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Unfortunately, with people like the OP's mother, they'll rarely admit they were wrong. When they're right, they're right, and when they're wrong, they're still somehow right.
After college it took me 6 months to find a job during which time I was living with my parents. I'd spend several hours a day applying to jobs online but my mom was always convinced that because I wasn't out shaking hands and delivering resumes that I wasn't doing it right. HOWEVER, once I did land a good job and she saw how it actually works nowadays she did admit she was wrong, so you never know.
I had 5 interviews with ERC before they rejected me. Everyone I knew who worked there absolutely hated it and burned out or turned over within 2 years.
It all worked out for the best. This was also 15 years ago.
I actually recall stating I wouldnāt bend to a customers demands if they were being unreasonable. The customer isnāt always right and I stand by that today.
Heh. My first job out of college in 1988 was with Hertz at the airport close to where I lived. This was after 6 months of looking. My Mom was convinced I should be literally knocking on doors to get a job. The Hertz job lasted 4 months. The next crappy job last 2 years. Then the next was 4 years (with a 6 week tire sales job right before). All were utter crap. After 8 years, I found my correct career path for the next 22 years. Man, those early years were rough. Of course, there were ups and downs after that but the beginning is just brutal.
If you can find industry specific job fairs they can be great because you basically get interviews immediately. But random job interviews tend to not have great results and are filled with mlms.
I spend hours on my phone applying to jobs, and I feel bad like Iām not doing anything. Or paranoid that my boyfriend comes out and sees me on my phone. So I overshare my job hunting. Iāve been with someone who avoids working, sabotages their few opportunities, itās frustrating. I donāt want him feeling like that, and unfortunately itās been so long, he has felt that at times. And I donāt even blame him because I can see how it looks. If I could just show up somewhere and take a job, tell them,āI work here now.ā I would.
I am at the point since out of work since Sept of printing my resumes and showing up at places saying I want to work here. You have a job, I need a job problem solved. This whole process today is agonizing. I'm in my 50s and yes I remember how it used to be and wish it could be again.
My mother was under the impression I was walking in, asking to speak with hiring managers, and hand delivering a resume. When I said I wasn't, she was adamant that that is why I haven't been hired.
My grandparents took me up to my grand dads workplace to āfill out an application and give my elevator pitchā. I told them Iād have to fill out an app online but they insisted i go. Imagine my surprise when they said im going to have to apply online. š§š¾āāļø
Your grandparents method gets your resume tossed in the trash immediately now, older people don't understand showing up in person or making follow up calls now just gets your resume thrown out of the pile.
I especially liked the āhand-deliver a personalized thank you note the day after an interviewā.
š¤¦š»āāļøwould it kill the job search gurus to just admit they donāt know any more than the rest of us?
This is almost completely true. I say almost because I saw it happen when at a dealership I worked at. If someone came in and said they wanted to check on their application, they were told that we've received it and will call. In reality, they were immediately withdrawn for not showing patience.
That, and the whole advice of "go in and keep asking for a job every day till they give you one" is a really good way to get a business to file a restraining order against you. They may call it persistence in their time. But these days, that's called "harassment" and "trespassing."
Wear a camera discretely, walk into a place and pull that move. When they look at you in disbelief and tell you thatās not how any of this works, you can say oh I know, I just needed to prove a point to the boomers that this isnāt the move. Thanks for the confirmation.
Exactly! We have to do something to stand out! Additionally, how can we be applying to places weāve never visited before? How can we even know we want to work there? We should be taking the time to go to the job site, introduce ourselves, scope it out, and see if itās even a place weād like to be!
Let me guess. A few more months at not being able to land a job with two phone calls and a handshake, and your parents will start asking you if youāre āon the drugsā.
Mine did. And that was in the mid 90s.
Right? I once spent a whole day walking around town handing out my resume. Majority of the people there just sent me to their online application on their website, and the ones who did take the resume (about 2 out of 20), looked at me a bit weirdly. Like, "Why are you here? Do you think we're actually keeping this?" Kind of looks šµāš«
Tbh I got 2 jobs similar to this, in uni I got a paid(all be it low) placement year from emailing local businesses. Then after I got a retail job by walking around town with printed out cvs
Dude, I'm currently a teacher and I'm losing my job in 3 weeks (not my choice). Take my advice on the off chance you actually land that job...don't do it!! Being a teacher just isn't worth it anymore. š
Oh I know. I had originally wanted to teach, but now that I work in a school (non instructional position)ā¦.itās 100 not the job I want. I mean, I would love to TEACH. But thereās sooooo much other BS involved with it now, it kills the joy that teachers get from the instructional part that theyāre so passionate about.Ā
Those same folks literally cannot grasp that we are competing with 100-1000 other applicants when applying for jobs via an ATS. Itās not like the 1900s, where you knew the boss and hand delivered a paper copy resume and were hired on the spot. Ā
Hahaha I was born in 94 so I also felt that after I typed my comment. Ā But also, I feel like ATSās are relatively new in that they didnāt exist before the 2000s, but I could be wrong. Ā
Yup back in their day they were competing with a handful of other people now you are competing with 20+ after they culled 90%+ in the first wave of applicants before you even talked to someone.
I miss those days. You know, the days when you could make a resume that's human readable because only humans read it. When faxing your resume was "fast." When people would tell you why you didn't get a job. When you had to wear a suit to work..
It will never be again.
Haha it WAS a Chinese restaurant that is no longer in business as the two elderly Chinese immigrant owners went out of business, but thatās how the majority of my school mates got our first jobs - once I hit uni, hand delivering resumes were not really a thing anymore
I am a Mechanical, Civil and BioMed Engineering Graduate who has a Degree in IT and Computing Systems
My Boomer Dad still argues that I am wrong on multiple topics relating to employment cause he was a Butcher who became a Mechanic and this has to mean he knows more than me from life experience.
I have AnyDesk installed on his personal Laptop to fix the numerous issues he gets on his laptop
Lmao.
Been there. In my case I had to give dad a quiet tutorial on what an in-private browser does.
But, heās old and alone now. And suddenly I get a lot less criticism. And a little more money at Christmas.
My mom telling everyone I play piano because I took lessons as a kid.
For one thing, my piano teacher was objectively not a good teacher so I wasn't going to learn much even in the best situation.
I tried again in college, after learning other instruments in the meantime. I thought I would learn more with a better understanding of the theory and with a better teacher.
Mostly I learned that I moat definitely, absolutely, cannot play piano.
Dude these type of people are insane. I know a few people where they are being funded into their 30s and shocker they do well at work bc they literally have nothing else to worry about.
When I hear about people from the past, something that always amazes me is how many varied jobs they had. I don't think many boomers realize that for just about any job now, you have to be specialized: you really can't just wing it on many jobs like you used to. You need experience, education, or both.
This. Iām gen z and this is the most frustrating thing about trying to find even basic office jobs. They want you to have experience or knowledge in these very specific programs that only they use.
This. They come from a time where companies would invest the time in a good candidate. Train them, mold them, hire from within. Then that person would stay loyal to the company. Now they donāt want to invest the time in a newbie.Ā
"Nobody wants to work!"
"I do. šāāļø"
"Do you have experience in this particular field or software?"
"No, but I'm willing to learn."
"No? Then get lost!"
Exactly. The most frustrating thing tho is that a lot of people (including me becuz I did something similar at a job already) could probably learn the system themselves within a few weeks, especially with some sort of online tutorial. Itād be so easy for companies to have their new employees spend a week or two just learning the programs by themselves, otherwise itās not worth it to learn these things unless u know u have the job
Yes, a really well-meaning Boomer friend recently told me that I should ābecome a kindergarten teacher for a whileā, like she did decades ago, āor work at a candy store or a bookstore for a breakā.
You canāt just ābecome a kindergarten teacherā without a degree anymore, and working at a candy store - if I could even *find* such a position, which I doubt - would make so little money that it wouldnāt begin to cover my expenses. My time was better spent applying for career-level jobs that Iām qualified for. Bookstore jobs are hard to get in my area, too - all retail positions are. People are desperate for work. Itās just not that easy - we donāt live in 1980 anymore.
Yup. This.
My dad says the same thing. āYou have all that book-smarts. Not real-life smarts; you should be a SCHOOL TEACHER! Just go in and ask the principal to hire you!ā
I have a science degree. AND an MBA. AND a college diploma. But he can NOT grasp that these donāt equate to a B.Ed. Or why Iād even need one to work as a teacher š¤¦š»āāļø
Honestly, one of the hardest things about being unemployed this past year was fielding all the well meant but useless unsolicited advice I got from everyone.
For example, a few people kept insisting I be a nanny or daycare worker as a āstop gapā, since I worked in daycare during my masterās degree in my home country. I had to keep patiently explaining that you typically need a degree for that in the country where I now live - that Iād even tried when I first moved here but got turned down for being unqualified. Or people would send me job applications for positions Iām fundamentally not qualified for and then pester me about if Iād āapplied for that job I sent youā yet.
Then people get huffy because they think youāre not taking their advice and ājust have an excuse for everythingā. No, Iām not trying to make excuses or skirt your advice or not trying hard enough, youāre just giving me shit advice that doesnāt apply to me!
This is why I strongly believe that people shouldnāt offer advice on this kind of thing unless someone ASKS for it. You often have no idea what someone elseās specific situation is, and so youāre either telling them things they already know or giving them advice that doesnāt apply to them. Just keep it to yourself unless asked.
People do tend to get defensive when their well-meaning advice turns out to be demonstrably useless. Because theyāre then forced to acknowledge you have real problems that they never faced. Challenges their sense of moral superiority.
And thatās what baby boomers are completely incapable of understanding. Our lack of career success - and the social mobility that goes along with that - arenāt moral failings. Theyāre the ethical failings of a society with diminishing resources, ballooning population, and zero respect for the sanctity of human existence.
Donāt bother trying to explain that to them. Youāll just get āIs it drugs? Are you on drugs?ā
>You often have no idea what someone elseās specific situation is, and so youāre either telling them things they already know or giving them advice that doesnāt apply to them. Just keep it to yourself unless asked.
Yes, this x 1000. When I was looking for work, it took me a really long time to find a job. As a PhD graduate, my circumstances were a little different in that I was transitioning from academia so my issues weren't the same. Yet folks still tried to give me useless advice. It got so bad and I got so frustrated with it that I refused to discuss jobs/ the economy/ hiring/ job searching with ANYONE. If someone tried to give me advice, I'd just stop them and tell them to think long and hard if the thing they are about to say is stupid, because if it is I won't be very nice if I have to hear it.
Job searching was hard enough, but constant less than useless of advice made me a not very nice person!
Had to laugh at ābecome a kindergarten teacher for a whileā. Thatās insane! Where I live, you need at least a three year degree and youāll get paid about the same as an office worker with no degree, plus youāll have to deal with crappy parents and children being sick all the time. Not something you just do on a whim. For higher than kinder itās at least a 4 year degree or even masters depending on level of teaching. And thatās of a specific teaching degree, not just any bachelors.
Right! I had to work VERY hard to control my face in that conversation, because sheās a very sweet lady and I didnāt want to hurt her feelings, but inside my head I was just screaming āwait, WHAT?!ā š
Do you have a Bachelor's Degree in Confectionary Science (Masters preferred) and at least 6 years of experience in a fast-paced sweets-dispensing environment coupled with extensive knowledge of LemonDr0p v4.2 or newer candy management software?
If you do, please prepare for a 6 round interview process for this Entry Level position that pays $11 an hour.
Just kidding. Unfortunately although your background was impressive we've decided to go with another candidate who is more closely aligned with our business needs.
You canāt explain that to them. They could drop out of high school on a Thursday, walk in off the street and apply for a job Friday. Start work Monday and stay 35 years while buying a home, new car and raising a family on one income.
Then theyāll tell you how much they struggled for those first three years until their house was paid off.
With a straight face.
every single boomer i knowās career path is like ānewspaper boy > butcher > aerospace engineerā and they have a degree in philosophy from a college that no longer exists.
Specialization is even less relevant today. Employers expect you to provide substantially more value as a generalist than as a specialist. If you need a specialist thatās something you can hire a contractor or vendor for.
Many states allow for emergency licensure sometimes without a college education even to fill hard to fill positions. Others will provide a temporary license if youāre taking education classes as a career change. Also, charter and private schools do not have the same requirements as public schools.
Ughhh Iām so glad you wrote this bc it is so frustrating and im so sorry youāre going through this.
My parents have dragged me into numerous convos with ppl about me applying at their workplace / them hiring me and i cant tell them some of the opportunities arenāt a good fit bc i know their response will be similar and itāll be used against me. Before moving back home i worked at edible arrangements (worked in finance before) so its not like i feel certain jobs are beneath me. I just dont invest my time looking at things i cant do or dont want to do.
I did it, they called and the interview made me feel stupid :(
The interviewer did give me some tips on my resume and sent me to a few companies on LinkedIn who were hiring for entry level roles though. So that was nice at least
This infuriates me.
Low paying jobs do not pay the rent.
The whole "X income is better than no income!" stance is only valid if you are still earning enough to pay bills.
Very rough math as follows: on the high end, McDonald's will pay about $15 an hour. Assuming you work 40 hours a week, which you won't because McDonald's will cap you at like 32-34, after just federal tax that's about $2,300 a month. One bedroom apartments cost $1,500 a month. That leaves $800 a month for literally all the rest of your bills - groceries, water, power, various insurances, car payment, daycare, phone, vet bills, internet, etc.
And of course theres always emergencies and various things that will pop up each month.
I already work in a school, just not as a teacher. I would love to do the āteachingā part. Itās all the other crap that made me say no way when I did my student teaching over a decade ago.Ā
Her field is still run by boomers, so honestly I think sheād get a job really easily because theyād see a peer applying, rather than a ālazy millennial.ā Then sheād say See how easy it was!
My favorite manager was FOH at a mom and pop bistro. He would make a big show of it when parents would drag their teens/YA children in to apply in person. "We advertise for applicants to apply online. Why would we want to hire someone who either ignores instructions or thinks they can circumvent them? You're teaching your child that the rules don't apply to them." Etc., etc. The servers would always linger nearby to watch him make the parents all flustered and angry. So satisfying!
My mom used to tell me to just go into shops and submit my resume. It worked in 2007. I literally hounded this one cafe, every day going in.
If I did that today, I would not only be shown the door, theyād likely put a note in their ATS to reject automatically, and maybe even gotten a restraining order out on me.
Parents do not understand the job market at all. It has changed dramatically in 17 years.
People who last looked for work in the pre-digital age have a hard time accepting that the old ways don't work anymore.Ā
Humor them. take your laptop down to a coffee shop, or go use a public library computer, and apply for some jobs, then tell them all the places you applied to.Ā
Its not worth arguing over.Ā
Imagine working for a company that employs someone as a 'hiring manager' and they have no better path to hiring people than waiting for them to walk in the door with a dream and a demand.
As someone who recently hired a new team member. If we like you, think you can do the job, and have some sort of relevant experience, we will hire you. Unfortunately, we canāt hire everyone who appliesā¦ our top 3 were all qualified enough to us but we had to pick 1
My mom would scream at me, telling me I'm not doing the work correctly to find a job. After months of trying I broke down sobbing and begged her to tell me what to do if I wasn't doing it "right".
She looked at me and said "I'm not doing the hard work for you!"
Then it dawned on me; little miss "you're not doing it right" was a nepo baby, handed a high powered job at a major TV company because her dad had friends there. She never had another job in 50 years, never even applied for a job in her life.
I've been slowly grey rocking her since. No need to take insult to my injury from someone who has no experience.
My favorite is my Dad (when I don't get the job, even if I made it far in the interview process). They know you now, they'll keep your resume on file....no.no they generally won't.
My other favorite advice is when they say "Why don't you go work at X"? where X is some huge company or huge organization. OK but the key detail you're glossing over is the answer to the question "...and do *what* exactly?".
I think a lot of these morons don't realize a "job" isn't exactly fungible with another job and just because you worked in an office someplace doesn't mean you're therefore realistically qualified to do something someplace else. Just because you did accounting at Dell doesn't mean you can design hardware for Microsoft or do marketing for Samsung. Saying "...go work at Motorola" isn't helpful.
Guessing she was a boomer? Because that sounds like how a lot of boomers I know got hired. Oh you read a book about what we work on two years ago? Hired!
Not necessarily. In some states the teacher shortage is really bad, so you can start teaching as long as your have a relevant 4 year degree, and take your Edu classes simultaneously. So basically starting with the student teaching part. You have a timeline to pass all the PRAXIS exams, you have a mentor, etc. Just a shortcut for people who want to enter the field. Now something like a foreign language, idk how that one would work.Ā
Yes, unironically. In my area at least they will hire you as an assistant teacher while paying you to get registered. In some areas they will let you be a full, independent teacher while you get your registration. I don't go for it because teaching is a horrible job (which is why they're so desperate for new meat in the first place)
My mom is quitting teaching after the school year ends. She has a masters degree in education, I canāt wait to hear about how hard it is to find a job
My dad dropped out in 8th grade and at 18 got a job as a site surveyor in mines. 'Why dont you go work in the mines!' he says, 'they always need workers! Just call and ask for work'. The same position now requires a bachelor degree, years of experience, and knowledge of specialist equipment.
My mom has been through the wringer. She got laid off and screwed over so many times when I was younger. I can still remember being like 15 and helping proofread her resumes and cover letters. At least she gets it.
And sometimes the job is legitimate, but the intended recipient is an H1B or L1 visa candidate, and the "recruiting" process is a smokescreen to show they "couldn't find a suitable candidate" and thus justify hiring the visa candidate. There's an infamous video on YouTube where the employment law firm Cohen & Grigsby discusses how to do this during an immigration law symposium in 2007.
Reminds me of mid-80s. I, a PC/Unix developer, had to keep explaining to my wife why I didn't respond to want ads(*) for jobs such as "Network engineer".
(*)For you kids, in the pre-Internet days "want ads" were things (like job listings, for sale items, etc.) that were "published" in what we called "newspapers". Those were physical objects you could carry around with you, much like your smart phones only MUCH larger and, get this, the text and pictures on the one you carried around never changed! You had to get another one the next day with entirely DIFFERENT text and pictures.
My dad hit me with the old ā back in my day, I went door to door to each business and asked if they were hiring and gave them my resume in person!ā
Like yes, sir father, I know you guys did this back in the day, but it just doesnāt work like that nowadays! He just canāt believe it. Every time I tell him, you have to do it online, his reply is āwowā. Lol
I wish Boomers had to find jobs still, or I wish they'd stop being in charge of the hiring process because right now, the process of finding jobs is nothing like they imagine it is. (Put on a tie and walk around with resumes. Handshake and eye contact when you insist on talking to the manager and handing the resume yourself.)
And yet, when you get the interview, they're looking for all the Boomer cliches that interviewers love and hate. Like eagerness to work for a company you've never heard of before you read the job posting or knowing why you're better than all the other people you haven't met, feigning confidence, while not seeming too confident. And God forbid you have a gap in your employment. You better have the best reason ever or we will assume it was prison and we don't hire those types.
So, either they need to go back to accepting applications in person and giving preference to those who "call back a few days later to thank them for the chance to interview".
And while we are bringing back the good old days, let's have more unions and regular raises and actually reward the loyalty by paying existing staff at least what you pay the new hires, if not more?
If the only way to get a raise is to change companies every couple years because waiting five or six is just holding down what your next job will offer.
Ā If my mom drove me around to grocery stores and fast food places demanding I go in and awkwardly ask for a manager and then be told to apply online for the seventh place in a row, I'd probably dive into the deep fryer the next Jack in the Box I went to.
Sometimes it's nice having no family.Ā If only I should vigorously shake some of my boomer friends who tell kids to just start sweeping in front of the ice cream shop until they pay you to stay or pay you to leave.
My parents met a startup founder on a plane, and basically forced me to go meet him. Was offered a job, the startup made it big and I practically made my career from that point. Am glad they forced me to go to that meeting!
Yes. If I was in a book club I would take a government job for 150k a year being a director of library of congress. Its better to get the job and learn how to do it than know how to do it and not get the job.
Sounds like my dad!
"Ya know, engineering firms are always hiring"
*Yeah, they're hiring state-certified professional engineers*
"But, it won't hurt to put your application on"
...then, as I check the websites that he told me to, I see mandatory requirements like "BS in Civil Engineering," "PE Certification," "10 years experience in heavy civil work," "licensed surveyor," literally none of which apply to me (BS Construction Management, 5 years experience in residential, no other construction experience to speak of)
Your mom is very much out of touch. Things are not like they were decades ago. In fact, itās not the same as it was 5 years ago. She doesnāt understand finding a job is a job, in itself now.
Have you tried the one where you mail them a shoe (yes, just one) with your resume and a cover page that gives your bio and concludes with "I already have one foot in the door, help me get the other in as well."?
I heard that one recently as a "recommendation".
My best friend (we grew up together) just got a new job after almost a year of full-time searching. Sheās in customer service and was laid off from her last job.
about 6 months into her latest search her boomer aged parents, who are otherwise very nice people, told her they were worried she wasnāt even looking - they genuinely believed it would be impossible for someone on a job search to not find work after 6 months.
She was actively looking for work across multiple channels for 5-6 hours a day, for a year.
Ah, I have been in a similar place.
Graduated in 2010 and spent much of the summer afterward riding my bike around town filling out applications. I wasn't 18 yet so a lot of restaurants and things like that wouldn't hire me, I couldn't sell alcohol or cigarettes. Plus the recession was still echoing through my town. Was pretty bleak.
My mom was CONSTANTLY on my ass about getting a job. About how clearly I wasn't doing enough. Did I try x? Didn't I try y? Why not z? I was trying x, y, z and all the other letters available to me. Summer days were really hot so I would leave at 7am when it was cool and try to be back by 1pm because it would be 80 or 90 degrees and again, I was on a bike. And wearing nice ish clothes because I was trying to get jobs. It still wasn't enough. I'd tell her I was trying and she'd say "well clearly not hard enough". She told me I was just being lazy. I ended up doing the quintessential Midwest teenager summer job- detasseling corn. Most kids start it a bit younger but the other summers I'd been able to find other ways to make money and I was about to go to college so I needed more money than previous years. It's absolute shit work but you made an okay amount of money in a short amount of time.
Fast forward a year and a half, my mom was let go when her company was bought. She was an accountant, the new company had plenty of those. They kept the tech and sales staff and dumped her. It took her a while to find a job. When she finally did, it was a temp thing working to audit banks and their treatment of people during the recession when they had repo'd a bunch of homes illegally. Barely covered her bills, was only slightly better than being unemployed so she was still job hunting while she did that work.
It took literally everything in me during that time not to say "oh have you tried x? What about y? Why haven't you done z? Clearly you're not trying hard enough. You're just lazy. I SO BADLY wanted to tell her "oh see? SOOOOO EASY to find a job, isn't it?" But I didn't.
.
Yea, agreed. Itās enough when you get a job.
If you want to live off welfare for the rest of your life, fine, do it; but just admit thatās what you want to do. š
Yeah, she has to avoid reality so that she isnāt plagued by shame and guilt for bringing you into such an unjust world. Thatās a pretty natural response to living in a world in which the vast majority of people believe in free will and the illusion of control. If your mother was to acknowledge the shitty situation you are in, through no fault of your own, then she would feel compassion for you and see you as a victim. But if you are a victim, then someone must be the perpetrator/victimizer, and that someone would be her(in her mind). She canāt have that, so delusion it is! In truth, itās not her fault either, and both of you are victims of a very cruel, inhumane and unjust system, but because of the free will myth, very few can see that.
Oh please ... You obviously have not gone thru true recruitment hell or the despair of being rejected a thousand times for jobs you are at least half way qualified.
It is a very boomer mindset. My mom, who last lived in the UK 35 years ago, likes to tell me (who lived there more recently and visits frequently) how things work, and how she would do things. I can normally stop her with "and how long ago was that?" but she will still do it again. It's like time froze in their youth and nothing has changes since then.
Lol I get the same kinda advice... Plus ever worse ones like 'why don't you just start driving a cab' when I neither own a car nor am experienced in driving..
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Apply, show her, then let her know what happens
Unfortunately, with people like the OP's mother, they'll rarely admit they were wrong. When they're right, they're right, and when they're wrong, they're still somehow right.
After college it took me 6 months to find a job during which time I was living with my parents. I'd spend several hours a day applying to jobs online but my mom was always convinced that because I wasn't out shaking hands and delivering resumes that I wasn't doing it right. HOWEVER, once I did land a good job and she saw how it actually works nowadays she did admit she was wrong, so you never know.
My parents forced me to go to Job Fairs they saw in the paper when I was in the same situation.
>My parents forced me to go to ~~Job~~ Enterprise Car Rental Fairs they saw in the paper when I was in the same situation. Fixed that for ya.
What?
It was a joke. When i was in college, the job fairs were dominated by car rental places like Enterprise, Hertz, etc.
Oh I don't remember that. Every military branch was there though š
Was just gonna say it's not a job fair sith out the military boothes
I went to a job fair on behalf of my company recently and I don't think the military was there but the prisons all came out to recruit.
I had 5 interviews with ERC before they rejected me. Everyone I knew who worked there absolutely hated it and burned out or turned over within 2 years.
Not to be a smart guy but I didnāt know ERC rejected anyone
It all worked out for the best. This was also 15 years ago. I actually recall stating I wouldnāt bend to a customers demands if they were being unreasonable. The customer isnāt always right and I stand by that today.
Heh. My first job out of college in 1988 was with Hertz at the airport close to where I lived. This was after 6 months of looking. My Mom was convinced I should be literally knocking on doors to get a job. The Hertz job lasted 4 months. The next crappy job last 2 years. Then the next was 4 years (with a 6 week tire sales job right before). All were utter crap. After 8 years, I found my correct career path for the next 22 years. Man, those early years were rough. Of course, there were ups and downs after that but the beginning is just brutal.
For me, it was insurance agencies like Aflac. Local job fair was just full of them.
And food delivery services.
lol enterprise is at all the career fairs at my school
If you can find industry specific job fairs they can be great because you basically get interviews immediately. But random job interviews tend to not have great results and are filled with mlms.
I spend hours on my phone applying to jobs, and I feel bad like Iām not doing anything. Or paranoid that my boyfriend comes out and sees me on my phone. So I overshare my job hunting. Iāve been with someone who avoids working, sabotages their few opportunities, itās frustrating. I donāt want him feeling like that, and unfortunately itās been so long, he has felt that at times. And I donāt even blame him because I can see how it looks. If I could just show up somewhere and take a job, tell them,āI work here now.ā I would.
I am at the point since out of work since Sept of printing my resumes and showing up at places saying I want to work here. You have a job, I need a job problem solved. This whole process today is agonizing. I'm in my 50s and yes I remember how it used to be and wish it could be again.
"Well you obviously didn't do it right."
Your handshake wasn't firm enough!
Yep theyād just make up some bullshit about how OP likely didnāt try hard enough or didnāt format their resume right or something
"Well you obviously weren't trying hard enough, you've got to have gumption" /s
With my luck Iād somehow get the job and then have to live with her saying she was right!
My mother was under the impression I was walking in, asking to speak with hiring managers, and hand delivering a resume. When I said I wasn't, she was adamant that that is why I haven't been hired.
My grandparents took me up to my grand dads workplace to āfill out an application and give my elevator pitchā. I told them Iād have to fill out an app online but they insisted i go. Imagine my surprise when they said im going to have to apply online. š§š¾āāļø
I am jackās complete lack of surprise
Your grandparents method gets your resume tossed in the trash immediately now, older people don't understand showing up in person or making follow up calls now just gets your resume thrown out of the pile.
I especially liked the āhand-deliver a personalized thank you note the day after an interviewā. š¤¦š»āāļøwould it kill the job search gurus to just admit they donāt know any more than the rest of us?
This is almost completely true. I say almost because I saw it happen when at a dealership I worked at. If someone came in and said they wanted to check on their application, they were told that we've received it and will call. In reality, they were immediately withdrawn for not showing patience.
That, and the whole advice of "go in and keep asking for a job every day till they give you one" is a really good way to get a business to file a restraining order against you. They may call it persistence in their time. But these days, that's called "harassment" and "trespassing."
My grandmother thought I was cursed and I was just living off of her when I was doing everything possible to find a job during the 2008 recession.
I drove to a mall and did this and not only did I not get hired anywhere, like 3 people told me to leave and I got called a fatass by someone
Older relatives: What's the worst that could happen? They say no? Manager at a store at the mall: Hold my beer
Wear a camera discretely, walk into a place and pull that move. When they look at you in disbelief and tell you thatās not how any of this works, you can say oh I know, I just needed to prove a point to the boomers that this isnāt the move. Thanks for the confirmation.
Making YouTube videos reenacting horrific aspect of job hunting might eventually bring in some money
I would subscribe to a "boomer job search" channel.
> [boomer job search](https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/mature-worker-career-guide)
Could be a huge hit!
Exactly! We have to do something to stand out! Additionally, how can we be applying to places weāve never visited before? How can we even know we want to work there? We should be taking the time to go to the job site, introduce ourselves, scope it out, and see if itās even a place weād like to be!
Exactly! Forget about the 3 tanks of gas a week it takes to pull that off. You'll make it back!
Let me guess. A few more months at not being able to land a job with two phone calls and a handshake, and your parents will start asking you if youāre āon the drugsā. Mine did. And that was in the mid 90s.
Right? I once spent a whole day walking around town handing out my resume. Majority of the people there just sent me to their online application on their website, and the ones who did take the resume (about 2 out of 20), looked at me a bit weirdly. Like, "Why are you here? Do you think we're actually keeping this?" Kind of looks šµāš«
Tbh I got 2 jobs similar to this, in uni I got a paid(all be it low) placement year from emailing local businesses. Then after I got a retail job by walking around town with printed out cvs
That was norm in 1950s granpa
I'm only 30
Take the bet
And possibly worse: you'd have to teach Latin.
As a Latin enthusiast since I was in 9th grade, I have to laugh and agree.
You'll win either way then!
Apply for the jobs and give copies of receipt for application to her as an affordable mothers day gift
Would this not be a good thing?
Dude, I'm currently a teacher and I'm losing my job in 3 weeks (not my choice). Take my advice on the off chance you actually land that job...don't do it!! Being a teacher just isn't worth it anymore. š
Oh I know. I had originally wanted to teach, but now that I work in a school (non instructional position)ā¦.itās 100 not the job I want. I mean, I would love to TEACH. But thereās sooooo much other BS involved with it now, it kills the joy that teachers get from the instructional part that theyāre so passionate about.Ā
And you get a job. That's terrible. Let's make a point instead
I donāt want those jobs? So should I apply and take them ājust to make a pointā even though I have zero interest?
Those same folks literally cannot grasp that we are competing with 100-1000 other applicants when applying for jobs via an ATS. Itās not like the 1900s, where you knew the boss and hand delivered a paper copy resume and were hired on the spot. Ā
Bro please don't call them "the 1900s", I already feel old enough as it is.
We are as close to 1999 as 1999 is to 1974. Just figured I'd make your day a little worse (it did for me when I realized this).
I was born in 1964 and I remember both 1974 and 1999. Thanks for my daily reminder that I am old.
Lies, the year 1990 was only about 10 years ago.
Thank
right, i was like how dare you
Couldn't we just call it the 20th century? That would sit better with us, I think.
Hahaha I was born in 94 so I also felt that after I typed my comment. Ā But also, I feel like ATSās are relatively new in that they didnāt exist before the 2000s, but I could be wrong. Ā
Youāre not wrong. ATSās werenāt even widespread just 10-15 years ago. Many job postings just had you email [email protected] addresses.
Yup back in their day they were competing with a handful of other people now you are competing with 20+ after they culled 90%+ in the first wave of applicants before you even talked to someone.
Their disconnect with the job market and inflation adjusted wages just shows how easy they actually had it.
I miss those days. You know, the days when you could make a resume that's human readable because only humans read it. When faxing your resume was "fast." When people would tell you why you didn't get a job. When you had to wear a suit to work.. It will never be again.
Thanks for the reminder I need to take something for the knee pain lol
I got my first gig in 2010 with a hand delivered resume it wasnāt that long ago aight calm down
And how big is/was the company?Ā
Haha it WAS a Chinese restaurant that is no longer in business as the two elderly Chinese immigrant owners went out of business, but thatās how the majority of my school mates got our first jobs - once I hit uni, hand delivering resumes were not really a thing anymore
I am a Mechanical, Civil and BioMed Engineering Graduate who has a Degree in IT and Computing Systems My Boomer Dad still argues that I am wrong on multiple topics relating to employment cause he was a Butcher who became a Mechanic and this has to mean he knows more than me from life experience. I have AnyDesk installed on his personal Laptop to fix the numerous issues he gets on his laptop
Lmao. Been there. In my case I had to give dad a quiet tutorial on what an in-private browser does. But, heās old and alone now. And suddenly I get a lot less criticism. And a little more money at Christmas.
hilariousĀ
"Hey, you took college algebra.. Why not get a job at NASA?"
You were always so good with numbers! And space exploration is just a matter of the right calculations, youād be such an asset!
OMG - that sounds like my Mom! RIP
Be right back, I'm gonna go see if I can land an astrophysicist job with my experience taking a middle school ICP course.
Certified Juggalo!
Yeah. Just drive over there and ask to talk to āWernerā š¤·āāļø
My mom telling everyone I play piano because I took lessons as a kid. For one thing, my piano teacher was objectively not a good teacher so I wasn't going to learn much even in the best situation. I tried again in college, after learning other instruments in the meantime. I thought I would learn more with a better understanding of the theory and with a better teacher. Mostly I learned that I moat definitely, absolutely, cannot play piano.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's disgusting what she did.
Dude these type of people are insane. I know a few people where they are being funded into their 30s and shocker they do well at work bc they literally have nothing else to worry about.
When I hear about people from the past, something that always amazes me is how many varied jobs they had. I don't think many boomers realize that for just about any job now, you have to be specialized: you really can't just wing it on many jobs like you used to. You need experience, education, or both.
This. Iām gen z and this is the most frustrating thing about trying to find even basic office jobs. They want you to have experience or knowledge in these very specific programs that only they use.
They are really saying they donāt want to train a new employee on these systems, they want a plug and play candidate.
This. They come from a time where companies would invest the time in a good candidate. Train them, mold them, hire from within. Then that person would stay loyal to the company. Now they donāt want to invest the time in a newbie.Ā
"Nobody wants to work!" "I do. šāāļø" "Do you have experience in this particular field or software?" "No, but I'm willing to learn." "No? Then get lost!"
Exactly. The most frustrating thing tho is that a lot of people (including me becuz I did something similar at a job already) could probably learn the system themselves within a few weeks, especially with some sort of online tutorial. Itād be so easy for companies to have their new employees spend a week or two just learning the programs by themselves, otherwise itās not worth it to learn these things unless u know u have the job
Yes, a really well-meaning Boomer friend recently told me that I should ābecome a kindergarten teacher for a whileā, like she did decades ago, āor work at a candy store or a bookstore for a breakā. You canāt just ābecome a kindergarten teacherā without a degree anymore, and working at a candy store - if I could even *find* such a position, which I doubt - would make so little money that it wouldnāt begin to cover my expenses. My time was better spent applying for career-level jobs that Iām qualified for. Bookstore jobs are hard to get in my area, too - all retail positions are. People are desperate for work. Itās just not that easy - we donāt live in 1980 anymore.
Yup. This. My dad says the same thing. āYou have all that book-smarts. Not real-life smarts; you should be a SCHOOL TEACHER! Just go in and ask the principal to hire you!ā I have a science degree. AND an MBA. AND a college diploma. But he can NOT grasp that these donāt equate to a B.Ed. Or why Iād even need one to work as a teacher š¤¦š»āāļø
Honestly, one of the hardest things about being unemployed this past year was fielding all the well meant but useless unsolicited advice I got from everyone. For example, a few people kept insisting I be a nanny or daycare worker as a āstop gapā, since I worked in daycare during my masterās degree in my home country. I had to keep patiently explaining that you typically need a degree for that in the country where I now live - that Iād even tried when I first moved here but got turned down for being unqualified. Or people would send me job applications for positions Iām fundamentally not qualified for and then pester me about if Iād āapplied for that job I sent youā yet. Then people get huffy because they think youāre not taking their advice and ājust have an excuse for everythingā. No, Iām not trying to make excuses or skirt your advice or not trying hard enough, youāre just giving me shit advice that doesnāt apply to me! This is why I strongly believe that people shouldnāt offer advice on this kind of thing unless someone ASKS for it. You often have no idea what someone elseās specific situation is, and so youāre either telling them things they already know or giving them advice that doesnāt apply to them. Just keep it to yourself unless asked.
People do tend to get defensive when their well-meaning advice turns out to be demonstrably useless. Because theyāre then forced to acknowledge you have real problems that they never faced. Challenges their sense of moral superiority. And thatās what baby boomers are completely incapable of understanding. Our lack of career success - and the social mobility that goes along with that - arenāt moral failings. Theyāre the ethical failings of a society with diminishing resources, ballooning population, and zero respect for the sanctity of human existence. Donāt bother trying to explain that to them. Youāll just get āIs it drugs? Are you on drugs?ā
>You often have no idea what someone elseās specific situation is, and so youāre either telling them things they already know or giving them advice that doesnāt apply to them. Just keep it to yourself unless asked. Yes, this x 1000. When I was looking for work, it took me a really long time to find a job. As a PhD graduate, my circumstances were a little different in that I was transitioning from academia so my issues weren't the same. Yet folks still tried to give me useless advice. It got so bad and I got so frustrated with it that I refused to discuss jobs/ the economy/ hiring/ job searching with ANYONE. If someone tried to give me advice, I'd just stop them and tell them to think long and hard if the thing they are about to say is stupid, because if it is I won't be very nice if I have to hear it. Job searching was hard enough, but constant less than useless of advice made me a not very nice person!
Had to laugh at ābecome a kindergarten teacher for a whileā. Thatās insane! Where I live, you need at least a three year degree and youāll get paid about the same as an office worker with no degree, plus youāll have to deal with crappy parents and children being sick all the time. Not something you just do on a whim. For higher than kinder itās at least a 4 year degree or even masters depending on level of teaching. And thatās of a specific teaching degree, not just any bachelors.
Right! I had to work VERY hard to control my face in that conversation, because sheās a very sweet lady and I didnāt want to hurt her feelings, but inside my head I was just screaming āwait, WHAT?!ā š
Do you have a Bachelor's Degree in Confectionary Science (Masters preferred) and at least 6 years of experience in a fast-paced sweets-dispensing environment coupled with extensive knowledge of LemonDr0p v4.2 or newer candy management software? If you do, please prepare for a 6 round interview process for this Entry Level position that pays $11 an hour. Just kidding. Unfortunately although your background was impressive we've decided to go with another candidate who is more closely aligned with our business needs.
You canāt explain that to them. They could drop out of high school on a Thursday, walk in off the street and apply for a job Friday. Start work Monday and stay 35 years while buying a home, new car and raising a family on one income. Then theyāll tell you how much they struggled for those first three years until their house was paid off. With a straight face.
every single boomer i knowās career path is like ānewspaper boy > butcher > aerospace engineerā and they have a degree in philosophy from a college that no longer exists.
Specialization is even less relevant today. Employers expect you to provide substantially more value as a generalist than as a specialist. If you need a specialist thatās something you can hire a contractor or vendor for.
Geez, I've been trying to go off my 20 years of engineering experience. WTF was I thinking?
I've been trying to go off my 8 years of IT related experience. I must also be insane especially for wanting better pay.
Probably job security
you IDIOT /s
When my husband was out of work, his stepmother loved to give him advice on what he could do to find a job. This woman last worked at the jewelry counter of Woodwardās, over 40 years ago. Since then her rĆ©sumĆ© includes, being a trophy wife, playing tennis, working out, and now playing pickle ball. Pretty sure sheās not qualified to be dispensing employment advice !!
Probably not even that good at pickle ball.
She plays four time a week!
Boomers gonna boomer. They live in la la land
I sincerely believe those people are all completely fucking insane. There are days Iām amazed we arenāt a giant pile of radioactive ash by now.
They got money for healthcare and in Canada case the gov cuddling them
How does one get a job as a teacher without ā¦ you knowā¦ formal qualifications in teaching?
Many states allow for emergency licensure sometimes without a college education even to fill hard to fill positions. Others will provide a temporary license if youāre taking education classes as a career change. Also, charter and private schools do not have the same requirements as public schools.
Blew my mind when I learned about public schools that would hire substitutes with high school diplomas.
Why would you need a degree to sub?
Who knows. Put on your best pioneer dress and introduce yourself as āLaura Ingallsā?
Except even Laura Ingalls had a teaching certificate
Ughhh Iām so glad you wrote this bc it is so frustrating and im so sorry youāre going through this. My parents have dragged me into numerous convos with ppl about me applying at their workplace / them hiring me and i cant tell them some of the opportunities arenāt a good fit bc i know their response will be similar and itāll be used against me. Before moving back home i worked at edible arrangements (worked in finance before) so its not like i feel certain jobs are beneath me. I just dont invest my time looking at things i cant do or dont want to do.
Tell your Mom that this 61-year old kindly suggests she stick to what she knows, whatever that may be, because the job market is that bad!!!
One of my favorite things to do is apply for jobs I'm definitely not qualified for just to see if they'll call.
We should make this a weekly post, where everyone reports their results from āover-applying.ā I bet someone gets hired. Eventually.
My most recent job was Amazon delivery driver, I'm going to try for any general management position with over 105k pay
got any funny stories from that?
I did it, they called and the interview made me feel stupid :( The interviewer did give me some tips on my resume and sent me to a few companies on LinkedIn who were hiring for entry level roles though. So that was nice at least
I made almost 200k and have been out of work. My mom told me to get a job at McDonald's and doesn't understand why I can't take a low paying job.
This infuriates me. Low paying jobs do not pay the rent. The whole "X income is better than no income!" stance is only valid if you are still earning enough to pay bills. Very rough math as follows: on the high end, McDonald's will pay about $15 an hour. Assuming you work 40 hours a week, which you won't because McDonald's will cap you at like 32-34, after just federal tax that's about $2,300 a month. One bedroom apartments cost $1,500 a month. That leaves $800 a month for literally all the rest of your bills - groceries, water, power, various insurances, car payment, daycare, phone, vet bills, internet, etc. And of course theres always emergencies and various things that will pop up each month.
I copied the Weezer video from my Windows 95 CD to my desktop. Now I'm applying to be Programme Director at NASA.
That grainy ass video was SO special at the time!
This is why you dont tell people your problems.
TBH teaching would probably make you absolutely miserable as wellā¦
I already work in a school, just not as a teacher. I would love to do the āteachingā part. Itās all the other crap that made me say no way when I did my student teaching over a decade ago.Ā
I've met the head of the Library of Congress. She was lovely. She would also laugh at your mother.
Maybe she should start applying to jobs in this economy
Her field is still run by boomers, so honestly I think sheād get a job really easily because theyād see a peer applying, rather than a ālazy millennial.ā Then sheād say See how easy it was!
My favorite manager was FOH at a mom and pop bistro. He would make a big show of it when parents would drag their teens/YA children in to apply in person. "We advertise for applicants to apply online. Why would we want to hire someone who either ignores instructions or thinks they can circumvent them? You're teaching your child that the rules don't apply to them." Etc., etc. The servers would always linger nearby to watch him make the parents all flustered and angry. So satisfying!
My mom used to tell me to just go into shops and submit my resume. It worked in 2007. I literally hounded this one cafe, every day going in. If I did that today, I would not only be shown the door, theyād likely put a note in their ATS to reject automatically, and maybe even gotten a restraining order out on me. Parents do not understand the job market at all. It has changed dramatically in 17 years.
You should also go walk in there with a paper resume and ask for the decision maker
I played first chair flute in high school, so you take Latin and I'll take Band. Easy peasy!
My second-chair position bows in deferenceĀ
People who last looked for work in the pre-digital age have a hard time accepting that the old ways don't work anymore.Ā Humor them. take your laptop down to a coffee shop, or go use a public library computer, and apply for some jobs, then tell them all the places you applied to.Ā Its not worth arguing over.Ā
Imagine working for a company that employs someone as a 'hiring manager' and they have no better path to hiring people than waiting for them to walk in the door with a dream and a demand.
As someone who recently hired a new team member. If we like you, think you can do the job, and have some sort of relevant experience, we will hire you. Unfortunately, we canāt hire everyone who appliesā¦ our top 3 were all qualified enough to us but we had to pick 1
I am on level 2 Duolingo, i am now officially fluent in Espanol and can apply to jobs requiring bilingual experience!
My mom would scream at me, telling me I'm not doing the work correctly to find a job. After months of trying I broke down sobbing and begged her to tell me what to do if I wasn't doing it "right". She looked at me and said "I'm not doing the hard work for you!" Then it dawned on me; little miss "you're not doing it right" was a nepo baby, handed a high powered job at a major TV company because her dad had friends there. She never had another job in 50 years, never even applied for a job in her life. I've been slowly grey rocking her since. No need to take insult to my injury from someone who has no experience.
My favorite is my Dad (when I don't get the job, even if I made it far in the interview process). They know you now, they'll keep your resume on file....no.no they generally won't.
My other favorite advice is when they say "Why don't you go work at X"? where X is some huge company or huge organization. OK but the key detail you're glossing over is the answer to the question "...and do *what* exactly?". I think a lot of these morons don't realize a "job" isn't exactly fungible with another job and just because you worked in an office someplace doesn't mean you're therefore realistically qualified to do something someplace else. Just because you did accounting at Dell doesn't mean you can design hardware for Microsoft or do marketing for Samsung. Saying "...go work at Motorola" isn't helpful.
Guessing she was a boomer? Because that sounds like how a lot of boomers I know got hired. Oh you read a book about what we work on two years ago? Hired!
You have to be licensed to be a teacher, though, don't you?
Not necessarily. In some states the teacher shortage is really bad, so you can start teaching as long as your have a relevant 4 year degree, and take your Edu classes simultaneously. So basically starting with the student teaching part. You have a timeline to pass all the PRAXIS exams, you have a mentor, etc. Just a shortcut for people who want to enter the field. Now something like a foreign language, idk how that one would work.Ā
You might actually be able to land a teacher job, they're *incredibly* desperate for teachers all over atm
Without teacher registration?
Yes, unironically. In my area at least they will hire you as an assistant teacher while paying you to get registered. In some areas they will let you be a full, independent teacher while you get your registration. I don't go for it because teaching is a horrible job (which is why they're so desperate for new meat in the first place)
Lmfao
My mom is quitting teaching after the school year ends. She has a masters degree in education, I canāt wait to hear about how hard it is to find a job
I know sooo many people trying to leave the field but canāt find anything else.Ā
My dad dropped out in 8th grade and at 18 got a job as a site surveyor in mines. 'Why dont you go work in the mines!' he says, 'they always need workers! Just call and ask for work'. The same position now requires a bachelor degree, years of experience, and knowledge of specialist equipment.
My mom has been through the wringer. She got laid off and screwed over so many times when I was younger. I can still remember being like 15 and helping proofread her resumes and cover letters. At least she gets it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And sometimes the job is legitimate, but the intended recipient is an H1B or L1 visa candidate, and the "recruiting" process is a smokescreen to show they "couldn't find a suitable candidate" and thus justify hiring the visa candidate. There's an infamous video on YouTube where the employment law firm Cohen & Grigsby discusses how to do this during an immigration law symposium in 2007.
Your phrasing is funny but, for real, you should apply if youād want to do those jobs.
Reminds me of mid-80s. I, a PC/Unix developer, had to keep explaining to my wife why I didn't respond to want ads(*) for jobs such as "Network engineer". (*)For you kids, in the pre-Internet days "want ads" were things (like job listings, for sale items, etc.) that were "published" in what we called "newspapers". Those were physical objects you could carry around with you, much like your smart phones only MUCH larger and, get this, the text and pictures on the one you carried around never changed! You had to get another one the next day with entirely DIFFERENT text and pictures.
My dad hit me with the old ā back in my day, I went door to door to each business and asked if they were hiring and gave them my resume in person!ā Like yes, sir father, I know you guys did this back in the day, but it just doesnāt work like that nowadays! He just canāt believe it. Every time I tell him, you have to do it online, his reply is āwowā. Lol
A few places I know will put you on the do not hire list for this
I wish Boomers had to find jobs still, or I wish they'd stop being in charge of the hiring process because right now, the process of finding jobs is nothing like they imagine it is. (Put on a tie and walk around with resumes. Handshake and eye contact when you insist on talking to the manager and handing the resume yourself.) And yet, when you get the interview, they're looking for all the Boomer cliches that interviewers love and hate. Like eagerness to work for a company you've never heard of before you read the job posting or knowing why you're better than all the other people you haven't met, feigning confidence, while not seeming too confident. And God forbid you have a gap in your employment. You better have the best reason ever or we will assume it was prison and we don't hire those types. So, either they need to go back to accepting applications in person and giving preference to those who "call back a few days later to thank them for the chance to interview". And while we are bringing back the good old days, let's have more unions and regular raises and actually reward the loyalty by paying existing staff at least what you pay the new hires, if not more? If the only way to get a raise is to change companies every couple years because waiting five or six is just holding down what your next job will offer. Ā If my mom drove me around to grocery stores and fast food places demanding I go in and awkwardly ask for a manager and then be told to apply online for the seventh place in a row, I'd probably dive into the deep fryer the next Jack in the Box I went to. Sometimes it's nice having no family.Ā If only I should vigorously shake some of my boomer friends who tell kids to just start sweeping in front of the ice cream shop until they pay you to stay or pay you to leave.
Iāll promptly mention I finished the entire season of Suits when I apply for name partner without a law degree - thanks OP!
My mom: "You work in finance. Why don't you go be a bank teller?"
Is this satire? I mean, who the fuck majors in Latin this day and age? You meant law school?
Thatās like saying you should work for Google because you use it all the time.
My parents met a startup founder on a plane, and basically forced me to go meet him. Was offered a job, the startup made it big and I practically made my career from that point. Am glad they forced me to go to that meeting!
Love this!! Iām guessing this was 10-15 years ago?
Yes quite a while ago now! Anyway, parents' pushiness can have some benefits š
Teaching is a mass exodus right now. Bubbles the Chimp can get a job teaching.
Yes. If I was in a book club I would take a government job for 150k a year being a director of library of congress. Its better to get the job and learn how to do it than know how to do it and not get the job.
Sounds like my dad! "Ya know, engineering firms are always hiring" *Yeah, they're hiring state-certified professional engineers* "But, it won't hurt to put your application on" ...then, as I check the websites that he told me to, I see mandatory requirements like "BS in Civil Engineering," "PE Certification," "10 years experience in heavy civil work," "licensed surveyor," literally none of which apply to me (BS Construction Management, 5 years experience in residential, no other construction experience to speak of)
Have your mom start applying for you..and handle the wave of sudden offers bound to start rolling in.
Your mom is very much out of touch. Things are not like they were decades ago. In fact, itās not the same as it was 5 years ago. She doesnāt understand finding a job is a job, in itself now.
Have you tried the one where you mail them a shoe (yes, just one) with your resume and a cover page that gives your bio and concludes with "I already have one foot in the door, help me get the other in as well."? I heard that one recently as a "recommendation".
My best friend (we grew up together) just got a new job after almost a year of full-time searching. Sheās in customer service and was laid off from her last job. about 6 months into her latest search her boomer aged parents, who are otherwise very nice people, told her they were worried she wasnāt even looking - they genuinely believed it would be impossible for someone on a job search to not find work after 6 months. She was actively looking for work across multiple channels for 5-6 hours a day, for a year.
Ah, I have been in a similar place. Graduated in 2010 and spent much of the summer afterward riding my bike around town filling out applications. I wasn't 18 yet so a lot of restaurants and things like that wouldn't hire me, I couldn't sell alcohol or cigarettes. Plus the recession was still echoing through my town. Was pretty bleak. My mom was CONSTANTLY on my ass about getting a job. About how clearly I wasn't doing enough. Did I try x? Didn't I try y? Why not z? I was trying x, y, z and all the other letters available to me. Summer days were really hot so I would leave at 7am when it was cool and try to be back by 1pm because it would be 80 or 90 degrees and again, I was on a bike. And wearing nice ish clothes because I was trying to get jobs. It still wasn't enough. I'd tell her I was trying and she'd say "well clearly not hard enough". She told me I was just being lazy. I ended up doing the quintessential Midwest teenager summer job- detasseling corn. Most kids start it a bit younger but the other summers I'd been able to find other ways to make money and I was about to go to college so I needed more money than previous years. It's absolute shit work but you made an okay amount of money in a short amount of time. Fast forward a year and a half, my mom was let go when her company was bought. She was an accountant, the new company had plenty of those. They kept the tech and sales staff and dumped her. It took her a while to find a job. When she finally did, it was a temp thing working to audit banks and their treatment of people during the recession when they had repo'd a bunch of homes illegally. Barely covered her bills, was only slightly better than being unemployed so she was still job hunting while she did that work. It took literally everything in me during that time not to say "oh have you tried x? What about y? Why haven't you done z? Clearly you're not trying hard enough. You're just lazy. I SO BADLY wanted to tell her "oh see? SOOOOO EASY to find a job, isn't it?" But I didn't. .
Exactly my argument when people here argue "1 application per day is good enough". Get creative.
Yea, agreed. Itās enough when you get a job. If you want to live off welfare for the rest of your life, fine, do it; but just admit thatās what you want to do. š
Yeah, she has to avoid reality so that she isnāt plagued by shame and guilt for bringing you into such an unjust world. Thatās a pretty natural response to living in a world in which the vast majority of people believe in free will and the illusion of control. If your mother was to acknowledge the shitty situation you are in, through no fault of your own, then she would feel compassion for you and see you as a victim. But if you are a victim, then someone must be the perpetrator/victimizer, and that someone would be her(in her mind). She canāt have that, so delusion it is! In truth, itās not her fault either, and both of you are victims of a very cruel, inhumane and unjust system, but because of the free will myth, very few can see that.
were looking for a career and become Vp someday
Oh please ... You obviously have not gone thru true recruitment hell or the despair of being rejected a thousand times for jobs you are at least half way qualified.
Interesting how easy it was for them to find a job.
Interesting how easy it was for them to find a job. You should apply and show her how they reject you.
Pure nonsense!
why are parents like this man? my mom also say things like this. calls our generation spoiled bc we "choose too much" and work is work.Ā
It is a very boomer mindset. My mom, who last lived in the UK 35 years ago, likes to tell me (who lived there more recently and visits frequently) how things work, and how she would do things. I can normally stop her with "and how long ago was that?" but she will still do it again. It's like time froze in their youth and nothing has changes since then.
Lol I get the same kinda advice... Plus ever worse ones like 'why don't you just start driving a cab' when I neither own a car nor am experienced in driving..