that the people that it’s coming from had a different experience. Why is this still a conversation?
I’m (32) a smart person who regrets going to college so much because of the debt and job I currently have that pays barely above minimum wage in my area and I’ve worked here for 4 years (food management). I had a job (career/ degree related) and it got laid off prior to covid so less ppl took on more work in my department. Nothing I could do, they downsized and I was the weakest link in terms of had been there the least.
It’s grim. I try to not think too hard on it and get hung up on regrets. But yes. I was raised where college wasn’t much of a choice so much as a “do this or you’re a loser”
I wish I’d chosen “be a loser” because I’d have the same job and no debt.
Yall could just steal
Do you think getting a good job became difficult with your generation?
Get your cdl or go into the trades. Work food delivery with your cdl and you can make $100k plus. Sometimes working a little harder pays better. I get it though, was definitely directed down the same path you are describing
I went to college and regret the debt because what I do now (cdl food delivery) makes 1.5 more than people in my degree field
The advice I got from my financial advisor is deep breath, this SUCKS but 401ks and retirement accounts are a long game and the best that can be done right now is to just let the market do it’s thing and recover. We have enough time to wait it out as millennials. And if the stock market doesn’t bounce back, we have a lot bigger problems than retirement.
Welcome to CostCo, I love you!
I’m 34 and I’ve always been able to get a job pretty quickly once I applied myself.
I don’t understand this market tho. Or the jobs don’t really exist. I don’t know.
They need to bring back trade schools. Not everyone wants to go to college and have aptitude for working with their hands.
I feel bad for your generation being told a degree is the only way to succeed. So now, you’re saddled with debt that never seems to go down.
We failed you
Elder millennial (born in ’83). I worked my ass off, graduated high school at 16 with college credits already… got into my dream schools, went to a fantastic school, borrowed money, and then BAM! I was left permanently disabled in an accident (I was not at fault) at 19 and unable to finish my last year of school. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t physically sit in class, and there were no remote options back then. I was getting As but failing classes based on attendance. So, I borrowed money for NOTHING for that year, some of it in private loans. Everything is in default now, judgments against me, and my health has just continued to deteriorate. I live with severe chronic pain and fatigue and cognitive impairments. I get to try to survive on my disability pittance of less than $1000 a month now that my husband died unexpectedly three years ago (now in further debt that I can’t pay because that was what I inherited). Definitely living that American Dream I was promised for all my hard work. 🙄 Instead, I was penalized for ending up disabled before earning 40 work credits. I try not to be bitter about things, but I’m in too much pain not to be today.
This isn’t even close to be a USA specific problem, I’m in Ireland and it’s the same here except on top of that no one can get a house because they’re all owned by landlords and half of those are Air B&Bs so renting is becoming impossible too.
I legit remember reading a book in high school… maybe one of those Princeton guides ranking the best US colleges…that said if you’re having trouble picking a major just major in Liberal Arts. You get to learn a little of everything and employers love Liberal Arts majors because they know so many different things.
Reader, employers DGAF about Liberal Arts. I have never in my life seen a job posting asking for a degree in Liberal Arts
Point 1 second sentence is misleading: ‘any degree’ is an outrageous assertion.
Point 2 is referring to boomer advice to everyone, I don’t see the relevancy to the post.
Point 3 is 20 year old advice (or older). Pensions have gone out of fashion for 40+ years.
Point 4 relax! Buy index funds. Think critically. If you bought individual stocks you may be trouble. If you bought index funds you may have lost close to the entirety of 2024 gains. And? That’s how it works, contrary to what people have told you.