I read an interesting fact on a website called katv.com that wrote an article called “Young men are accomplishing less than ever before. Experts point to ‘male malaise.'” Here is the article in case you want to read:
https://katv.com/news/nation-world/young-men-are-accomplishing-less-than-ever-before-experts-point-to-male-malaise-pew-research-america-usa-toxic-masculinity-jobs-employment-parents-reeves-fry
There was a statistic that really stuck out to me. “Only 39% of 21-year-old men worked full-time in 2021 compared to 64% in 1980. Only 25% were financially independent from their parents compared to the earlier 42%.”
Really? Only 25% of young men ages 21 were financially independent, which I find really sad. I am young, but I have heard that things were simple just a decade or two ago. You could afford the necessities and living expenses just off a slightly higher-paying job. The average was enough, with enough men being able to support themselves quickly while they were young. But now, to afford a bare apartment, you have to work 2 jobs on 12-hour days, 6 days a week.
Of course, men are going to be lost. Who thinks that they should be working for that long that often? Everyone needs a work/life balance, regardless of age. Why not just sit in your room, play video games, or talk to friends online? Of course, every guy is going to do that. The world now is just too financially challenging, and due to us being able to see only the top performers of our time (celebrities, CEOs, models, and other high-performing people in our society), guys (like me) feel like they can’t compete. The only solution is to hope for a miracle.
And I have been there. I have been in a position where it can feel hopeless like I have no sense of direction, and no matter what action I take, I end up drowning. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
But eventually, you are going to be on your own. Parents never live forever, and there comes a time when we have to be able to fend for ourselves.
So whenever a young guy is ready to start hustling, I recommend reading the below. Hopefully, it will help.
So, to begin with, it is time to go over the 5 ways young men have trouble growing their careers.
1. NOT NETWORKING
Let’s start this one off strong. Networking is essential when you are trying to get a job. No matter the skills you have, the person you might be, or any degrees you may have, you can’t get a job if no one notices you.
Just think about it. Some children have a guaranteed job and good positions just because their parents are well-educated and can take them to school or get them into the same company they work for. That’s just one person that you can be born with.
But now, apply that to your friends, family, and even strangers. And yes, I do mean strangers.
Not everyone is a heartless monster. Many people want to help. So, if you know someone well off or who needs a position filled, remember that everyone would like to work with someone they know rather than someone they don’t.
As for researching this topic, according to CNBC, a whopping 80% of job listings aren’t even posted publicly. No signs, postings online, nothing. In fact, one of the worst parts they describe is how people from disadvantaged backgrounds almost required an internship or mentoring of a high-standing person to guarantee financial security. If you want to have a read, I’ll leave the link here:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/how-to-get-a-job-often-comes-down-to-one-elite-personal-asset.html
2. UNDERSTANDING YOUR WANTS/CAREER GOALS
Many people don’t really stop and ask the question, “What do I want my work week to look like? Do I want to be doing hard physical labor five days a week? Do I want to talk with people about their trauma? Do I want to educate children?”
Understanding what you want your work to be like is essential to accepting your job and having more fun with it than having it seem like an overbearing chore. Plenty of people hate their jobs but don’t exactly know what they want to be or do in the first place.
Sure, plenty of people (as stated above) can get a job with their parents. It could be a well-paying job with lots of downtime. But that doesn’t work for every person. Some people want to work really hard in the dirt, while others like to work on math problems. Not every job is going to be wanted by all people.
A good resource is normally career builders, which you end up getting recommended by your high school or college counselor. I recommend one that is given to people in Alberta, Canada. Another website I recommend if you would like a job counselor or are just taking a career/ personality test is jobtest.org. Links are here:
https://alis.alberta.ca/careerinsite/know-yourself/find-your-fit/preferred-knowledge-quiz
https://www.jobtest.org
3. UNDERSTAND THAT ALL JOBS HAVE DOWNSIDES (BE READY FOR THEM)
Let’s review a construction worker, a doctor, and a CEO. On the surface, one of these jobs is desirable—probably the CEO. We usually think of them as people who sit in an office, get paid too much, and make (sort of) important decisions. But peel back the layers of the job, and you’ll realize that getting there was terrible.
You have to start by understanding the business that you are running for (and its model.) And I do mean everything. From understanding who your customers are and how you sell to them to understanding the back-end production costs for your product, having good management and communication skills, and even understanding potential pitfalls that would doom the company. This means that you are learning every in and out of the trade for about a decade and a half to ensure that the company runs smoothly. But that’s only if you are chosen to be the head honcho of the company, for the higher-ups may not even want you as the CEO anyway, no matter how qualified you might be.
These are the downsides of becoming a CEO and earning 6 to 7 figures per year. Depending on who you are, you might be ok with going through the learning and hard work to get there for the money.
Now, apply this to other jobs. Being a doctor requires 8 years of study and potentially long hours. But you are getting a guaranteed position and can easily make 6 figures a year.
Being a construction worker requires no prior experience but forces you to work long, laborious hours for an average of $27,000 annually. (nation average)
So ask yourself, “What downsides am I ok with?” “What would I like my working day to be like?”
4. NOT RELYING ON YOUR FRIENDS
And don’t say you don’t have friends. You have friends who own up to it. Whether you have friends only at work, school, or even people you hang with at a shop, those are still friends.
Humans naturally root for those in need, so why not ask them about potential job opportunities? There should be no harm in asking them to be on the lookout for jobs in their area, on LinkedIn, or even anywhere they go. It could even be a remote job. The possibilities become much broader when you have others’ eyes and ears to help you score a job or put you on a potential career path you might want.
You could even think of the opportunities that friends might give you just because they like you. They could teach you how to perform at a job so you could get hired at the company that they work at. All you need is just a single person to let you in and put a good word for you, and it can make all the difference.
5. NOT LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITY
This last one is the biggest one that gets me going the most.
Many of the men I have talked to have very little grasp on just how much opportunity there actually is here in America. Put this into perspective. I live in the state of Oregon. One of the big cities around Oregon is Portland. Take a guess at how many businesses there are in Portland, Oregon, that have people on a payroll (that isn’t just the boss).
47,000. That’s a pretty big number for just one city. Now imagine all 630,000 people working at those jobs. That’s a lot of businesses, and all those people are getting by just well. Especially with remote jobs becoming more common, we now have more opportunities for jobs and careers than we ever have in two decades just off the internet alone.
I know things are stacked against people; that much is true. But if you go out casting your net into the ocean looking for fish, you will find one after some tries. There is no way it is that hopeless, or else every young person would be jobless.
I ask that you consider talking to people about positions they need to fill at their workplace, looking online at remote job offerings on Indeed, or even just walking into buildings and asking store owners if they need an employee to do a job for them. You will quickly find that there is much more opportunity out there than you might realize. All you have to do is figure out how to solve it for them, and you will be making money in no time.
CONCLUSION
Jobs can be challenging, man. I admit it. They can be brutal and soul-sucking. But that doesn’t mean we must make them any harder on ourselves.
We can start making new connections for job opportunities.
Ask friends and family for existing ones.
Understand what we want from the job and the potential downsides we should be ready for.
Most of all, we should understand that we don’t have to look for careers in the same way that our parents did years ago. We have many gifts that we can use to score a job from anywhere in the world or even make our own.
Thank you very much for reading! It means a lot to me that you did. If it was a good read or just beneficial to you, why not consider sharing it with people you know? It helps me out a ton.
If you or another guy you know is lost and trying to find their way, why not check out my services below? We can schedule an appointment or even have a free coffee chat here: https://paperbell.me/max-claunch
Thank you again for reading, and have a good day.