Millennials are Selfish and Entitled...

[suncowiam]

That's the issue. We tell people they can be anything they want, and then want to act like they shouldn't be upset when the reality is that if you want to make a decent living you have to forfeit your potential and do the dull, boring, and "safe" route. It's not living your life, but living to be an expendable cog feeding the whims of the bourgeoisie, the owners who are choosing what gets invested in and what gets done. We scoff at arts and humanities, but cry that we are becoming so dumb and culturally bland. Go ahead, be anything you want to be, but just don't expect to make enough to have a roof over your head or food on the table.

I never told you to be anything you want. I dont personally go telling anyone to do what they want.

Heck, if I followed that mantra, I would fail miserably trying to be in the NBA.

Like I said, hard work and smart choices.

I have no idea what else to say in this matter. It's like some are already the proverbial old dog that can't learn new tricks.

 

[suncowiam]

Its nonsense. There's a phenomena called Juvenoia which makes older generations more likely to complain about younger generations. In fact, crime, drug use, and violence have significantly decreased in the younger generation compared to when the older generations were young.

Check out what vsauce says about Juvenoia, its quite interesting.

You don't know how ironic your post is. Your data doesn't suggest which generation is the cause of the lower rates. You haven't shown that this was because of the younger generation. What do you think of the chances that this change was actually brought on by the previous generation? Does that seem plausible at all?

 

[Orbit]

I know plenty millennials that do well. If you didn't clearly read my message, it was meant for everyone concerning hard work and good decisions. So go ahead, label yourself something and feel free to victimize yourself because of it. Go ahead and blame the economy for your crappy position in life. Go ahead and blame the previous generation because they made it crappy for you. Go ahead and blame everything else outside your control. I bet this will improve your situation.

Business is business. If there's no need for your services then it's irrelevant to have a master's degree. You're missing the whole point with some unrealistic expectations then. Know the market and align to it. Don't expect it to align to you.

How much government assistance did you get as a refugee? Did you really do it all on your own, no housing subsidies, no head start?

 

[suncowiam]

How much government assistance did you get as a refugee? Did you really do it all on your own, no housing subsidies, no head start?

That's a fair question. Of course there were subsidies including food stamps. But at some point to attain more we had to forego it all.

I'm not against assistance. I'm fine with it as long as it targets a need and it's not just a money handout. There's no way to track money handouts so who knows if it's actually helping as intended.

We still had to sacrifice and save to get out of our rat holes. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we lived in some of the worst poverty when we initially got here. There were 3 families to one condo. Each family sharing a room. Very typical immigrant situation to save money. When my immediate family finally moved out, we didn't have much furniture for very long. I remember having a big card board box for our dinner table and eating by candle light. Everything was used. Bad neighborhood.

But here's the kicker... Given our immigrant past, our new condition was still better than those from Vietnam (freedom/rights), or as a semi-year long refugee at a Hong Kong internment camp.

So it's all matter of perspective. You can compare yourselves to more fortunate but you could and should compare yourselves to the less fortunate.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

You can compare yourselves to more fortunate but you could and should compare yourselves to the less fortunate.

To make yourself artificially feel better about yourself? That's a basic psychological defensed known to be used by people who are dying in a hospital.
It's better to access your own situation, and focus on the things you need. For the Millennials, a big focus they have is being able to get good paying jobs, and the pay and benefits that those before them took for granted.

 

[suncowiam]

To make yourself artificially feel better about yourself? That's a basic psychological defensed known to be used by people who are dying in a hospital.
It's better to access your own situation, and focus on the things you need. For the Millennials, a big focus they have is being able to get good paying jobs, and the pay and benefits that those before them took for granted.

You still miss the point. What if, it was already a good starting wage and one still had to work upward for better pay and benefits?

I'm saying it's just a matter of perspective. Why do you have such expectations and continue to have them when reality says otherwise?

The thing is youre blaming others and the environment for your expectations. But they are your expectations. You own them, no one else. So you control them, no one else. If I promised you real estate property in Manhattan , would you actually believe me?

At some point, you're going to have to take responsibility for your own expectations.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

At some point, you're going to have to take responsibility for your own expectations.

I expect a good job with decent pay and dignity. I shouldn't be expected to lower those standards. When a system is crap and only working for a few, you shouldn't lower your expectations but work towards changing the system to make it more equitable.

The thing is youre blaming others and the environment for your expectations.

Actually, two of my bigger obstacles are a bad knee and IBS. Yes, I can work, but around here it's factories, retail, or food service, things you can't do if you're not supposed to be on your feet for more than a couple hours or have unpredictable bowels. It is not, in anyway, my fault for there being very few job opportunities that I can do here (I've applied for them all, and wasn't hired), or that my family moved here, making me stuck here for the time being with few options for getting out.

 

[suncowiam]

I expect a good job with decent pay and dignity. I shouldn't be expected to lower those standards. When a system is crap and only working for a few, you shouldn't lower your expectations but work towards changing the system to make it more equitable.

Actually, two of my bigger obstacles are a bad knee and IBS. Yes, I can work, but around here it's factories, retail, or food service, things you can't do if you're not supposed to be on your feet for more than a couple hours or have unpredictable bowels. It is not, in anyway, my fault for there being very few job opportunities that I can do here (I've applied for them all, and wasn't hired), or that my family moved here, making me stuck here for the time being with few options for getting out.

Do you ask for a full feedback in your interviews? Are they giving you honest responses about why they did not choose you?

If there are interviews then that at least suggest open positions in your area. The next step is to understand why you weren't chosen. With continuous feedback you might be able to highlight an area of improvement.

This is the same thing I went through out of college. Took me many tries until I got my foot in the door. I did retail, amusement parks and data entry before finally becoming an engineer as my career. Maybe it was an easier process for other baby boomers but it definitely wasn't an easy process for me. I also had to deal with the perception of being a Vietamese engineer because frankly there were few to none. It wasn't until years later that I met other Vietnamese engineers that weren't only quality assurance or manufacturing. I've always been late in the typical curve like salary and seniority. I used to dwell on that a bit but I just came to accept it. Part of getting my foot in the door was accepting a low salary. Well now, I'm perfectly content where I am but I'll scoff at anyone suggesting it was handed to me, kind of like what was mentioned in the OP.

All I can suggest is to get back up with more knowledge and try again. =)

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The next step is to understand why you weren't chosen.

I'm not good at interviews (poor social skills). I've been enrolled in a supportive employment program that is supposed to be helping me with interview skills, but all they've ever covered, and even tried to cover again when I insisted I need better help than that, is the most basic of interview things like apparel and making eye contact, but nothing about how to socially "wow" the person doing the interview. It's actually been pretty hard to find anything around here that is geared towards helping Asperger's syndrome, because it's pretty much any programs are aimed at more low-functioning Autism or people who do need help with basic daily functions.
If I lived somewhere else, I have confidence I could do much better for myself, but being stuck in a rural and Conservative area where working at Chrysler is the big aspiration in life, I'm actually going back to school for a second bachelor's so I can polish my art skills (and probably start tattooing and piercing if the psychology thing doesn't work out), get a loan to move, and begin my paper that is going to get me into grad school and out of Indiana, and into a bigger city that is more friendly towards those who don't believe in "someone up above," more accepting and tolerance of LBGT, and has opportunities that just do not exist here, or do exist but people just don't have the money for it. But, as it stands, there aren't even any data entry jobs within a 50 mile radius.

 

[suncowiam]

I'm not good at interviews (poor social skills). I've been enrolled in a supportive employment program that is supposed to be helping me with interview skills, but all they've ever covered, and even tried to cover again when I insisted I need better help than that, is the most basic of interview things like apparel and making eye contact, but nothing about how to socially "wow" the person doing the interview. It's actually been pretty hard to find anything around here that is geared towards helping Asperger's syndrome, because it's pretty much any programs are aimed at more low-functioning Autism or people who do need help with basic daily functions.
If I lived somewhere else, I have confidence I could do much better for myself, but being stuck in a rural and Conservative area where working at Chrysler is the big aspiration in life, I'm actually going back to school for a second bachelor's so I can polish my art skills (and probably start tattooing and piercing if the psychology thing doesn't work out), get a loan to move, and begin my paper that is going to get me into grad school and out of Indiana, and into a bigger city that is more friendly towards those who don't believe in "someone up above," more accepting and tolerance of LBGT, and has opportunities that just do not exist here, or do exist but people just don't have the money for it. But, as it stands, there aren't even any data entry jobs within a 50 mile radius.

As someone that has given many interviews, I can see your dilemma. Yeah, interviewers look for confidence in their candidates. It's probably one of the worst things to key on because I know that probably some of the best candidates are very nervous during their interviews. Interviews are a hit and miss many times. I've seen full-day interviews allowing some of the worst candidates into a position. Why? Because they were good interviewees and were not good candidates. This just means that one also needs to learn the interview process. There are books and programs on just interviews alone. Try those...

At this point I would say just practice. Practice with false interviewers. Try to take little steps from situations that you are comfortable with and slowly move to more uncomfortable situations. But also having a positive perspective will help. Just don't internalize an interview that didn't result in a hire as a failure. It happens to many people and many times, it's not about how bad the candidate did.

I understand your situation and there's probably a lot of truth behind it. But it is what it is, and focusing on things you can not control is an unneeded hurdle for yourself. =)

 

[Maponos]

My generation, Generation Y and the upcoming generation z, are so disgustingly narcissistic and entitled, I fear for the future.

 

[Erebus]

I'm among the selfish and entitled millennial generation. I live in the UK, so maybe there are some differences between here and the US. It always irked me that criticisms of my generation largely come from people who had free or very cheap higher education, fair pay for their work, a cheap first home and a comfortable pension scheme.
The amount of loop-holes UK employers have to avoid paying minimum wage or providing any job security is staggering. My last job had an indefinite probation period for example. My brother once worked 50 hours a week for £2 an hour under an "apprenticeship scheme." The company got rid of him a week before he completed the scheme, whereupon they would have to start paying minimum wage.
Now you might be thinking that an apprenticeship scheme means he was going into skilled labour. Nope. He cleaned kitchens. I've seen "apprenticeships" stacking shelves too. I suppose it still earns you more than the hundreds of commission based jobs on offer though.

I did once see a baby boomer leave their comfortable, well paying job and look for something that offered similar elsewhere. They never criticised millennials again after spending some time in the new world of employment.

Sorry for the rant. I guess wanting to have at least minimum wage and a contract where I can't be fired for literally no reason makes me an entitled brat huh?

 

[Quagmire]

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Any truth to that? Are Millennials really "selfish and entitled"?

Sure. Why should they be any different?

 

[At The Left Hand ov God]

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Any truth to that? Are Millennials really "selfish and entitled"? Or is that just nonsense?

No. My grandfather told me stories on how his generation was called "selfish and entitled".