In a time when jobs are scarce, hard work and determination are more important than ever, but seem to be lacking from this generation.
The United States of America was built on the foundation of hard work and a “do-it-yourself” attitude. It is the very reason we have rags to riches stories about people growing up in a poor household and becoming Harvard graduates. If you work hard, you will be rewarded for it.
I have noticed a disturbing trend lately that fewer and fewer young adults possess the motivation and persistence to be successful. Americans have always been hard working people, but this generation has forgotten how to work hard without complaining about it. If I hear one more person whine that they have not found a summer job and “have looked everywhere,” I’m going to scream.
It’s pretty simple in my eyes: If you want a job, then you have to be willing work.
Not only do people have to be willing to accept lower-paying jobs, but they have to be willing to work harder to get those jobs. People also have to be willing to relocate. Someone who takes the approach that they are too good to landscape houses or bag groceries is going to find out really quickly insurance, rent, vehicles, and cell phones do not pay for themselves.
It’s not enough anymore to apply online to company and wait for a response. It’s not enough to drop off resumes and not follow up. Go into the business, talk to the manager, find out about the company, call back three or four times, and then you just might get an interview. It does not sound very easy, and guess what, it’s not. In the end, you will be the one employed while everyone else is left still searching.
When I began working at the age of 16 pushing carts and bagging groceries. I did not particularly enjoy it, but it was a job. It was work. The long days of standing on my feet and taking out garbage, cleaning bathrooms and sweeping floors was certainly not fun, but it was better than not working at all. It was better than shoveling and pushing wheelbarrows for 13 hours a day, which is how I spent my previous two summers.
For many graduating seniors, there are different approaches to obtaining a job because typically people are looking for a career position instead of just something to do. Unfortunately, jobs do not come as easy as they used to you just might have to work a temporary job to hold you over until you find the one you are looking for.
Working is not easy and sometimes people have to work 60 or 70 hours a week to keep their jobs. The difficulty is doing it with a smile and not grumbling that you could be out on the lake or golfing. The fact of the matter is that if people want to work, they just might have to get their hands dirty and work. Everybody has to start somewhere and most of the time they do not start out with the perfect job.
There is one thing for certain, if work was easy or fun, it would not be called work. n