✨wow✨

an old roommate told me a story about how in the early 90s her mom showed up to this place to interview for a secretary job

guy from an office across the hall pops his head out and asks if she's here for them, a computer position

she says no nope nu uh I know nothing about computers and he goes WE'LL TRAIN YOU PLEASE WE NEED PEOPLE and yanks her off her feet and through the door

today she's a highly sought after computer technician making bank

the point is that once the economy was so amazing that you could get fired from most jobs and have a new one the following week or even the next day

failure-to-adult

My dad got a bachelors degree and at his peak was making over $500k because he literally just applied to a couple bank jobs in the late 70s and that was that.

My mom doesn't have a university degree; the only reason she isn't a VP at the company she's worked at for nearly 50 years is because she hates leadership.

My manager at work has been with our company almost 30 years, has taken multiple promotions that moved her further from her actual education.

I, meanwhile, have a masters degree and the only way I got in the door with my company (where I'm now full time) was by applying for a part time position so badly paid in terms of skills/education required that they only had half a dozen applicants. They were also the ONLY company out of hundreds who even responded to my application. I'm only in my CURRENT position due to sheer luck of when I was hired vs when a key team member quit+our team being so understaffed by corporate that it was easier for them to move me into his job instead of go through hiring someone else.

I cannot stress enough how much folks used to just be trained on the job, and how much more important on the job experience is vs education in practical matters...

...except that education is used to gatekeep positions and limit applicants in an economy where profits are soaring but cost of living is rising.

Also! One thing I learned from being part of writing my own, current job's description is that jobs tend to have requirements based on their current/former occupants. Which in this job market can result in some seriously fucked up positions because people are having to accept jobs they are vastly overqualified for, so when HR asks them to describe their skillset, HR then decides "well, THEY have a Masters so everyone in this entry level part time position should have one".

Also algorithms and AI in HR.

And yet my parents, even after I have gone out of my way to explain all this to them, STILL assume that my youngest brother can just walk into major corporations and ask to fill out and application for a job.

#the current epoch #twitter #baby boomers #gen z #job market #economy