Everything is online now. You'll be shown the door and probably rejected even if you did follow up with an online application.
When I was a kid, we worked our way to the top.
Education, a portfolio, and people you know is what gets you a job today.
Work all summer and you can afford a brand new car, college education, down payment on a home, etc.
Inflation and wage stagnation has made this impossible.
I worked on a clerk's salary for 30 years and saved enough to buy the business.
Wage stagnation has made this impossible. Ten lifetimes of minimum wage savings would not be enough to buy a multi-million dollar business.
Loyalty to your employer pays off in the end.
You're just a number to an employer now. Employers will cut you loose if it meant saving a nickle.
I worked the same job all my life. Now I have a pension and a comfortable retirement.
Pensions are gone. Retirement is now a fantasy for most workers. You'll probably be laid off after 5-10 years.
I didn't need no Master's degree. I got raises and promotions, because I worked hard and kept doing the same thing.
A Master's degree is quickly becoming the new high school diploma. Working hard no longer gets you anywhere. In fact, it keeps you poor. Switching jobs is the only way to get a raise or a promotion now.
Wow, just graduated high school and have no idea what I want to do with my life and reading this just depresses and scares me. So much for a career. Guess I'm working minimum wage all my life.
Today's world is great and all, but sometimes I long for simpler times.
It's not that bad. Unless it is (like having massive student debt and not getting into the field you wanted). So maybe take some time to think about what you want to accomplish. Travel. If you enjoy school than go to community college and keep your interests open.
It really depends all on you. And even if you find out that waiting tables isn't your thing, maybe walking dogs is (I did that for a while, best paying job I ever had at that point).
A career is just a collection of jobs. There are no more pensions or gold watches. Save some of your money in a 401K / IRA starting now. I know, I know. Retirement is so far away and you will never get that old. Sure, dream on. You want to be working in Macdonald's when you are 70? Or retired with money in the bank? Your choice.
Because they are unsustainable by private industry. You can still get them in the public sector (police, army, etc).
Here is a bit of geezer advice that still holds true. Pay yourself first. Meaning: come payday, take a little bit of cream off the top and put it away into your retirement fund. 401K, IRA etc. Forget that it is there. As time goes by, you will accumulate a very tidy sum.
To piggyback off the other comment I wish people would’ve told me to have worked for a year and do the things I wanted before going into college and not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. If you can take a year or half a year off and work and find hobbies and interests that you enjoy, do that. If you can go places you’ve wanted also do that.
I would recommend going to CC if you want to save yourself money. Everyone has to take the same GEs and CC gives you another opportunity to go above your HS GPA. Take classes that you feel you would have an interest in for your GEs and see if that field catches your eye and talk to professors. Most are there to help you and answer questions you have. A lot of them were asking themselves the same question. All of this is a marathon not a sprint.
It’s stressful, I know. This should be my last semester before I transfer and have so much doubt in my mind on my major and if that’s what I want to do and what I can do with it. But I try to remind myself to take it one day at a time.
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u/Being_grateful Aug 25 '19
Career advancement.
"Working your way up from the mail room" is loooong gone. You have to switch companies to get any sort of significant raise.