But where are the jobs?

As a second semester senior with almost nothing to do (that’s right, I succumbed to senioritis and gave up on doing homework, I’m a disgrace to the Harker community yada yada), I had the bright idea to find a job before heading off into the real world. My pick went to a Starbucks within a walking distance away from my house. Sure I heard about the recent job shortage caused by the financial crisis, but come on – among the emo stoners and other losers already working there, I would surely be the gem in a mountain of pebbles.

Instead of a job offer, reality slapped me in the face. Hard. According to Christopher Rugaber, an Associated Press economics writer, the number of unemployed Americans has soared to 12.5 million just in the last month. What does that mean for hapless coffee shop workers? Less hours and a cutback on raises. What does that mean for me? Spending my next three or so months in Starbucks on the customers’ side of the counter.

This will not stop my senior year, either. Financial advisors say that while the worst is yet to come – unemployment rates should reach an all-time low in 2010 since the Great Depression – the economy is so weak that it will take as much as five years to return to its pre-recession state.

Seems it would be wise to choose a major that will be a hot topic in the decade to come. Question is, Rugaber, is there one?

“Broadly, jobs are being added in education, health care and the federal government, the Labor Department said, with the government adding 9,000 new jobs last month alone. Some places that are hiring, such as companies that make nuclear power equipment, haven't been hit that hard by the recession. Others, such as discount retailers, are actually benefiting from the downturn as shoppers turn thriftier.”

So keep in mind, underclassmen, when you start to think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. It’s one thing to pursue your dreams and another to be practical – like it or not, we live in a completely materialistic world, and you can’t get anywhere without the green.

Like the Comcast commercial goes, everyone loves Money.

What can you do now? As Rugaber points out, retail is fervently grabbing teenagers and twenty-something college students by their blue collars. My friend, already happily working at Starbucks, got a second job at Abercrombie & Fitch. Maybe it’s not exactly discount retail, it’s still $8 an hour.

Goshdarnit. I guess that L'Oréal mascara won’t end up in my makeup bin anytime soon.


You can read the full article here.