Last week, Business Week ran a story titled: “The Lost Generation.” Gertrude Stein coined the term to describe the generation that came of age during and immediately after World War I.

Business Week used the term to refer to young people who would normally be entering the workforce but who can’t find a job. Here’s the lead.

“For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of ‘lost generation.’ Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.”

The Business Week story is aimed at executives and policy makers. But what if you’re one of those people who thought you’d be finding your first job right now and aren’t having any luck? Then you need to hear Dan’s story. The name is made up, but the person is real.

When Dan got out of high school he faced a situation like you’re facing. He’d apply for entry-level jobs and compete with men and women his parents’ age who had been laid off.

There weren’t a lot of those jobs, either. It was the middle of a recession.

At first he gave up. But after a month or so he realized that “No one was going to wake up in the morning and call me to offer a job if didn’t let them know I was available.” He went back to looking.

The first job he got was as a temp helping companies out at trade shows. Then he got a job selling children’s shoes. That was not his career objective, but he took it.

At one of the trade shows he struck up a conversation with a speaker who taught sales technique. The man gave Dan a short selling course. He used that selling shoes.

From selling shoes he went to work for a job he thought he’d like. It turned out to be mostly writing reports which he hated. So he learned to write good reports.

Later he got a job as a computer tech. He picked up the skills he needed along the way. He worked for a couple of awful employers until he got hired by a great one.

This didn’t happen overnight. It took several years. But if Dan had never gone back to looking, he never would have gotten that first job. He took it even though it wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. He learned something at every job. He made connections at every job, too.

If you’re one of today’s “Lost Generation” remember Dan. Keep at it. Get something, even if you string part-time and temp work together. That creates opportunities for learning and growth.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.