Generation Y (that’s us) was taught at a young age that you were to graduate from high school then proceed on to higher education. This is the conventional route in pursuit of receiving a distinguished piece of paper. This eminent certificate is the golden ticket into the professional world filled with opportunity. Well, so we thought... Not only does this piece of paper cost you four plus years of your life, but hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mind you, through loans, grants, your parent’s pockets and minimum wage jobs it is possible to one day be able to reach the stage and shake the hand of the person you’re giving your money to. Nonetheless, it is still ridiculous to pay this exorbitant amount for processed wood fibers. Yes, you have gained an education, life experience and extra time before you have to become an “adult”, but all of that could have been done without attending a formal institution, right? Of course not! This is the proverbial yellow brick road leading to the American dream of financial security, a home, a spouse, 2.5 kids and a dog. Well that is after you payback your debt on top of bonus interest. Ultimately though, this is a solid plan with an infallible checklist: High School- Check, College- Check, Job-? Wait a minute, job question mark? After all the blood, sweat and tears to obtain a degree, you get nothing? What? You are left defeated, jobless and broke. Where did you go wrong?
You can blame yourself all you want, but really that is not going to do any good because it’s not your fault. Apparently, the economy missed the memo about the order of operations. As soon as we graduated college it decided to plunge into a recession. Typical, the system failed us. We were under the impression that everything would work out accordingly if we just followed the plan! Graduating from a University is supposed to be an amazing accomplishment with an ending reward of a well paying job. Lies, all lies and completely erroneous. Those people who you believed to be your “connection” to the professional world decided to changed their contact information including; work phone, cell phone, e-mail, they even blocked you on Facebook! And all those tedious unpaid internships that you thought would be your gateway “in” or, you at least thought they would make your resume look better, failed you as well. Then you fall back onto plan B. The times have changed and people no longer search for employment through newspapers or by inquiring within about help wanted signs. The infamous Craigslist.org is now the element between your ends to a means.
You could literally spend hours searching through post after post of jobs all over the US. And believe it or not, there are diamonds in the rough. I know some people who have actually landed their dream job through an undisclosed listing. This does not mean that you should throw caution to the wind, there still are predators waiting to make their move. You just have to think optimistically. Although, if something sketchy like that were to happen, hopefully Chris Hansen would jump out of a closet and scare the bastard away.
Other than the weirdo’s who post on Craigslist there is another problem with using the website to search for jobs. The problem is that EVERYONE and their mothers are using it too. It’s so accessible and has gained a tremendous amount of popularity over the course of its existence. For every decent job listed on the day that you have applied to, there are over 300 other people who have applied for the same one and probably at the same time. Not to mention that over the course of the week more people will continue to send their resumes to it as well. Craigslist has turned into another rat race that you have grown accustom to. All due to the false promises made by the system.
In the grand scheme of things this is only a minor bump in the road. If you look at history, eventually, the economy will get better and the job market will pick up again. When that happens you can look at your diploma with a smile and thank it for still carrying its credibility… Well, hopefully. ;)
