Hi-Ho

My last day of work was the Friday before my daughter was born. She will be six months old soon, so if my math is correct (said the English major), it has been about six months since I’ve held a job. Lately things have been a bit tight. My husband is a fantastic, hard-working, committed provider for our family. He is, however, self-employed and the money doesn’t come as steadily as it might otherwise. At the same time, I am a relentless curmudgeon about spending and the holidays only exacerbate my condition.

After much discussion, I have decided to go back to work part time and from home. As you can imagine, these specifications do not make me the top candidate for potential employers. Still, I have been working on my resume tirelessly (searching Google for templates) and asking around for any clues to breaking into this elusive industry (sorry facebook friends).

While updating my resume it struck me that this job search business is really not as simple as it should be. I in no way align myself to any politically driven percentage (I am the Switzerland of all percentages), but I can definitely relate to the frustration of looking for a job.

Recently I read an article that explained how the previous generation inadvertently programmed their children into this “failure to launch.” Now, the article was mostly aimed at getting a chuckle rather than a Pulitzer, but it made some interesting points. How many of my followers out there (millions of you by my estimates) heard from your parents that you can get any job you want once you get your degree? Or how many heard things like “you don’t want to flip burgers for a living, do you?” In reality, a college degree hardly guarantees anything other than debt and flipping burgers may not be such a bad idea, especially if it is the only job available.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am all for higher education, and I understand the merits of pushing your children toward higher goals. However, it makes sense that this mindset has perhaps contributed to the current state of things.

At the same time, I could read an article about how lazy and entitled my generation is and I can’t really argue with that either. The day I finished my degree I not-so-metaphorically walked out of the school with a smile on my face waiting for a six-figure job to hit me while crossing the street. I didn’t expect to have to work so hard for a meager income after I had worked so hard for a degree. And if I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t work that hard for my degree.

I guess it is all about perspective.

I wish I had some shockingly brilliant solutions to the world’s problems, but I don’t. Afterall, I went to an American public university, not Hogwarts.

All I can do right now is be thankful that my search has been somewhat fruitful. I’ll be doing my old job from home. I think the most important job qualifications you can have are luck, and perhaps some humility. I wish both of these on my generation.