Graduating with a degree in journalism was not the smartest choice to make 4 years ago.

I just graduated from law school on Sunday. No job in sight, this is horrible.

The current climate reminds me of when I graduated college in 1982. I lived at home, worked part-time, and didn’t get a full time job for three years. It makes me appreciate where I’m at now even more. To be honest, I resented the sense of entitlement that many college grads seemed to have during the boom years.

I’m graduating this year from a school in michigan and plan to go on to law school. Often, people ask me what I think about going to law school in this economic environment. My usual response is that I feel like whatever my opportunities are when get out they’ll be better than they are now.

Virtually everyone I know has had a hard time getting a job, a good friend of mine with a 4.0 is waiting tables, another friend who isn’t quite as gifted but a very hard worker and amazing at what they do is making $12/hr without benefits, and probably the top student in my major is going into a different field.

I am also a little tired of the whining from this year’s college grads. 30 years ago we graduated from top universities and went right into jobs as waitresses, bartenders, and secretaries while we worked on getting into our professions. Be the best waitress or bartender you can be. Work hard. Stop whining. You’ll be noticed and you’ll work your way into the jobs you want.

I just want to share some words of encouragement with this years’ grads — I graduated in 1982, a comparable recession, and moved to a city where I joined a temp agency. My first assignment was on the floor of a factory (ironic, since my family had been factory workers & I was the first college grad!), but once I showed I was dependable and hard-working, I got moved to the office.

I stayed with the temp agency until one of my assignments offered me the job I was filling in for. By that time my insurance had run out, so I took the job for the benefits, though it wasn’t a career-path job. Eventually I got a job in the field I had set out for, though it took several years of hard work at jobs I never thought I’d end up in.

I also heard a commentator yesterday advising young people to (1) work hard & be dependable at whatever job you can get; and (2) do volunteer work in your desired field so you can put that on your resume.

I’d add to that: (3) if you decide to go to grad school to weather the recession there, look for a “free ride”–not only free tuition, but a stipend for work you do while in school. They are available, especially if you work as a T.A., lecturer, or lab assistant while you’re a grad student.

Good luck, don’t be despairing, and know this will pass!

Before graduating last May I knew the economy was going to be tough (didn’t realize it was going to be THIS bad, heh). I had always considered a career in academia and so I went onto a Masters program soon after graduation.

I thought I was smart by doing an intensive 1 year program at a top European university instead of the mormal two-year process at a U.S. school in order to save money and time, but now with unemployment still rising and graduation (again) coming in a few months…maybe an extra year with less stress wouldn’t have been so bad…

As for debt, I’m hoping that Congress will provide some sort of debt relief for federal student loan holders, even if all they do is reduce the interest rate a bit. If that doesn’t happen…there’s always the chance that inflation will reduce our debt burden!

I agree with the ‘82 grad. Just because we graduated from college doesn’t make us entitled to any job anywhere. If you want a good job, have a super attitude right now no matter what you are doing, even if it is working part-time at the car wash. Employers want good attitudes and excellent interpersonal skills. Start now.

The class of 2008 is also struggling. I recently emailed a friend who I hadn’t spoken to in a while and he said the reason he hadn’t tried to contact me was because he was embarrassed to tell me that he still didn’t have a job….but niether do I so it wasn’t a big deal. Plenty of us are still waiting tables or working jobs where we are completely over qualified. I can’t wait for this to be over so that we can all get jobs in fields even remotely close to what we studied in college.

At an art school, I’ve found that many students looking into the future have decided to stick with their original goals of filmmaking and studio art rather than transferring to what parents have always told us were the “more practical” routes. It seems to us that when its a bleak job market for everyone, its safer to stay in a field where we have always learned to create our own work. This morning there was an article in the New York Times about artists pushing forward even in this market. It’s actually encouraging in a way for students in fields that have always been considered a gamble, like theatre and film.

I think the housing situation plus the economy is eliciting a new situation, the “my guy,” who is not a boyfriend. One lives with “my guy,” having discovered through trying to live with a boyfriend that it is better to live with someone in a less freighted relationship, especially with jobs so iffy. These women (two that I know) were being bounced around through losing jobs as well as finding themselves coming up short against more experienced workers.

The internet generation, apply to another 50 jobs online and get zero responses.

I have just graduated with a degree in history. I consider myself fortunate to be going to grad school at Case Western next year. I like to think that it will give me a boost in the job market while waiting out the economic storm. I feel sorry for my cousin who is waiting for the North Carolina state budget to pass to know if her teaching degree will get her a job next year.
While I go to grad school, I’m still going to do my best to keep my job at the post office that I may fall back on if things haven’t picked up when my master’s is done.

If nothing else, the economic downturn has taught me that job security is never as solid as one might think. Unless you are a critically necessary worker in a company/organization, you should always be looking over your shoulder. Today I feel that a job in government is a better option than taking my chances in the private sector.

I graduated last May, (magna cum laude in Philosophy, by the way!) and after six months of part-time work and minimum wage jobs, I finally landed a job at a non-profit. My overacheiving friends have all been in the same boat, several part-time jobs (one particularly bright English major is currently waiting tables). While it is depressing to have paid around $100,000 for an undergraduate degree to work for a very low wage, I resent the label that my generation often recieves as being “entitled” or “lazy”. My friends and I are doing what we have to do to pay our bills.

I have two recent graduate sons so I am familiar with this issue.

I wonder where is the contract that assures college graduates that they will have a job in their field of choice when they graduate? An education is its own reward.

Secondly, there is a lot of talk around about how tragic it is that recent college grads can only get jobs at the cheesecake factory or doing some other type of manual labor. This seems to me to be particularly insulting to the thousands of men and women who regularly work at these kinds of jobs without complaint and with pride.

I graduated with a Master’s degree in Geography (GIS) on May 15th from Texas State University.

I am very fortunate to have an internship with the federal government for the United States Geological Survey. This internship expires 120 days after my graduation! Our office has just lost a geographer which is rather convenient for me. I feel confident that I will be offered a permanent position soon.

However, many of my classmates are going straight into various PhD programs. I would encourage everyone to be flexible and extremely open-minded. My best friend cannot believe I would take a job that pays $40,000.00. She is expecting to start at $75,000.00! She won’t even entertain the idea of taking less (yet).

Initially, I never would have thought about working for the government. I was dead-set on a private (big money) consulting job. But my happiness and quality of life have sky-rocketed working for the feds. The perks and benefits are amazing! And they are actually hiring, unlike the private sector. Yes, I am making less money than my peers working in the private sector, but I’m home by 6:00 pm and have EVERY holiday off. This job will be extremely conducive to having a family and building a life-long career. I can really see myself working for my country for the next four decades.

The best advice I can give is to be humble. Approach this amazing challenge with humility. Yes, we are special because we went to college. Something like 1% of the world population goes to college and finishes. But having a degree is not a free ride to anywhere. We must still start at the bottom and work up.

I wish everyone good luck!

I graduated in 2004 from a 2 year trade school of sorts where my focus was graphic design. That put me out in the industry for 2+ years earlier than my 4 year counterparts. It’s been huge just to get more experience and get a grip on the post-college world.

That said, I’m currently unemployed and I hope my extra 2 to 3 years of experience might help me out in the coming months.

Better grammar and not saying “you know” constantly would improve one’s chances of getting a journalism job.

I’ve always believed that the purpose of attending college is to enhance your quality of life and not to guarantee a job. I was a Liberal Arts graduate and really appreciate the value of a college education.

I graduated college in 1992 when the economy was almost a bad as it is today. I took whatever jobs I could find right out of college, knowing that I couldn’t get a “real” job, saved up as much money as I could for 1.5 year, and then rode my bicycle from Alaska to Argentina as a way to “ride” out a bad economy. When I returned, and even to this day, I think my trip helped me get some jobs, or at least made me stand out from other applicants.

DON’T COME TO IRELAND DUDE! I live in Dublin right now and there are NO JOBS!

It seems to me that one possible employment option for graduates from the class of 2009 is to get a job with a grassroots group to pressure congress to fund higher education more so that maybe, some day, students won’t have to be put 30,000 dollars into debt just to get an education (and those of us with loans might be granted loan amnesty?)

I can’t help but notice how these 2009 graduates seem to expect that they can follow their passion right out of school. They need to realize survival comes first, following your passion second and this has always been true regardless of the financial climate. Moving home was not an option for me when I graduated so I took a job to pay the bills. It was a solid 6 years after I graduted before I could begin to follow my passion. They cannot expect anything to be handed to them and it sounds like the do.

The job market is extremely difficult for everyone right now for everyone. It’s unfortunate for these folks, but really, should the economy be better, I think they expect to walk right into the job they were educated for, with no experience. this is completely ridiculous. Barton, get a clue! You and your automatic expectations!!!

I graduated with an english lit degree in 76. Upon graduation, I worked at an electronics plant nights, until I found something better. The ‘better’ job ended up being the Traffic Clerk at a local manufacturer – processing the shipping papers with their archaic computer system. I stuck around, learning the systems as they evolved. I’m now an Oracle Financials System Analyst – a far better and more interesting job than I ever envisioned for myself. I took my lumps and did GL Accounting, customer service, receivables accounting – whatever came my way and I’m very happy now my career took of in an unexpected direction.

Tell that earlier listener to save the airfare – the Irish economy is in a far worse situation than the US, and healthcare over there may be free, but with government cutbacks to an already strained system, you’re getting exactly what you pay for – nada!

Ashley — TAKE THE INTERNSHIP in Atlanta!!!!! It’s a PAID JOB! Jobs were scarce back in the early 80’s and again in the early 90’s; recessions happen and they go away. Be flexible, be open-minded, take a chance. Good grief!! I’m hearing a lot of kids willing to be open-minded, but an awful lot of whining…………

signed — been there, done that

“I’m graduating, and i automatically expect a job.” PLEASE! There is a sense of entitlement with those in their early 20s. I graduated in 1995, and it took me 7 months to find a job in New Orleans. I sent out 100+ resumes all over the country, and finally found a job as a Marketing Assistant in New Orleans. I’m proud to have built my career over the years in small steps, having landed in Boston as the Production Director of a national magazine. These kids expect to get their dream job with their diploma. Hate to break it to them…it just doesn’t work that way. It takes time and a myriad of experiences to get where you want to be. Get over it and quit being so selfish! It’s not all about you!

Great show, Tom. I graduated in 1986 from a prestigious college with a double major in Histoyr and Chinese. No jobs available, Times were tough, but you had to get over yourself and move forward. I became a serial entrepreneur and the discipline required to succeed in tough times served me very well as I ran two companies. Like Rahm Emanuel says, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste!” Stop worrying and start creating!

I graduated in 2007, I was a non traditional student; i worked my way through for 6 years and I have had some interviews hoping to get my foot in a cooperate world. But I have gotten no where and I resorted to doing what I have done for ten years- driving a taxi.

The recent grad Tom has on today and others like her need to get her head in the real world and realize that life is not going to throw roses at her just because she has a degree and five internships – it means very little. Start from the bottom and work up. She and others like her are entitled to nothing – so I beg them to please stop whining and become a bit more humbled. Work is work – regardless of the occupation – prove to the world that you are willing to do whatever it takes to grow as a person. Sitting around complaining about how hard life is will not get you anywhere. Yes, times are tough but these kids already have it a lot better than many, many others.

It’s a hard time for recent jobs for sure, but any job is honorable. It’s hard not to hear the entitlement of the recent grads who are turning their nose up to a paid internship rather than seeing it as an opportunity. There are people with more education and experience vying for the same jobs — recent undergraduates would do well by exploring all options, even internships.

If young people have a sense of the new economy, they could be more successful entrepreneurs than they might think. The big drawback is health insurance. They may find they can barely pay for their own insurance, never mind insurance for assistants as their idea begins to bear fruit.
I say do patchwork work till it falls in place.

I agree with many of the comments regarding the sense of entitlement coming from many of the graduates or pending graduates, including Ms. Barton on the air.

I too would like to see the contract guaranteeing desired employment upon graduation.

Who instilled these values into our young people and why do they persist? This recession may serve as a giant attitude readjustment session that will hopefully eliminate this sense of entitlement that is currently plaguing young people.

Ms. Barton is not ready for the real world yet.

OMG — a journalism major whose every other word is “you know,” and who HAS to have the exact right perfect job she went to school for. Get real, this is LIFE. (oh, and good luck to all ^_^)

Your view will grow- you will learn that any job you have will give you lessons that you can take to the next job. It DOES NOT Matter what that job is.
You can highlight those skills in your resume, and keep up the work that you want to do, write, publish when you can, blog, network, but be sure to maintain perspective

Eamonn is right. I’m leaving the Emerald Isle in two weeks to return to the U.S. Seven of my Irish friends have already emigrated to Australia. Europe in general, and Ireland in particular, is not the place to be looking to pick up work (of any kind) right now. The labor market is far less flexible than the American one, thus while fewer people get laid off it also means fewer people get hired.

If you’re seriously considering leaving the U.S. (a bad idea in my view) your best right now is either Canada or Australia. But really, unless you have a near-guaranteed job, it’s probably not work the cost.

WHY ISN’T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT PUTTING PRESSURE ON THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO MANDATE NO OVERTIME, AND A 35-HOUR WORK WEEK (AS IS THE CASE IN SOME HIGHLY DEVELOPED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES)?

THIS WAY WE WOULD HAVE FULL 100% EMPLOYMENT — AND EVERYONE WOULD HAVE GREATER BALANCE IN THEIR LIVES, BEING ABLE TO PURSUE OTHER INTERESTS AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY.

THE NUMBER ONE OBSTACLE IS THAT HEALTH INSURANCE IS STILL TIED TO EMPLOYMENT, INCREASING COST PER EMPLOYEE TO THE EMPLOYERS.

IF YOU WANT JOBS IN AMERICA, DEMAND DECOUPLING OF HEALTH CARE FROM EMPLOYMENT.

Young grads should be looking for careers in the transportation industry. There is a huge need for talented young civil and transportation engineers, land use and transportation planners, project management law, environmental planning,financial management, IT, GIS, logistics, etc. There are also positions in communications and marketing. I have worked in this field for almost 20 years and there is a great need for people to fill positions that aare open due to baby boomer retirements at a time when there is finally investment in transportation infrastructure. There are positions in the public (state and federal) and private sector (consulting, engineering and design firms).
Transportation is a critical societal need and work in this field is really interesting.

I admit to feeling irritated when I see “Hire me” on graduation caps. To me the message is “What can you do for me now — and do it now”. I am not looking to hire the “hire me’s”. I am looking to hire “I am a harder worker, and this is what I can do for you”.

I would like to elaborate the point I briefed about during my call to the program today, regarding what can be done to make today’s graduated more marketable (capable).

I believe that universities, academic programs, and most of all, professors have a critical role to play in proactively helping students find value-add careers.

A case in point is our “global supply chain and operations management (GSCOM) program” at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, in which:

(1) We attract serious, motivated students by communicating the program rigor and work expectations,
(2) Educate them with cutting-edge concepts “AND” analytic skills/tools in twin domains “supply chain management” and “business operations/process improvement” through a rigorous 5-course series,
(3) Link students directly to industry partners through our “Global Supply Chain and Process Management (GSCPM) Center”, where students apply these competencies to execute projects with significant bottom-line performance implications for Center partners like Cummins, Eaton, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, and consequently
(4) Graduate a majority of our undergraduate students with the unique “lean-six-sigma greenbelt certification” from industry. (We are told oftentimes by our Center partners and employers as to how unique it is for a bachelor’s graduate to have these qualifications, walking into an employer on Day 1).

It is no surprise then that, even in today’s economy, graduates from the program are finding exciting career opportunities in employer firms like Bank of America, Boeing, Eaton, Ingersoll-Rand, Target and other firms, at quite competitive compensations.

The whole idea is, in Tom Friedman’s (World is Flat) terminology, to produce graduates who are specialized and adaptable; raising the value-proposition to a potential employer.

The replicability of the above model is contingent upon integrating several factors and participants. But outcomes make it worth! This type of “customer focus (customers being the final industry employers)” and “creation of underlying educational processes and opportunities” are what can help universities and programs around the country to be a part of the solution to the current economic crisis.

— Professor Sanjay Ahire, Moore School of Business
University of South Carolina

Quit bashing the Cheescake Factory! I have a degree in History and I work as waiter 4 nights a week. I make more than $800 week in tips alone and I have plenty of time to travel, hit the beach and enjoy life. I work with great people in a fun enviroment plus I get to eat for free. Your grads sound like a bunch of spoiled whinners. Grow the f#@* up and quit acting like the world owes you something. It doesn’t.

I feel awful for all of these new graduates who will soon discover that they may not recapture the value of the time and money they invested in higher education. Some if not many of them run the risk of completely LOSING the value of their college degrees. If they end up unemployed or involuntarily-underemployed-out-of-field, will hiring managers and partners (who are often well-to-do and disconnected from the reality of these situations) be able to overlook the holes in these people’s resumes or will they just assume that these people are losers who lack the ability to function and produce in the fields they trained for?

This issue also raises the question of whether or not we, as a society, are over-educating people. Does it really make economic sense to overproduce college graduates? We already have a huge amount of unemployed, underemployed, and underemployed-involuntarily-out-of-field people in a great many fields, including Ph.D. scientists, MBAs, lawyers, computer scientists, and even engineers.

Every time someone invests large amounts of money, time, and effort to obtain training for a certain field and that training goes unused, not only does it mean that the graduate will suffer tremendous negative economic consequences, but in aggregate it constitutes a huge amount of economic waste for our society.

[b]Is it thus time to question the College Education myth?[/b] Is it time to question the dogmatic notion that college education is always worthwhile and that we need more and better education (for non-existent job positions)?

Perhaps we as a society and our government should focus on economic solutions to our economic problems and not on education as the solution to our economic problems. We need to address the issues of [b]Global Labor Arbitrage[/b] (foreign outsourcing, the importation of foreigners on work visas such as the H-1B and L-1 visa who displace Americans from knowledge-based jobs, and mass immigration–both legal and illegal–which depresses wages for the lower classes). We also need to address the issue of Population Explosion, which results in increased stress on the environment and reduces the amount of natural resources (a form of wealth) per person.

Instead, our politicians sell the notion that our problem is that we need more and better education to the populace and the people drink this Kool-Aid like sheep.

Sadly, because we as a society refuse to address or to even acknowledge these issues, our population will swell to half-a-billion in a few decades and we will have merged our economy with the third world, resulting in our nation’s becoming a Third World America and an American Economic Holocaust.

When I graduated from college in 2005, I was turned down by Pottery Barn! I couldn’t understand why employers didn’t see me for the bright person that professors saw. The thing that helped me lose the ego, was working jobs that I felt were beneath me, and realize that work is called work for a reason.

I would like to second what several have said about the difficult time those of us who have graduated in previous years experienced. When I was nearing graduation in the early 1990’s, I had many conversations with my fellow undergraduates about how difficult they were finding their job searches. “Everyone want’s experience,” or “there are no jobs in my field,” and similar observations were true, but this was nothing new. It was actually the exception that someone who only had a college degree could walk out and get a job no problemo.

Sure times like this make it even harder to find a job, but the current generation graduating have an enormous amount of entitlement and hubris. I find this in my own university students, my colleagues working in biotech find the same thing, even friends who hire new would-be lobbyists in Washington D.C. report this phenomenon…I actually think this difficult dose of reality in the form of not being able to find ready employment is the best thing for this current generation. It can only make them stronger. And perhaps a bit more humble and a bit more retrospective about the amount of debt they all to often take on.

I like Frank The Underemployed Professional’s point that stress on the environment reduces the amount of natural resources per capita (a form of wealth, to be sure, or poverty). The capitalist idea of the more the merrier is reaching the natural end of its relevance, at least very likely so.
I want to make a point about the “entitlement” and “hubris” of college graduates. I think that when colleges and universities are draining so much money from the students, the whole ethos sort of has to be toward persuading them that academic success is valuable in the “real” world, is valid beyond the ivory towers. This has always been so. Of course. From very young, I remember being taught to scorn those who did not know when to say “lay” rather than “lie,” or “whom” rather than “who.” Out of school, one learns to value those who have an ear for the way language is slowly twisting as time goes by.
I do think education at all levels needs to be re-engineered. Needs change. I understand the politicians who tout college as the secret to the new economy. They see employees in factories being laid off by the thousands and do not see what next factory might need them. At least a couple of years of community college, it seems, are needed to boost the skills into the 21st century realm, whatever that might be. Yet it is not wholly clear what the 21st century skills will be. Simply to be a service-provider nation seems like a nonstarter, witness the financial services and where they have got us. Pop goes the weasel. Yet a Production economy, in an era of diminishing resources, is equally suspect. People need to be less accumulative, amortized over the entire globe (if that is the word).
Those who weigh in on how students can appeal to existent corporations may miss the extent to which total overhaul (of our deployment of resources of all types) may be desirable. I trust that winning a spot in the old hierarchy is not everybody’s dream path into making their best contribution.

As a graduate of 2009, and a current job seeker, I am living proof of what Ms. Barton was speaking about.I’ve applied to an average of 25 jobs a week and have been interviewed only to find there are not positions available.

“Better grammar and not saying “you know” constantly would improve one’s chances of getting a journalism job.”

Also, “I mean”.

If Ashley was hoping to parlay this appearance into a broadcasting job, I don’t think she did herself any favors.

How come these new graduates are not thinking of starting their own business. If they can live at home, this may be the best time to create your own opportunity to earn a living, rather than look for somebody else to pay you money for your work.

I graduated last June from UC Santa Barbara (2008), with a BA in Environmental Studies, lots of internship and work experience, and have been carrying on a persistent and relentless job search ever since. I went into the Environmental field thinking as an emerging industry there would be ample job opportunities. No such luck.

Most of my friends and classmates moved back with their parents thinking it would be a short term move, but most are still there, and just doing ANY job they can. Personally, I’m finding myself continuing the restaurant job I’ve held for the past 3+ years, living at home, to make my loan and now health insurance payments.

I’ve determined my best option is going back to school. I’m beginning to take classes at community college to apply for nursing programs this coming fall — a field I’m interested in and know has a growing need for new professionals.

I have spent many hours applying for basically any job open, and have found myself leaving interviews thinking I was convincing and did a great job – but it seems I’m either over qualified, or there is some one else who fit the position better. Temporary positions are hard to come by, as everyone is looking to do anything to pay their expenses. I certainly haven’t given up on job search, but I’m turning back to school and hoping for things to turn around.

It’s really sad that going to college, or any level school for that matter, has somewhere along the line stopped being about learning things about the world, about who we are, what’s going on around us, just expanding our minds and our knowledge, and learning more about what we are capable of and interested in.

Now it’s all about a J-O-B…

Is this what we were born for?

Good point, Eva.

Interesting post, Victoria. However, there really should be a huge intersection between, as you say, “what’s going on in the world, who we are, just what’s going on around us, expanding our minds and our knowledge, what we are capable of and interesting in” (liberal arts) and J-O-B-S. I fault my own liberal education for not giving me that sense of the real world, and of my potential identity in that world. How could they miss? I can figure that out for myself, given about ten years. I also fault the job-focused education that I have sought out locally. In every case I have thought I could learn the skills much more expeditiously myself, and in most cases the skills did not pan out. One could look to such education (or conferences in various fields) for networking, identifying pathways others are using. More often I’m telling myself to skip the “help” and do the learning independently.
When people talk about “experience,” I’m wondering. In fields besides medical doctor there is huge focus and involvement needed, and focus that cannot be exactly led or mentored. It has to be self-guided involvement. The best education will teach you that you can do it by yourself, and better than with guidance. The question would be what does the world need that I can provide, and how can I start at that?
Moira with the Environmental Studies background — how can she be heading toward nursing! What a waste! Nursing may be a “profession” with a more obvious route, but… Whatever Environmental Studies is, I hope they have better organizations that herd their practitioners into what I assume are often still nascent startups. There should be magazines you can advertise in or be advertised for. I’m not sure if you do chemical type things, public health type things, engineering type things. But don’t give up, please.

My client, Experience, Inc. has been measuring the job outlook for college grads for years. While it is true that 17% of the Class of 2009 confirmed they had received job offers, this number does not markedly differ from previous years’ results: in 2004, 18% of college seniors reported having an offer in-hand; in 2005, that number was 25%; in 2006, 20% and in 2007, it was 22%. (Last year’s graduates were the only ones to report a job acceptance rate greater than 30% prior to graduation.)

This historical context offers a new outlook on the job market for college grads – and companies are still hiring. For more on current opportunities, visit experience.com or hiringbeat.com

I will be graduating with my bachelors degree in december of this year by doing an accelerated program and working my butt off to be on the deans list while working full time as a waitress. I just wanted to make a couple of comments. One is to the listener who said she was sick of hearing whining from the 2009 graduates. I’m sure there are some people whining out there, but forgive us (the ones who work full time at crappy jobs to put ourselves through school for a better future) for being a little irritated for hearing our whole educational life, to do our best, get good grades, work hard, blah blah blah. And now that we are doing all of those things, some of us on our own, still can’t even get an interview!
I’m turning 23 this summer, and working in the restaurant business for 9 years, and serving for 7, i’m ready to get what i deserve just as everyone else is!
Noone deserves to be jobless right now and the whole unemployment thing sucks for everybody, i understand that completely both of my parents are currently unemployed because they were laid off. I just really hope, with all of my heart, that this gets better because there are some serious world-changers out there working at restaurants and bars that should be in more useful positions!

I’m late posting here, just heard the podcast, but Ashley needs to seriously reconsider her situation. Take the internship if there is any chance it will help her improve her grammar and learn to speak coherently.

I graduated from an Ivy in the early 70s; it seemed the same way…no jobs in my major either. But I took a job to pay the bills, applied to state government and had a wonderful 30-year career truly making the world a better place.

So, kids, go with the flow. It’s a big world, and it’s pretty egotistical to think that you already know excactly what you want. Most 50 year olds haven’t got that figured out yet, so you probably don’t either.

Wow, what was it with all the dumping on the Cheesecake Factory and other jobs like it? I hate to say it, but the economy still isn’t doing poorly enough to actually make people care about jobs. I frequently visit Buenos Aires and I’ve seen older gentlement who are waiters as CAREERS (and are probably better at it than these whiners will ever be at their chosen job!) and these kids here are dumping on food service.

In high school and college I had a job at a B. Dalton Bookseller and it was some of the most fun I had in my life. I learned punctuality, organization, leadership, customer service, practiced my Spanish, even how to talk to kids (at least to tell them to stop tearing up the books!), lessons I use to this day.

Is food service (or whatever) your chosen field? Maybe not, but don’t EVER think it’s beneath you. If you do, then the reverse is true.

I bet that YOU people are the reason we get such crappy service from waiters (and surprise, the bigger the restaurant, the crappier the service… is it because anything less than the Cheesecake Factory is beneath you too?), or those kids at Best Buy who don’t know what they’re doing (acting dismissive towards customers, even swearing in front of them!), are passionless about what they do, and on the whole make a client experience horrible.

Don’t get me started on this obnoxious sense of entitlement. Life is work, get off your butts and get in the game.

Learn to speak Colombian then apply for a job at Dunkin Donuts. Guarantee they will hire you.