My soapbox

I know some people are saying we are coming out of the recession and some are saying we are still in it. Now, as many of you know, I am NO financial genius and probably the last politically in-tune person on the planet (probably next to Cookie Monster), but I do get frustrated with all the “drama” instilled through the media, and maybe it is because I don’t get it, but I am still going to voice my opinion.

What brought this post on? Well, Corey and I were watching something, 60 Minutes or Dateline, one of those shows and the highlight was older people who didn’t have jobs and were struggling in today’s economy and job market. OK, I get it, I mean I know a lot of people that have lost their jobs and it has taken a long time to get back on their feet. It took me six months to find a job in Charleston, so I completely understand what it means to make sacrifices, granted we probably didn’t have to make as many as others, but we were, and still are, affected.

I’m sure my next few sentences are going to ruffle a few feathers, so I will apologize now, but please remember this is an opinion.

My whole aggravation is that it seems a lot of the people shown on TV and in the papers are sitting and waiting for their dream job to come around. I understand you may have been a director somewhere, but do something part time or tack on full time at a retail store. I mean, it isn’t exactly going to promote your resume, but it will show employers that you are doing something, and in that way is most definitely a resume builder. When I graduated college, I thought I was going to move to Charlotte and find my dream job right away. Of course that didn’t happen, but I adapted, got something part time and took internships and sure enough it led to my first job (almost a year and a half later). And there are always part-time gigs out there. I went back to being a waitress several times, and may have to again. It wasn’t enough to buy me a $400 Cole Haan bag, but it paid the bills and allowed me to still enjoy life (with a little added stress of course, ha ha).

Bottom line, stop waiting and do something about it. Reach out to your connections, join new groups and nonprofits and show that you still have the drive to get that job. Everyone’s retirement dream right now is to just retire, we are all dealing with it in one way or another.