I Worked My Butt off in School and all I Got was this Crappy Economy
When I graduated in 2004, our commencement speaker was a female Hewlett-Packard executive I had never heard of (no, it was not Carly Fiorina; she was otherwise occupied with giving the HP board a four-page list of reasons to fire her). She talked about the world we were inheriting from our parents and the difference we would make if we worked hard and shared our innovative ideas with the world (or was that the Saved by the Bell commencement speech? Same difference).
We sprang forth from our folding chairs, proudly collecting our diplomas and tossing our caps, ready to share our ideas with the world and max out our 401ks and decorate our cubicles with grown-up toys, like Rubik's cubes and business cardholders. We printed our GPAs on our resumes and pledged "I will work SO hard for you" in job interviews and begged professors who hardly remembered us to act as references for professions they had no concept of (in retrospect, asking the Colonial History professor to vouch for your graphic design prowess may not have been the best decision). We celebrated our first job offers with cases of Old Style and bought Target furniture and learned how to set our alarm clocks.
And 19 months later, we found new jobs. And 19 months after that, we found newer jobs. Because that is what "Millennials" (or Generation Y, Children of the Boomers, or what have you), do, according to a March 2008 study titled "Millennials at Work." Approximately every 1.6 years, perhaps thanks to a lackluster bonus, a stinky coworker, or an impossible boss, those of us born between 1977 and 1988 decide, "well I can certainly do better than this," and reactivate our Monster.com accounts.
Until now.
Now, thanks to a host of issues beyond our control, we are stuck. Because in this crap economy, you'd have to be flat out, shave-your-head-bald bonkers to walk away from a steady paycheck, health insurance, and the ability to afford a bottle of wine to weep over while Jim Cramer sentences your retirement fund to death (cue toilet flushing sound effect, followed by emphatic "Boo-yah!").
Shouldn't people be applauding that 26 year olds even have retirement funds, when the average American has about $8,000 in credit card debt? The first lesson fiscally responsible Millennials are learning is, "sucks to be you!"
This morning, I overheard a conversation between two twenty-somethings on the fallout from Wall Street's meltdown. The first person mentioned that her 401k had lost about 75% of its worth. "I'll never be able to retire now," she groaned.
"Dude, that sucks," said the guy, nodding sympathetically. "I am so glad I don't have a 401k."
They call our grandparents generation the "Silent Generation"; as in "shut up, suck it up, and move to the back of the soup kitchen line." I'm sure they were ambitious and idealistic once upon a time, before they had to turn in their nylons so that paratroopers actually had parachutes to storm Normandy with. No wonder John McCain thinks the "fundamentals of our economy are strong"; no one's breaking into your bathroom to collect the Sunday sports section for a scrap paper drive--yet.
We Millennials harbor delusions of grandeur that lead us to believe, "I could be doing so much better! Making much more money! Saving the planet! I can do it all!" These beliefs, instilled by our overachieving Baby Boomer parents and reinforced by our disgruntled, pseudo-anarchist professors, have set us on a lifelong quest for betterment. "Settle" is not a word that is in our vocabulary. If it were, I probably would've enjoyed being a plain old college student instead of killing myself trying to be an honors student, T.G.I. Fridays waitress, college newspaper editor-in-chief, intramural soccer player, and double major with three minors.
Getting hired by the John Kerry campaign straight out of college didn't do much to diminish my delusions of grandeur; it just supported the fact that I thought I was destined for greatness. Who cares that on the two occasions I actually met Senator Kerry, he either called me "Brooke" or ignored me to discuss the concession party hors d'oeuvres with Terry McAuliffe? That's right, no one cares, because I got to eat hors d'oeuvres next to John Kerry.
Can the generation that mastered the text message, Facebook, camera phones, and YouTube really be expected to stay in one place for longer than 19 months or else sacrifice our high standards of living? As far as this Millennial is concerned, I don't have a choice. I mean, the day I got my first real paycheck, I climbed up on the milk crate that served as our kitchen table and declared to my roommates, "With God as my witness, I'll never eat Ramen again!" That is a promise I intend to keep. Something about the shiny silver packet with the words "shrimp flavor" printed on it truly frightens me.
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I feel ya, Brooke. I graduated recently, myself, after going full time and working full time and raising kids full time, because it was supposed to be my ticket to a better future. I bought a crappy house because it was supposedly better than pouring money into the rent hole, would eliminate housing costs during retirement and give me something to leave my kids.
Now I'm stuck with a house that was once affordable, before energy and insurance costs doubled, student loans out the wazoo and am trying to figure out how to put on a smiley face for my children.
If it's that tough for us, I shudder to think what it'll be like for them. And I have a "good" job.
Part of the strategy of buying a home is that you gather equity instead of rent receipts. If you can't afford it, you may have aimed too high. In a world of rising house prices, you had a reasonable expectation of selling your home and trading up or getting by almost free out of your profits.
The expenses of running a home will be met either directly or through your rents, so that is a wash. It's the expectations thing that bites: More is better, it pays to be bold, then the market crashes and you still have to met costs. I feel for you. I'm a senior citizen and my home is paid for but it's also my major equity and my costs are doubling. I have no liquidity! I really feel for you!
I should stress that i have no debts, and I have some savings. My condition is not desperate, but I am no longer (so far as i ever was) in charge of my fate. Decisions have been made, the rest is silence except for the fear part.
You think you've got it bad with your college degree, look at people who have gone to law school. Lured in by law school's fraudulent (not subject to any external audits) employment and starting salary statistics, these people take out $100k+ in student loans to get through law school, only to realize that in reality only the top 10% make the law school's claimed salaries, while the rest face unemployment, or if they're lucky, $45,000 a year jobs that won't allow them to get out of debt. In case you're wondering why they don't file bankruptcy - it's because student loans are not dischargable in bankruptcy without meeting a really high threshold (undue hardship) that depends on you being essentially unable to work.
People need to wise up and ignore the advice of their parents who think education always pays off. Even traditional paths to middle class life are faltering, and now many graduate programs like law school are nothing but a path to debt peonage, the only winners are the schools themselves. Skilled trades that are protected by strong unions are a better option for many young people.
If you want to indulge your morbid fascination to see the dark side of the law profession:
www.jdunderground.com
>>> The first person mentioned that her 401k had lost about 75% of its worth. "I'll never be able to retire now," she groaned.
Dont panic! Slow and steady is the ticket for long-term (retirement) investing - dollar/cost averaging. Keep funding your 401k's and other accounts - in fact, now is the best time to buy! Eventually, the market will rebound, and great will be your gains!
Be afraid. Be very afraid. You don't know where that powered shrimp has been! It could be terrorist shrimp for all you know.
Great article. Ttile alone would have done it for me, but you followed it up with a great slice of life.
My only question is, why didn't Kerry fight the voter fraud in Ohio? I know he is a better man than that, but somebody, sometime has to say ENOUGH!
Oh, that's Obama....
Have you ever visualized what it would mean for a drawn out court case to be resolved midway in an administration and change the President? This isn't far from visualizing troops entering the capitol building and arresting Congress per Oliver Cromwell. Nixon's Secretary of Defense was concerned that Nixon might attempt a similar coup and directed area military bases that orders from the White House should be confirmed by his office. I can't believe he was seriously worried about it but just thought it was the responsible thing to do.
Great article. I bought into the kool-aid, started investing into my 401k at 18 years old thinking I would be a millionaire by the time I am 60!!!!
Since graduating college and I have $400 a month in student loan bills plus living expenses to boot I barely come out ahead. This debt for diploma system has me one crisis away from financial ruin.
Even though I am a little worn down, a little cynical, I am refusing to give up - and no one else should either.
I think people that go to school here are being thrown under the bus by the system. People come here from all over the world with professional degrees, even a MD, and don't have a penny of debt and make the same money as every one else does. Gosh, this is absurd. We need to wake up in this country 'cause we are being veiled and kept away from understanding our real economic situation and where we stand in the world as a people. I have been thinking of continuing my education overseas because I just can't see myself assuming anymore debt, enough. I want my freedom.
It is amazing how education here in the u.s. is no longer free, but it is getting freer even in the so-called third world. And believe me, the education here is not that superior. The rest of the world is catching up and overtaking us at an alarming rate. What is our response? The Bush Administration cut funding for highly successful grant programs and loans and invested in a crass war that has nothing to do with anything.
Cute article. With student loans payments that are roughly equal to the payment of a brand new Corvette...my degree is something that can't be taken away.
Now, with the home buyer tax credit (I sure hope that's still on the way) i'll be able to pay of f the Mitsubishi and start making those student loan payments!
The best wisdom my parents bestowed upon me growing up was "Life is not fair". Heard it all of the time. "hey, she got more ice cream than me".......life is not fair; "hey, I sang better than her. Why did she get the part?".......life is not fair
"hey, I am better qualified than that guy".....life is not fair. I did not leave the nest with any expectation that life was going to be fair. It has made life a lot easier to manuver.
The good news is...... sometimes you get more ice cream than the other guy. That is when life is sweet!
Graduated with my BA in 2001. My folks raised me to believe that all I had to do was go to college and the world would be mine for the taking. What a laugh! I'm not whining, but I sat out the whole housing boom because I couldn't get a job making more than 30k a year. I'm still stuck at $15/hour. I'm not complaining, but when you're taught your whole life that the way to success is to get in on the ground floor, work hard, and you'll steadily make it up the ranks, reality has turned out to be nothing like the one my parents lived through. It's not their fault, it's not anybody's fault, and I'm not whining. But I can't help but suspect it all has something to do with GREED practiced by those who already had plenty to begin with.
Thanks for the words, Brett!!
OmegaZ-
I understand your disappointment after being told the whole "work hard, climb the ladder, find success" story only to find that it doesn't exist anymore. Many of us are living that scenario. Climbing the ladder is tough to do when there are no rungs. But I disagree with your comment that this is "not anybody's fault". It is the fault of economic policy (your greed suspicions are part of that) and that policy has been being built since the Reagan administration (if not before).
If you want an insightful look at these issues check out the book "Strapped" by Tamara Draut.
www.strappedthebook.com
I read this and found myself nodding in agreement at nearly every page. People of gen X, Y, and whatever comes next should read this, then vote. Good luck and be well!
I too graduated in 2004. And after being told for so long that I was smart and eloquent and would be good at whatever I put my mind to I found it impossible to figure out what it would be. So I moved back in with my parents & wasted some time. And then I found a minimum wage job, which I left to Temp for higher pay (woo hoo I can live on my own) and then I got lucky and a friend's Mom hired me.
Here I am finally having made it to the hallowed land of health benefits and a 401K and it' not working out quite like the future that every adult imagined for me. I completely agree with you that we are the generation that can't settling, but where would we have learned that anyway - when have you seen anybody settle for the 15K car, when they could qualify for the 40K car (or house/iphone/whatever). We have been a consumerist culture since the end of WWII, right? And while previous generations may have worked real hard to spend all that money nobody thought it important or necessary to set an example of restraint in spending it later.
We are the logical conclusion of the consumerist culture that birthed us. The question is, now that those days are over, what kind of stuff will we show we're made of? Can we remake this world into all the things they told us it could be?
Summer 2007: out of college with B.S. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech (one of those "marketable" majors)
next 4 months: apply to 200 jobs, finally get one interview with giant evil corporation to remain nameless (to my credit I was unaware of the "evil" factor at the time)
november 2007: took the job I didn't really want because it was the only one that even responded and my student loan bills were piling up
present: stuck with soul crushing job, already trying to find a way out. Damn happy I didn't open my 401k.
Even though I make a good salary for someone just out of college, with the costs of car+insurance+gas+rent+student loan+food, there is none of the much-tauted disposable income that is one of the main reasons for getting a tech job in the first place (that 90's rich engineer concept is still alive and kicking), the other reason of designing cool stuff having already been abandoned. On the plus side, I don't live with my parents like 80% of my friends.
did it occur to you that after applying to 200 jobs, and only getting one interview, that you just might be doing it wrong? Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you have talent. It does not give you license to get paid for knowing the basics of e.e. You have to prove your worth. You have to prove that you would be a valuable, essential part to the business, and you first do that with your resumes/cover letters. If you sent out 200 resumes, you weren't taking the time to learn about the position/company you were applying for. Don't be so naive. Market yourself. If you don't have anything worthwhile you've done, then do something worthwhile while no one is employing you. If you are a perpetually worthless individual, who does nothing, has nothing to really show off that they have done, and who's only success is "i got a degree" then you are a terrible looking employee, and you will fail to impress in comparison with your competition.
Degrees do not equal talent. Degrees do not entitle you to a job. Intelligent marketing of your skills and abilities do. And having the initiative to gain experience where you have none does a lot in showing how good of an employee you will be.
I'll answer you point by point:
Resume/cover letter: Worked on by several professionals (fortunately my mother has several friends that work in the field, hurray for free consulting)
Experience: while my relevant job experience was limited (not a lot of internships in intelligent controls and robotics) I had research experience in intelligent controls (specifically a fuzzy logic stabilizer for a UAV), and for general EE stuff I had worked on GT's Futuretruck power system (team-build hybrid Ford Explorer)
The real essence of my post was that there are far more people getting degrees and applying for jobs than there are desireable jobs. We are told that engineering and computer science degrees are vastly marketeable, we are fed those 90's era romances about out-of-college millionaires. The truth is that people getting out of college now are entering a saturated work force. Why hire an unexperienced kid when there are 100,000 out of work engineers already?
But allengeer, IF that's true (rjmiller may well have been doing it right, actually, and still have gotten the same result), you're missing the point that this generation was sold a line that just by getting that degree, they guaranteed themselves better jobs, yadda yadda. Guarantee.
A few years back, I was working at a small college in Georgia. The young people would graduate with degrees in Information Technology. Then they'd wander back into my office six months later, saying: "Nobody's hiring me." In some cases, they weren't even applying for jobs --they literally thought the jobs were supposed to come to them.
In most of these cases, they were the first in their family to go to college. Their PARENTS had been sold this bill, also; that their kids would be okay if only the kids could somehow get through college.
I fear the next thing will not be that we figure out how to get those jobs, nor that college will become more affordable again. I fear it'll be that the next group of kids "knows better" and doesn't even try.
Great article, Brett!~And what a breath of fresh air to read you, here, where the issues of our failing economy are rarely discussed in terms of it's effect on the GEN Y's. Our BOOMER parents seem to be utterly uniformed as they blame-lay and refuse to retire.
I'm an X-er (and hate the pigeon-hole term), but I've been in and out of work now since about the time you graduated. I'm finding now, when I look for work, employers are hesitant to hire me because I haven't remained in an unsustainable, unacceptable 60 hr. a week McJob for at least five years. REASON FOR LEAVING? The company went under from corruption and apathy. I wasn't able to pay for groceries even though I was at work 24/7. The boss was doing coke and tried to feel me up in the office after hours. I left because I was utterly expendable despite my loyalty, hard work, commitment, experience...et. al. THEY DON'T CARE. Apparently, the prevailing economic factors are not a consideration when looking at my kick-ass (but overloaded) resume.
Keep up the great work, kiddo! I'm with you, as are millions of CAPABLE 20/ 30 somethings all trying to reach a latent adult right of passage: financial independence.
"Can the generation that mastered the text message, Facebook, camera phones, and YouTube really be expected to stay in one place for longer than 19 months or else sacrifice our high standards of living?"
Wow, I sure hope that's sarcasm... Not one of those things (text message, Facebook) has produced a net gain for society.
Compare that to say, the WPA, giving jobs to millions. Or compare it to say, the creation of the Internet itself (before Gen Y's time, but in my -- "Gen X" -- time). Not much contributed, it seems, except hyperinflated egos.
It does suck to be you -- most of the folks before you reaped the rewards, and you get to pay the costs. But as I think you are realizing, the best first step is to put aside the giant egos, realize that you're NOT a beautiful, unique snowflake, roll up your sleeves, and do what the rest of us have to do: get to work.
A condo you could have bought for $100k in 2000 now goes for $250k. I dare you to come up with an argument stating that a person making an entry level or even a somewhat higher salary can afford that. And not only do you have the mortgage, but fees, utilities (which have skyrocketed as well), insurance, PMI, and taxes to contend with. The problem was that many 'Yers' felt they were going to be totally squeezed out if they waited any longer so in desperation, they bought their condos or houses when they did, even though they may not be at the point where they could afford them.
We shall see what this economic downturn will bring. This could be the final nail the coffin and bring Gen 'Y' back to earth. But it's very hard to say. If the downturn is mild, probably not. But it will be interesting to see what this does to the general mentality of this generation.
Yeah, I'm older than most/all the posters I've read, and I'm supposed to be so lucky.
I do have a guaranteed, defined pension plan, but I was conservative with it, am careful wi/ spending, yet will probably outlive it. The (state) college I went to was cheap...at least with a tough work-study job plus another, plus typing, off the books, hoping not to get caught, plus 2 loans.
But none of us saw buying a house until after years of working. A 20% down-payment was required to qualify for a mortgage. We rented. For years. Cheap. We didn't spend much at all on entertainment...cheap beer at a friend's cheap place. In our little spare time we fought injustices you seem to have forgotten.
Segregation: the newspaper want-ads used to have 4 sections. Help Wanted: men, ... women, ... colored men, ...colored women. In the '60s, in the North!
Not to mention the wars, that were just as stupid as Iraq, but we were willing to get arrested (and a few shot & killed) to try to stop them. It worked. The right to choose not to carry a pregnancy required desperate messures. Credit was after a solid work history. Etc.
Ever been blasted w/ tear gas? Not pleasant. Why on earth do you all want it all *Now*, just because you graduated? Why aren't you out there fighting (figuratively, at least)?
[cont.]
The thing is, though, it's not their fault. Gen 'Y' is at a disadvantage in three ways from other generations. First of all, thanks to the coddling of their boomer parents, many feel that they are "entitled" to the same lifestyle right off the bat. Most never learned the "school of hard knocks", and even if they grew up lower class, poverty growing up in the 90s was a far cry from it during the 40s or even 70s. As recently as 35 years ago, there were whole towns in the US where most people didn't have running water or electricity. Tell that to most 20-somethings and they will think you're crazy. Another thing that Yers have to contend with are massive student loans. Even 15 years ago, a debt load of over $20,000 was unusual for a bachelor's degree. Now it is so commonplace that it may be on the low end of things...$40-50k seems to be the new benchmark. Finally, even though inflation has reared its ugly head only recently, that has not held true for housing, which has skyrocketed in price as long as Gen-'Y' has been entering the workforce.
Here is what I have to say on this matter...
I was born in 1978 and graduated in 2000, the height of the economic boom. Most of my graduating class definitely had the Gen-'Y' mentality...the sky's the limit and we were all going to be millionaires by age 40. It seems that mentality hasn't really waned among younger classes. My brother, who is 8 years younger than I am, expects to make 60k right off the bat at his first job out of college. And most of his peers feel similarly. They want it "all" now...they want a "pimped out" car and a condo. And if they don't get it, they will get that type of lifestyle somehow, even if it means waiting tables after their day job. Many of the people who are serving you at your favorite restaurant or assisting you at your favorite store aren't college students or people using it as a stopgap. They're your marketing professionals and software engineers who require extra money for their lifestyle. I read recently about a 29 year old who works 18 hours a week at the Container Store after her stressful day job where she makes $75k.
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