I was having a coffee with a friend the other day and she said something that stuck with me.  It was about the plight of young people graduating into a recession.  It was clear that she had children or at least felt their pain.  Her browl furrowed. The frustration was apparent.  I have written many blogs targeted to Millennials including Why Graduates Are Looking For Jobs in All the Wrong Places. I write for Millennials because I am surrounded by them both in my personal and work life. I have enjoyed working with the paid interns I have used for over ten years. The majority have graduated into the workforce.  Occasionally I meet young people who make bad choices.

Soon afterwards I was listening to Q on CBC.  It’s the Canadian in me.  Jian Ghomeshi was away but the guest announcer was interviewing  Emma Keonig  who recently wrote a book called, ‘F**k I’m in my Twenties.’ It was about the lament of youth and the difficulties of finding jobs in the New Normal.

Emma, who I believe lives in New York shared some great perspectives about a world where you could be famous on the internet but couldn’t afford to buy a bagel in the morning.

Yes, these are very difficult times for graduates.  I took a look into a rear view mirror in order to find good times to graduate.

In the Sixties you could graduate and listen to Country Joe McDonald singing ‘One Two Three Four What Are We Fighting For’ and hope you didn’t come home in a Box.  Politicians were telling the public that we had to be in Vietnam, otherwise Asia would go Communist. My college roommate’s sons live in Shanghai.

In the Seventies millions of Boomers were graduating into a bubble where they were overwhelmed the job market.

Terry O’Reilly , the guest announcer on CBC shared his perspective that when he bought a car in the Eighies his interest rate was 22%.

In the late 1990’s we had another recession.

In 2001 we had the Dot-com bust.

Now we are in the Great Recession.

You can’t control the economy. You can’t control when you were born.  You can’t control who your parents will be. You can only control your choices and how you react and adapt to the circumstances around you.  That is how youth succeeds and every generation of young people is smarter and better.  I am glad I live with a lot of them.

You can connect with Hank on Linkedin

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You can watch a video by Hank on Networking Tips for Young People.

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