A Sense of Entitlement

Last night I went straight from Job #1 to Job #2 and walked into one of my fellow servers ranting to anyone who would listen. Having recently graduated from college, it seems that she is now 'above' working as a server and is 'utterly ashamed' of the fact that she has to work such a demeaning job now that she has her degree. I graduated from college 5 years ago so I was both amused and irritated by her rant. 

I tried to get her to see reason. I told her that I had been working full time in my field of interest since the day I graduated but that times are hard and I have always had to work a second job. She didn't want to hear that. 

She complained about having applied to so many jobs without so much as a no thank you response. She complained about not getting so much as an interview. I made the mistake of asking her what she wanted to do. "I'd really like to get a job in journalism, like work for Marie Claire or Cosmo. Or maybe work for MTV. I don't know, something really interesting in communications."

It took everything in my power to not burst out laughing. But wait, it gets better.

"I don't feel like I should even try getting some 'in-between' worthless job if its not what I want. I'd rather get a job in the mail room of MTV and work my way up than  settle for something in the meantime."

I asked her how she planned on making money 'in the meantime' since she was so above waitressing and wasn't going 'settle' for just any full time position that came her way.

"Well my dad owns his own business so sometimes I'll just go and answer phones for the day and he'll put $300 in my bank account."

This, my friends, is an attitude I am seeing more and more of - a delusional sense of entitlement. Young 20 somethings fresh out of college are wanting to set the world on fire.....without actually having to do any work. Suddenly it is their graduation day and they are really surprised to find that Apple and Google aren't fighting over hiring them. Like, really surprised. Shocked. "But wait, I have a degree, shouldn't I have been head hunted by now?" 

So I don't want to sound like your mother but there are few things that younger 20 somethings better get through their heads.

1) Marie Claire? Cosmo? MTV? Do you really think you are the only 20 something that wants to work at any of these places? Do you have any idea how competitive it is to even get an unpaid position? And do you really think writing the social column for your sorority's newsletter makes you a journalist? This leads me to my next point.

2) No one is going to hire you without any kind of work experience. I hate to break it to you, but your social column does not constitute 'years of experience' in the journalism field. You will be lucky to get any full time position right out of college. If it is in your field of interest, great! If not, use you time there to learn about the inner workings of an office and figure out how you can leverage this position into a better one. If nothing else, you'll be getting a regular paycheck which will allow you to take the time to look for a better job and help you to become more independent.

3) Independence. This is something younger 20 somethings are becoming lazy about. They all complain about living at home with mom and dad but they are not taking steps to move out. I understand that a lot of 20 somethings are not financially able to move out and that is something that cannot be helped (unless they are waiting for an offer from Vogue, in which case get off your ass and make some money). However, many are being enabled by their parents to continue the party and put off adulthood indefinitely. This includes, but is not limited to: being given money to fill up the tank of the car that was bought for them, being given money for a 'job well done' at mom or dad's business ($300 for a day of answering the phones? What receptionist do you know that makes almost $40 an hour?), having their laundry done, their meals cooked, their rooms cleaned, etc. Cut the apron strings already.

4) You aren't 'owed' a fantastic, full time job just because you graduated from college. It is still a tough economy out there and you really need to put in the time if you expect to find a job. Apply for anything and everything in your field and remember that this is not the time to be choosy. It is great to have goals to work for Marie Claire or MTV but you need to understand that a BA in communications isn't all it takes to get there. Graduating from college is a huge achievement, but your diploma isn't a magic carpet that will take you wherever you want to go. 

5) Get real. You are no better than anyone else for getting your diploma. Most of the county has a secondary degree and last I checked there were more servers than journalists. You are not 'too good' for any job now that you have graduated and it is incredibly ego-maniacal to think so.