REAL Unemployment in the U.S. is Just Under 30% for Ages 15-65 - And The So Called Upside.

[Prodyson]

OK and no offense but where are you now in your career and how successful are you?

At the end of the day this new generation coming up now is facing different challenges than you or I have. I wouldn't recommend too many extra curriculars unless they were surrounding some sort of entrepreneurship.

Physical activity is important, and so are hobbies. But don't do speech and debate club unless that is a viable skill you think will help you going into your targeted career field. Don't do marching band unless you're going into Music. Don't do Chess club unless you find it's helping you think more critically - If you're already a strategic thinker you need to spend your time strengthening a weakness you may have.

Above all else kids need to realize after the age of 16 you can't be a kid anymore. This is why I don't want to have any. They have to compete and start working towards being self-sustaining financially. This means they have to forget about the books especially - We all know these days college and studies is barely half the battle. Even for STEM majors many have reported being 4.0 GPA Cum Laude didn't help them in their career. So this is why many employers ask for GitHub projects and for developers to show what they do on the side to understand how they think and approach projects. Everyone has a different way of doing things but many people align and are on the same page. Many employers want to build a team of like minded engineers. How can you display you are a good fit if you don't have any examples of what you've built?

Civil Engineers should be getting a job on a construction site. They should be observing what is really happening in the field and what the challenges are. They then should be brainstorming ways at a young age how to face these infrastructural challenges. Employers in 2016 and beyond they don't want to train ANYONE. So these kids have to be ready to work right out of college. Nothing in your curriculum will prepare you on how to keep a job moving when for some stroke of bad luck or other bizarre reason all your fork lift operators fell ill on the same day. For a teen who has observed that particular problem before he'll know - Oh, they have a network of fork lift operators available on call from _____ agency. You'll have to pay a premium but it will outweigh the penalties on delivering the project late and having delays.

This mindset that a lot of black folk have and Americans in general is naive. They think they can protect their kids forever and their kids deserve the best. It's entitlement mentality. And we need to get rid of it and realize the only way that can be true is if you own a successful company, guarantee your child a job and role at said company and you own 100% of it. AND the child would have to WANT to follow in your exact footsteps and most don't want to because individuality is stressed in this culture. So for the majority of Americans it is not beneficial to coddle children and somehow make believe that them not beginning a hustle early is realistic for them. Most kids already know from age 13 just in looking at the world today that they're gonna be behind the 8-ball if they don't start now - Even if their parents are in straight up denial.

I'm a systems analyst in Atlanta making about 60k. I'm 28

Edit: And speech and debate is beneficial for obvious reasons. Also, there are studies that prove learning music is beneficial for cognitive abilities. Depending on what you want to do, being well-rounded is better for you than working minimum wage jobs in high school. College may be a different story, but in high school, no I don't think so.

 

[newworldafro]

Folks up here have been saying that for a few years now. Yet, there are posters that get their undergarments twisted when you use ZeroHedge or some non-MSM site to share these same stats. This is why I at these bots, it's sad how clueless they are or seem to be about the facade of official news..

 

[Reginald Noble]

I'm a systems analyst in Atlanta making about 60k. I'm 28

Edit: And speech and debate is beneficial for obvious reasons. Also, there are studies that prove learning music is beneficial for cognitive abilities. Depending on what you want to do, being well-rounded is better for you than working minimum wage jobs in high school. College may be a different story, but in high school, no I don't think so.

So you are in the same age range as me you should know this was in the previous world. Being well rounded was important. Employers actually cared about your hobbies outside of work and cultivating a real "work culture". Motivating employees to work harder by cultivating an environment where personalities mesh.

Now no one gives a fukk - You hone one skill and you do it EXTREMELY well and have a few other companion skill sets you have to a lesser strength, but still above average. And you contribute that and focus on those.

For example in your job (not talking about you specifically) they don't give a fukk that you used to play Football in college in the same division as them. Back in the day they would hire if a dude for that role if had the minimum technical aptitude level, desire to improve and common interests with the team.

These days the only group that respects each other is Vets. No other affiliation including racial matters except maybe Fraternities.

The point is young people need to network with older professionals by providing a service or product that is needed. They can't just study to be systems analyst anymore and get good grades. They got to go to a small biz using quickbooks and optimize the fukk out of their processes, show results then get a real recommendation from a good quality business for doing good work and helping them save money. I know a dude that studied information systems got top marks and shyt and ended up working in something completely different. He's a software engineer now. How the fukk do you go to school for IS and end up becoming a Dev?

Now there is nothing wrong with that and what he did is actually very common for IS grads I know. But the point is it's about what skill you have to bring to the table, fukk the education and these cultural clubs and second languages he knew. Nobody gives a fukk he knows Portugese and French and has worked in Brazil. Nobody gives a fukk about his IS creds or GPA etc. They only give a fukk he could ACTUALLY DO THE DAMN WORK (AND APPARENTLY PROVED IT THROUGH SHOWING PROJECTS OR CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT HE'S DONE ON THE SIDE).

To employers today you are a means to an end and not an end in and of itself. If the ends you provide don't justify your existence (you, yourself, the means) then you won't get hired. Same when it comes to being an entrepreneur and getting VC funding. They won't give a fukk about your grades they just wanna see what you've built, what your ideas are or anything else you've accomplished.

I'll tell you one thing: The only employers who have asked me about any interesting personal hobbies I have are the two leading employers I've interviewed with in the past two weeks and this is roughly my 6th year in this industry. So at the end of the day as a young cat they don't give a fukk you speak Hebrew or know how to play the Chello. As a young grunt they just want to know you can do the fukking work. But once you get up in the food chain and show you have results then you are treated differently. It's a different story. But young people today need to understand that you won't get anywhere by taking on frivolous hobbies that waste time and don't add to your skill set or portfolio.