<p>"They are perhaps the best-educated generation ever, but they cant find jobs. Many face staggering college loans and have moved back in with their parents. Even worse, their difficulty in getting careers launched could set them back financially for years.</p>
<p>The Millennials, broadly defined as those born in the 1980s and '90s, are the first generation of American workers since World War II who have cloudier prospects than the generations that preceded them.</p>
<p>Certainly the recession has hurt young workers badly. While the overall unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in June, it was 15.3 percent for those aged 20 to 24, compared with 7.8 percent for ages 35-44, 7.5 percent for ages 45-54 and 6.9 percent for those 55 and older.</p>
<p>Among 18-to 29-year-olds, unemployment is the highest its been in more than three decades, according to a recent report from Pew Research Center. The report also found that Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers or baby boomers were at the same age."</p>
<p>Well I agree that some are " over educated", but we are in a recession- many workers are happy to find retail/service work- including college educated folks my age.</p>
<p>When my oldest first graduated she was a tech writer and some other free lance type things- you have to be pretty creative, but at 23, they should have the energy to do so.
;)</p>
<p>It’s a personal thing for a couple of us and a bit prideful, but the idea we just spent five years — and a hundred thousand dollars for some of us — obtaining two degrees, to go ahead and wipe that right back off our resume in hopes of getting a $12-an-hour job at Starbucks would really be depressing,” he said.</p>
<p>Apparently more depressing than not working. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>An honest look at the companies that hire journalists shows that they have been ravaged by the technology of the internet and jobs in the industry have been similarly ravaged.</p>
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<p>He probably should have lived at home while working at Panera Bread. I know that a lot of students value their independence during and after college but you really have to be realistic about your financial decisions. BTW, I have a lot of respect for the PNRA business.</p>
<p>This period of time reminds me of when I got my first professional job in the late 70s or early 80s. College graduates also generally had a very tough time finding work. Things eventually picked up though.</p>
<p>Okay, I know exactly why this guy hasn’t found a job. It isn’t because of the recession. It isn’t because things are tough for millennials. It’s because this is a horrible time to be a journalist. And an even WORSE time to be a brand new fresh-out-of-college journalist. He’s competing against every journalist with years or even decades of experience who was laid off by newspapers. And these waves of layoffs have been going on since before the recession.</p>
<p>If I were him, I’d continue working at Panera for now while starting a free blog in my free time, and promote the heck out of it.</p>
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<p>At least Starbucks offers health insurance.</p>
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<p>It’s almost like six months. Yet subtly different! Mmmm, yes, there’s a hint of oakiness in there that a genuine six months wouldn’t have, and a little spiciness.</p>
<p>Agree with Naturally that any journalism job is going to be a tough find. That whole industry is in an upheaval, with a number of newspapers closing up shop and those still in business losing money. Until and unless newspapers can figure out a way to monetize the internet, I don’t see things improving.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald and their generation were able to make a living writing short stories for magazines. Now, writers basically give their stories to most magazines, and nobody can make a living at that.</p>
<p>Journalism is really going the way of the short story. It’s not the place you can expect to make a steady living. It’s as useless as a poetry degree. I’m probably one of the last living Americans who would buy a book of poetry, and even I won’t buy a newspaper.</p>
<p>Actually, there are journalism jobs. Go to journalismjobs.com – there are 845 job listings. Problem is, most of the jobs for beginning journalists are in places like Bardstown, Kentucky, and Minocqua, Wisconsin. And probably pay less than $25,000/year. Too many recent graduates (with high debt) want higher paying jobs in major metro areas. They want to start at the New York Times, and not The Cullman Times, in Cullman, Ala., population 14,000.</p>
<p>Well let’s see- I agree it can be difficult to find a job- aligned with your major- however, one of D’s friends from high school wanted to go into the media- I don’t know what he majored in at Occidental, but he is now an asst producer of Morning Edition/NPR among other things.
Another friend of hers from college, majored in biology, but started writing stories for a national news service, and now is also back east.</p>
<p>Maybe this guy just isn’t a very good writer- certainly he didn’t need a masters degree to sell things to newspapers.</p>
<p>My SIL has a journalism degree, but ended up in legal administration and now runs a major office for a very large law firm making well over $100k. Sometimes, people need to face reality, adjust their expectations and find a position that they can grow with.</p>
<p>Very true. It wasn’t easy for us, either.<br>
I also feel that the people really suffering are the 50-somethings who are out of work.
Our kids will find work. They may have to start at the bottom (duh) and work at things they may not have preferred in order to get experience, but they are healthy, smart and resourceful. I’m not that worried about them.</p>
<p>My 53 year-old SIL who lost her 6-figure job this year is going to have a harder time.</p>
<p>SIL was '81 graduate. She started with a small PR firm that didn’t pan out, but found an office job (not secretary - assistant administrator) with a law firm and it was a perfect fit. I would encourage recent grads to take professional jobs (vs Panera), as they never what may be a natural fit despite their degree. My SIL did not take any business classes, but found she had a knack for budgeting, etc.</p>
<p>My generation needs to get over the idea that you can land a job doing something you want to do. We need to get our work ethic back in this country, and learn that you get paid to do something <em>somebody else</em> wants you to do. It may or may not be what you want. We’ve gone to college to major in a hobby and invested four years and a lot of money in a doomed enterprise instead of focusing on making ourselves productive. I know it’s not popular to say on this forum, but college is really just for two kinds of people: those majoring in a genuinely marketable career (science, engineering, economics, medicine, etc.) and those studying for the love of learning who are either wealthy enough or have the right connections to major in whatever they want, or who don’t mind making a below-average income their whole lives.</p>
<p>College is not a rite of passage, it is not a four-year vacation from your parents, it’s not a place to get “the college experience,” it is not High School II. We have too many people entering college who will never finish, too many people being bamboozled by college administrators about the marketability of their degrees and the feasibility of paying back loans on a Panera-worker’s salary, etc. The problem is that in America you get to your twenties and you’re still basically a child.</p>
<p>The problem is that a lot of people, myself included, have worked hard trying to “do everything right” growing up. Work to get the good grades, work hard at extracurricular activities, study, plan ahead, learn how to effectively manage time, get into a good school, work hard in college, manage finances, etc. It’s really hard for someone to go through life only to find their dreams kicked in the face by the time they emerge into the real world. It’s not easy for many to put their dreams aside and venture into a profession/job they could have done right out of high school (if not during high school, no doubt) with virtually no effort required. Planning is such a vital thing, and having large obstacles placed in the way during crucial times is a hard pill to swallow.</p>
<p>On the bright side, it does teach you to seriously re-evaluate what you find important in your life, and how to deal with sacrifice.</p>
<p>Well said, I would agree with your statement. But I think we kids in our mid-20s are still young enough to dream. The average age for a first marriage and having kids has been increasing for the past 2 decades, and I think it’s because our generation is spending more time trying to get a career established in a field they want to spend a lot of time in. A a recent graduate in chemical engineering from a top school for that field, I have plenty of friends in my class that are well-qualified for a variety of jobs related to ChemE, but are holding out for that “perfect” job in biotech, oil, or something else as opposed to taking the first opportunity that comes to them. </p>
<p>I think that many of our parents are more willing to support us in having a “happy life” rather than making us become more independent because many families have the means to support children well into their 20s.</p>
<p>Max–I myself understand that. I graduated in 1980 and was living in Michigan at the time. Unemployment was about 20% in that state. I got a job shelving books in a library for close to minimum wage. You do what you have to do–things won’t always be the same.</p>
<p>I do not agree with this statement; “Best educated generation ever”</p>
<p>How many of these graduates have taken computer science courses? Advanced math (for problem solving, like statistics)? Have had a summer job between college years or during the school year (like at Panera Bread!)? Know how to write a business plan? Or have fixed something with their hands, be it a lawn mower engine or even a sink or toilet?</p>
<p>Most of the kids I know coming from the “elite” schools, have none of this type of practical experience.</p>