First off, this is inspired by this tweet, or retweet, whichever
@andreasmalec: RT @rebeccawissler The new glass ceiling will be gen Y’s climbing the ladder then waiting for senior mgmt to retire. #lma10
I wikipedia’d gen y and I think I fall under that category?
I agree whole heartedly with this tweet. It’s very evident in the places I’ve worked and attended school. These old folks won’t freaking leave. Either become relevant or gtfo. As for ‘climbing the ladder’ which I associate with the ‘American dream’ I rather despise it. I have absolutely no interest in gaining ground, climbing the ladder and being in senior mgmt. All I want is to do what I do, get paid appropriately, pay off my student loans then do whatever I want. There are some things I want to accomplish in my life: start a clothing line, start a music/opinion blog that’s well read, be in a band and some other things. I feel pretty locked in to the corporate world until the student loans are paid off. I know it’s not necessarily true but it also means I don’t view the corporate work force as the perfect solution to working. I don’t wanna be the CEO, the Senior Creative Director, etc. I want to pay off my student loans and be happy. If the opportunity for advancement comes I’m not saying I’ll turn it down but my idea of success isn’t to be the top dawg.
My questions are these: does my generation give a crap about the american dream at all? do we give a shit to climb the ladder? a lot of my friends (college grads) still haven’t put their degree to use and I don’t blame them. They have cool/fun jobs at places like Whole Foods and other neat restaurants/venues. (btw, if you’ve never worked the food service industry you’re missing out, it can really be a blast, maybe not for a lifetime, but for a good couple years) Will my generation regret not wanting to climb the ladder when after 6 years of working food service we can’t get a ‘real’ job b/c we have no experience and what we learned in college has become irrelevant? Are some of us just grinding the corporate world for a few years to ‘get it out of the way’?