It’s Friday, and Fridays are for fun. Apparently, it is tough for recent college graduates to find work, or maybe it is just hard to find a job. The unemployment rate among recent college graduates is over 6%.
Looking back to when I graduated, the unemployment rate was in the double digits, 13% at one point. We were headed into a recession. I couldn’t get a job. I used rejection letters to paper a wall in the kitchen of an apartment we lived in at the time.
My goal was to paper the whole wall because I figured I needed that many rejections before getting hired. I ended up with a full-time job working for a past employer. It was a crappy job that lead to a string of crappy jobs. They were low-paying jobs with tyrannical, narcissistic bosses. I got my first decent full-time job in the summer of 1988. A job that paid well and with excellent benefits. Heck, I even had dental insurance back then. 🙂
I have had two jobs and temporary jobs. For most of my adult working life, I have been an independent contractor. Most of the time, I have had a side hustle. I haven’t had a traditional job in 25 years, and I don’t miss it.
My advice to recent college graduates is to try to find work instead of a job. Sometimes it is better to have many employers than to have one employer who can fire you at any time. When ready, start your own business. If it doesn’t work out, start another.
Get used to and be comfortable with the idea that jobs are only temporary. There is no such thing as “job security”.
