This economic recession has affected many. According to a recent feature in the Tennessean newspaper titled Life On Hold, for the young adults of Generation Y, the recession has altered a once brighter future. Young adults of so-called Generation Y have birthdates ranging from the mid 1970s to early 1990s. I myself fall in this age range. When I was a new college graduate looking for a job/career in the spring of 2003, it may have seemed a challenge then, but today it is even more so. According to the Tennessean article, “Raised in better times, 20-somethings were brought up to believe they could do anything and become anyone. They assumed they would have a job, plenty of credit, a place of their own…When the economy sank, those assumptions died. Unemployment escalated, mortgage restrictions tightened, and all those lofty expectations unraveled...Though an innate optimism keeps some of them motivated, life, as they projected it, is on hold.”
Now many 20-somethings must learn new skills, be creative with budgeting and living frugally, and saving more and avoiding debt. We may have to alter our expectations as we adapt to the current economic conditions.
On college campuses across the country, college seniors are facing one of the toughest job markets in years, coming out of school when unemployment is high and competition for jobs is higher.
According to a recent article titled The Lost Generation in the October issue of BusinessWeek, employers may suffer too, because “the freshness and vitality young people bring to the workplace is missing. Tomorrow’s would-be star employees are on the sidelines, deprived of experience and losing motivation.”
So what to do? Here are a few tips to help.
• Keep learning. It might be wise to get an advanced degree in your chosen field, which may give you a more competitive edge in the future, when the economy has had more time to recover.
• Use your personal network. Connect with anyone who works in your chosen profession or is at a company with which you are intrigued.
• College students: Take advantage of any on campus information sessions and career fairs—they are opportunities for you to be up close and personal with employers who are potentially hiring. From time to time LifeWay’s Recruiting & Staffing team participates in such career fairs.
• Another smart idea for college students: Use your campus career center and career advisors—they can offer great resources and advice.
• Be professional. This means not only dressing in a professional and proper way, but also being professional in all communication.
• Do an internship in the spring or the summer after graduation. LifeWay does have limited internship positions at the corporate office in Nashville.
• Settle for less. Now, usually this is not good advice in some other situations. But you may very well have to lower the bar on how much money you will take at your first job. After you have proven your worth you can move up!
As I end this month’s Career Connections, I would like to close on a hopeful note, as later this month we will celebrate Thanksgiving. To hope in God is choosing to believe He will deliver. Let us acknowledge that it is a faithful God who provides for our needs. Happy Thanksgiving!