I come from a family where hard work is respected and you earn what you have. I’ve had a consistent form of income since I was at least 16 years old. For the past year I’ve worked a full-time job, a part-time job and been a part-time nanny on the side. I know the value of hard work. I’ve changed jobs a fair few times since I first started working, but before I left a job I always made sure I had something equal or better lined up for myself.

Maybe it’s because of my background, or in spite of it that I can’t fathom how some people claim they “can’t find a job.” Now I know there are places where jobs are harder to come by than others. The area I live in is not one of those. I see ‘help wanted’ and ‘now hiring’ signs everywhere I look!

There are signs on businesses, ads in newspapers, job postings online and I’ve even heard radio ads for some places. With technology finding a job is easier than ever. And yet some people will insist that they are unable to find work.

I will say that sometimes it’s harder to find work than other times. I’ve had to job search online, in person and in the newspaper. I’ve updated and polished my resume countless times. I’ve put in the time and effort to get where I am and I’m proud of that.

Now I’m sure a lot of people will say that it’s my generation. Sure, there are a lot of millennials that aren’t working, but there are even more who are. This is a problem with the older generation too. There are people who would rather live off handouts than work for what they need.

I am in no way saying things like food stamps are wrong. I’m saying the people who are fully capable of working and can’t find work because they are too lazy to actually look for it need to get off their butts and do something about it.

Very rarely do things like job offers just fall out of the sky into your lap. I’m not saying everyone should follow my example and overload themselves with two and a half jobs and full-time school. I’m simply saying there’s no need for someone to be unemployed because they “can’t find a job.”

Even if someone doesn’t want to physically go out and look for places hiring there are alternatives that only require an internet connection. There’s Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, or even Google. Not to mention looking in your local newspaper or asking friends if they know anyone hiring.

The economy may not be the best right now, but there are jobs out there, it just takes being willing to look for them. And sometimes if you put yourself out there you’ll find yourself working somewhere you really like and have way better benefits than you could ever have imagined. The opportunities are there, you just have to take the first step.