Is there any hope on this planet?

"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi)
04/20/2015 at 12:46 • Filed to: aweifuheafiknvjefb

Somebody very close to me is currently having a very difficult time finding a job. This person has been looking since before they finished school in December, but despite having an economics degree and a GPA above 3.0 they’re just getting pointless dead end offers. I know we all got the “nobody will give you jack shit without an engineering degree” memo, but fuck’s sake, is it too much to ask for a fucking job that has benefits and opportunity for advancement? No one is looking for a golden parachute here, just a god damned dignified job worth toiling away at.

It just sucks because I care about this person very much, but I feel so helpless in this situation. There’s nothing I can do except cheer them on, and it seems like it’s helping less and less every day. On top of it all, I’m all the way over here in France, and I feel terribly guilty because I have an excellent opportunity waiting for me when I finish school in another year. Just because I was lucky enough to have a father who could set me up with an internship two years ago and give me a chance to actually prove myself to somebody? Is that what this comes down to, just a fucking lottery? Makes me sick.

Somebody please tell me I’m wrong, tell me there’s a reason to be hopeful for the future. I’m normally a fairly optimistic person, but it’s just getting hard. Sorry to bring you all down.

DISCUSSION (26)

yamahog > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:50

It’s rough out there :/ plenty of un/underemployed engineers out there too, so don’t buy into the STEM circle jerk. I hope your friend is leveraging all the connections they may have but other than that I got nothing.

dogisbadob > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:53

Good luck

WiscoProud > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:53

Has your friend been interviewing, or can they not find interviews? Unfortunately, when you're starting out after college it can be tough. If your friend is getting interviews, but not succeeding, that can be worked on. If he's not getting interviews, I would recommend redoing his resume, and broadening his search geographically and in regards to job prospects. Being an econ major, he has some latitude to what he can apply for.

However, much of success in life does come down to luck. That's not to say you shouldn't do everything in your power to stack the deck in your favor, but shit happens to good people.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:54

\Bruh

In the long and short of the way this world works now, our parents and grandparents created this economic monster that eats all things, takes all liberties, and devours all pure souls.

Truthfully, there is no minor change or modification possible to value people more than status, money, or things. The only way to change this dynamic where the human being is valued more than the sum of his/her valuables is a large scale reset. If the clock resets to zero we get another chance at doing this thing we call life.

I feel for your friend, I too have gone through the over/under qualified for underpayment or dead-end opportunity.

E. Julius > yamahog
04/20/2015 at 12:54

Thanks. I guess I just happen to be unnaturally exposed to the CS types who are pretty much working anywhere and getting paid gobs doing whatever they want right now, so it’s tough to come back to “reality” I guess. I have a feeling things will get better as time goes on, but today is definitely a nadir.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:54

\Bruh

In the long and short of the way this world works now, our parents and grandparents created this economic monster that eats all things, takes all liberties, and devours all pure souls.

I feel for your friend, I too have gone through the over/under qualified for underpayment or dead-end opportunity.

Party-vi > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 12:56

A degree and a high GPA are wonderful for an entry level position, but useless when a company needs someone with experience.

I say your friend needs to take the dead end jobs to get money in the door and start their experience clock. Even shift manager at a dead end job is still a managerial experience.

I don’t know if it’s a situation of “I won’t take that job because I’m too good for it” or “I can’t take that job because it’s going to go nowhere”, but your friend needs a job. The only thing a degree tells an employer is that you can take notes and pass tests in their field. A degree is not a guarantee of how well you will perform on a job.

I was working a dead-end job going for my Bachelor degree when I was offered a career because of the way in which I performed my dead end job. I don’t have my Bachelor degree, but I have 8 years experience in project management. Two more years and I will be eligible for a six figure salary (depending on where I work). I’m 26. I have been extremely lucky in my professional life, but the luck would not have done me any good if I hadn’t gotten a job and applied myself there in the first place.

E. Julius > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
04/20/2015 at 12:59

In the long and short of the way this world works now, our parents and grandparents created this economic monster that eats all things, takes all liberties, and devours all pure souls.

Truth. Thanks for your kind words—at least nothing can ever take those away from us. It seems that the compassion of others is the only thing that can stop somebody from being utterly consumed by this system.

E. Julius > Party-vi
04/20/2015 at 13:02

I’m sure you’re right. Tough to see that sometimes because the only people who get all loud and shouty about their jobs are the people who scored “good” ones right off the bat. We’ll see what happens I guess.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:06

I have oft-described this as possessing an “indomitable spirit” and I view it as the most valuable asset a human being can own.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:06

Did they do any internships while at school? Really, in this economy you have to work the internship angle at college to get a foot in the door.

ly2v8-Brian > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:07

Sorry, you're not wrong. When I graduated with an AAS to be a mechanic. I found out quickly that degrees are worth about as much as the paper they are printed on. I could get NO WHERE because I had no experience. (doesn't help that this was at the worst point for the economy)

Snuze: Needs another Swede > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:07

It doesn’t sound like you’ve been handed your job on a silver platter - your dad got you a foot in the door but it sounds like you earned it. So don’t feel ashamed for the opportunity you’ve been given. But always remember it and one day, if you’re in the position to, pay it forward.

As for your friend, just keep encouraging them, it doesn’t sound like there’s much else you can do. But some kind words always help. When I graduated college in 2013 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, 6 years of related military service, and 2 internships with large research organizations, I still couldn’t find shit for work. A lot of the problem was the gov’t sequestration and shutdowns that year - it killed the market in DC which is where my wife and I wanted to stay due to her job. But it took me a year to find steady employment, in the meantime I worked odd jobs and did construction with my father. And even now, I’m probably underemployed and I really don’t like this job, I’ve got my feelers out looking for new work, but at least I’m working.

Likewise, I have a friend who graduated with me like me and couldn’t get work. In his case, though he was a very average student, didn’t have any extracurriculars or anything to help him stand out. But he took a job in a warehouse, doing all sorts of stuff from managing customer accounts to loading trucks, etc. He’s finally starting to get some interest from employers because of this job. Sometimes they just want to see that you can get and hold a job.

So just tell your friend to hang in there and keep trying. Things will turn around eventually.

E. Julius > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
04/20/2015 at 13:08

Wise words.

E. Julius > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
04/20/2015 at 13:09

Regrettably no, and more regrettably not much can be done about that now : /

E. Julius > Snuze: Needs another Swede
04/20/2015 at 13:12

Your first paragraph is definitely on point. It’s just tough because I know if this person could be given a similar opportunity they wouldn’t be in this position : /

Thanks for sharing your story and your friend’s story, it’s nice to hear how other people have dealt with similar situations. It really means a lot.

LongbowMkII > ly2v8-Brian
04/20/2015 at 13:15

Entry Level position! No degree required!*

*2 years experience minimum.

FUUUUU

ly2v8-Brian > LongbowMkII
04/20/2015 at 13:21

I know. It's even more fun to get told that in the interview.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:26

Ugh....I would tell them to start working their contacts but at their age they probably don’t have many. Where are they located?

E. Julius > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
04/20/2015 at 13:30

Yeah it’s tough. Professors and people like that don’t always know many people outside of academia, but hopefully something from the parents will yield something. Person in question is in Michigan.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 13:31

“On top of it all,”

You Called? Anyway, I’m not an engineer, so I feel the need to respond to this.

I may have been in a situation closer to your friend’s than your situation though. I had absolutely zero connection in the business world, no family connections (In my family, I was the first to finish high school, much less start and complete a college degree) so after school when I graduated back in the late 90’s, there was a mini recession . It was hard to get ANYTHING, much less what I was qualified to do. I took on multiple jobs just to get by and also to enable me to find better opportunities. I found myself slogging it out with the masses once again. So, what’s an educated guy to do? This situation wasn’t what I envisioned for myself while I was putting in those long hours of study. It wasn’t what I pictured when I was signing the dotted line for those goddamned student loans. Explaining to them that you can’tr pay the loans immediately after graduation because you need to pay rent and I dunno, eat, doesn’t help your feelings any at all.

For a while it made me question why I had bothered getting a degree when my friends that had just gone to work or the military instead of school, seemed to be doing so much better than me. It Sucked (yes, with a capital S) in ways I can’t even begin to describe. Some would say humbling, but honestly, the whole thing made me angry beyond description. I am not one to let anger eat me up. I used it as even more motivation. I consider anger to be self improvement fuel. We feel it for a reason, and that reason is to make things better, not to lash out on the world around us. There were moments though, I’ll admit it, that were less than ideal.

So, in the long run, I learned how to fuckin’ hustle with the best of ‘em, and after a long series of shitty jobs,I got to decent employment eventually. I didn’t do it alone. I had friends from college like me that weren’t connected either, but they could help by pointing out opportunities that they thought I would fit. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t, but I always learned from the experiences. The best thing you can do for your friend, is to be that friend to him. You can’t save him, and you shouldn’t or else he’ll learn nothing from where he is, BUT you can help by keeping an eye out for him. Sometimes all you need to pull yourself up is to know that someone else has your back, so you don’t have to worry about it getting stabbed.

E. Julius > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast.
04/20/2015 at 13:34

Wow, that was excellent. Thank you so much for this. Really helped me feel a lot better.

Confused Miata > E. Julius
04/20/2015 at 19:22

I feel this. I was lucky to start at a company where I make enough to support myself while going to school and get decent benefits. There's a lot of room for growth in the area I want to be in and the company is expanding. I suggest you friend finds a company he wants to work for and apply relentlessly even make friends with employees if possible. At the very least find something that will pay the bills while he searches. It's not all bad out there. Location has a huge impact too. Maybe relocation will do them some good.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > ly2v8-Brian
04/21/2015 at 08:33

Meanwhile I landed a summer job as an oil changer/inspector because my dad was the manager for the shop and I proved to the guys I could push a broom and change oil....Also this was like 2005 but still, no formal interview.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > yamahog
04/21/2015 at 08:35

I remember being in high school and heard both “Everyone needs to be an engineer! Engineering is ho you get a job!” and then “Don’t go into engineering! And especially avoid automotive! There’s too many!”. We had so many people in fact, that VAG left the detroit area because they couldn’t hire enough local talent and didn’t want to relocate so many skilled positions.

ly2v8-Brian > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
04/21/2015 at 09:30

Connections are so big right now.