Just this summer, it took me two months of filling out dozens of ridiculously demanding applications, driving out for interviews, and calling for follow-ups to get a job for the summer. While many think youths these days are too lazy to be employed, here are some basic truths to our struggles to find a job.
Many young adults are actively searching for a job, applying at countless companies, filling out mind-numbing applications, desperately attending the first interview, waiting weeks at a time to hear back for a second interview, after which most companies don't even have the courtesy to call back with a solid "no." We wait weeks and even months to hear back that we got rejected.
I applied to over 24 companies months ago, went to over 20 interviews, and only heard back within a week of applying or attending interview one or two from one company. Yes, only one company had the courtesy to call me and say they were going with a different option.
I had an interview in May and just yesterday, July 24th, received my rejection email, about two months later. I called them multiple times in the weeks after the interview and each time, they said they would call me back with a definitive answer the next week. They were not the first company to pull this childish garbage on me, so I gave up on it a long while ago. The sad part is knowing they certainly won't be the last.
Not to mention that it is even harder trying to be employed with no previous experience. You need to get a job to get experience, yet I need to get experience to get a job. Before I had any work experience, I had to ask my teachers to act as my references, which is anything but impressive to a potential employer. Similarly, the younger you are, the worse it is. No one wants to hire someone under 21 because they can't sell cigarettes or alcohol. No one wants to hire someone under 18 because they're still a minor. No one wants to hire someone with references that all happen to be the teachers they think are least likely to give them a bad review to a potential employer.
Even worse is when you can only work for the summer. Most companies that would even consider hiring a young adult with little or no experience don't offer temporary employment. When they do, it's always for only part-time and at minimum wage or barely over it. Even working 25 hours a week on minimum wage for two months over summer, since it took over a month just to get the job in the first place, is really only going to cover textbooks and food for the first month.
Furthermore, we are supposed to "enjoy our free time while we have it!" All the while, we had better be saving up for college so we can get a job after we get a degree... So I better get a job now... Or maybe two... But enjoy my teenage years because they go by so fast! I need to build up my resume, my responsibility, my time management skills, my work history, my savings for college, my credit, my rent money, my food budget, my car, my insurance, and prepare for my inevitably high cost of living for once I begin transitioning out of high school or college. And don't forget that most experiences, social events, and academic opportunities cost a fair amount of money to attend, which can only be made affordable by doing what you ask? Getting a job.
Likewise, if I find a job as a full-time student, I hinder my capability to focus on my learning. But without this job, I wouldn't have any classes on which to focus because I wouldn't be able to afford them. I am essentially forced to sacrifice time I would rather spend concentrating on my education working so I can have an education to not focus on.
Tell me again how millennials aren't trying to get a job; I dare you.
