Saturday, March 20, 2010

Humor That Cuts a Bit Too Close
To the Actual Truth to Be Funny

The satirical Onion newspaper offers this take on the sluggish job market for new college graduates. We'd laugh, except for the fact that behind the humor lies a sea of actual pain for millions of young people eager to find work. The saddest part of all is that your first job after college tends to set your expectations for the world of work over one's entire career. Let's hope this situation turns around soon. Meanwhile, there are plenty of ways to help, besides pointing folks to the Wall Street Journal's thought-provoking career section, which is always rich in actionable insights. This piece outlines five tangible things you can do to help a friend or contact who's hunting for a job. They all apply equally to recent graduates looking for their first career position. We'd love to hear your stories of how you or others are helping, or perhaps being helped.

13 Comments:

At 10:01 AM, Blogger Britta Waller said...

I'm one of two people I know who are sharing their home with friends who have been hit by recession. In both cases, we're sheltering women who have moved laterally into teaching after years in other work and are not yet established enough to have their ideal job.

 
At 10:04 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Good for you, Britta. That's yet another facet of a seemingly endless supply of facets of these challenging economic times. And will "F" be up for continuing that arrangement post-marriage?

 
At 10:28 AM, Blogger Britta Waller said...

He would, but I am hopeful for my friend's sake that she'd only be doing it because she wants to not because she needs to.

 
At 10:31 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

I hear you. Anyway, thanks for so nicely expanding this topic. I hadn't remotely thought of anything like this when I posted that, but of course that's the beauty of putting it out there to a network of smart, talented and especially soulful readers such as yourself, BW.

 
At 3:45 PM, Blogger Art Durkee said...

From the headline I immediately thought of my experience as a long-time listener to "A Prairie Home Companion." I was a big fan when the show was young and new, and when I lived in Michigan, and later Wisconsin. But when I moved to Minnesota, I couldn't listen to the show anymore, because the humor cut WAAAAY too close to the truth of living in Minnesota. It just wasn't funny when I was dealing with those same kinds of people every day. Minnesota, the land of covert, the land of "Minnesota Nice" where they'll be nice to your face but backstab you as soon as you start to walk away. Of course, when I later moved out West to California, I started listening again, and am a big fan again.

But that has nothing to do with college grads. So I digress. Sorry.

verification word: mocha

 
At 3:48 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Gotta say that was by far the most interesting digression of my day thus far. As a wise man once observed (okay, it was me) fast brains sometimes do little but digress, as they make rapid associations between seemingly unassociated ideas. Keep digressing to your heart's content, Art.

 
At 4:56 PM, Anonymous Dave Crain said...

John,

I especially liked your link to the post listing 5 things you can do to help. I'm one of those people that get a lot of referrals and I can relate to many of the points made.

I think #1 on the list was appropriately numbered. "Be Available" and be willing to help. You never know when you might be the person that has an opportunity to make a connection. A recent MBA grad was referred my way a couple of months back, and I really wasn't sure how I could help him, but we had a good meeting. As fate would have it, one of my incubator tenants asked me if I knew any recent grads looking for part time work doing market research. Long story short this was a perfect fit for the guy I had just talked to and he is still with the startup doing all sorts of resume-building projects.

If you're not willing to be available, then you can't help.

 
At 5:11 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Thanks for that sublime example, Dave, and also for just stopping by. You marvelously cement my whole point. Helping is all about attitude, and that begins with being open to spending a little time listening to someone, and then connecting them to appropriate things/people/opportunities. That's why you're a maven and master connector in this region. A lot of people are well connected and knowledgeable. But not all of them have your heart and generosity. That's what it's really all about. Thanks again for taking a moment to share that story.

 
At 11:37 AM, Blogger Kass said...

This hits a little too close to home as my daughter has been laid off for more than a year and has been working on her college degree hoping it will help.

 
At 11:43 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

That's my point in a nutshell, Kass. This is beginning to remind me of what's always been said about cancer: that it basically touches every family at some point, either directly, or through a loved one or good friend.

 
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