From ‘Good Job’ to No Job
Unemployment for recent NY grads not mom"s fault
When all else fails, throw mom under the bus.
In a rash of recent articles in the New York Post, New York magazine and the Wall Street Journal, to name a few, company owners and independent recruiters are declaring our young “unhirable because their moms took care of them, resulting in a sense of entitlement.
It seems we coddled them by using the much maligned compliment “Good job when they were 2 and put a book back on a shelf. Because of this infraction, they now have a dreaded case of self-esteem, which people say you should have but are so intimidated by when it is displayed.
We aided and abetted in the travesty that allows all of the 9-year-olds in Little League to garner a trophy's not for winning, but for showing up (what Woody Allen said 90 percent of life is) and participating. One would think an employer would find this training to be a positive, as in: Our kids will show up for work.
We were being “helicopters when we thought's mistakenly's that we were simply taking care of our kids by showing an interest in their day-to-day lives; attending class trips, recitals, plays and games. We realize now that we were only fostering this whole ugly self-worth business.
And what were we thinking with the over-scheduling? (We actually considered it introducing our children to as many interests as possible so they could become well-rounded.) We figured this would come in handy one day when they went on interviews (for schools or jobs) and the request was made: “Tell me about yourself. Our children would be looked upon favorably as they spoke of the instrument they played or sport they excelled in, as well as the traveling they had done. Wrong again.
What is conveniently overlooked is that not only did our kids" mothers take care of them, we also showed them how to take care of themselves. And the “everybody gets a trophy thing falls by the wayside around high school, when not only do most kids fail to get a prize, many don"t even make the team. They also must compete to get into high school and college. Yes, there are “legacies and those whose place in the Ivies was secured by a grandfather who put a new wing on a library, but most just take the SAT and cross their fingers. Sometimes Plan B is the closest they get to their original dream. They are well aware that they are not entitled.
So let"s turn that 9.1 percent unemployment finger around on the people who do the hiring in our no longer jobless nation, where there seem to be many positions to fill. Apparently, they just don"t hire and then pretend it"s because there are no qualified candidates.
In a good economy, those who have the power to give someone their livelihood feel pretty heady. In a bad economy, the arrogance of those in the position to hire is off the charts.
They dismiss people the way the prom queen turned away suitors based upon the side on which they parted their hair. “We"d hire her, but of the 27 computer applications we want people to know, she only knew 26. “He came in to interview with me wearing loafers instead of oxfords. Next.
Then they pick that extreme case who wouldn"t be hirable under any circumstances and use them as a representative of “what"s out there.
This is what"s keeping people out of work.
Those in a hiring position can be assured that nobody, not even their own mothers, will be telling them, “Good job.
Lorraine Duffy Merkl"s debut novel Fat Chick, from The Vineyard Press, is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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