The promise made when we were still in our elementary and secondary schooling was simple: after college, you are guaranteed a job. Yet the unemployment rate for college graduates is currently 5.6 percent.
It’s not hard to find someone on campus complaining they have no money or need a job. Yet, often if you ask these same students where they’ve applied for jobs, it is places that either require experience, or positions of greater importance. The age-old argument is, “I’m a college student; I should be the manager, not the cook.”
The problem with this argument is clear: a person cannot obtain certain positions without experience, and rightfully so. If a person started working at Chick-Fil-A at the age of 16 as a cashier, they have the potential to be a manager by 18 with good work ethic and trustworthiness. If a 20-year-old who has never had a job then applies as the manager thinking their age and education would override the 18-year-old’s experience, they are mistaken.
There is nothing wrong with applying for these positions of course, you might get one. However, it is wrong to decide to not work at all if that particular position falls through. There is no honest, legal job an unemployed person is above having.
If a person is comfortable with being unemployed and does not need the money that comes with having a job, then by all means let them be couch potatoes. The second the unemployed person who decided they were above being a cashier at Chick-fil-A begins to complain about being unable to find a job, however, their argument’s validity is lost.
Ultimately, a major problem with being told college guarantees jobs is we were given the idea our job should always pertain to our major, we should be above the people who do not have as sophisticated degrees as us (even if they’ve been there longer and have proven their worth) and we should not have to settle for jobs that also employ high school students. This way of thinking is completely incorrect.
It is important for readers to understand I am not saying nobody is worthy of a managing position or they should not apply for the careers they actually wish to pursue. What I am saying is simple: if you sincerely need money and were only hired as a cashier at a fast food restaurant, accept it.
Nobody is above entrance-level jobs. I urge readers to not only understand this concept, but take advantage of it. If you get the job as a cashier, commit and do it well enough your manager makes you their assistant manager. Use the small jobs which help us pay bills through college as an opportunity to learn, grow and gain experiences that will help upon graduation.
-Nellie is a journalism sophomore.