re: Millennials earn 20% less than Boomers did at same stage of life

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VABuckeye

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what sort of degree would you need to break into this field?


I'll be honest, DC is one of the few areas of the country that I wouldn't mind living outside of Nola.

I'm in a spot in my life where I'm able to be flexible with decisions I make and also still just young enough to make a 90 degree turn and head a direction if I see fit.

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SuperSaint

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I'm a terrible a spot in my life where I'm flexible with decisions I make and also still just young enough to make a 90 degree turn and head a direction if I see fit.

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I've worked in the following industries:

Food Service
Retail
Furnishings
Cosmetics and Haircare
Music
Construction
Energy
Horse Breeding
Aviation & Aerospace
Government Contracting
Communications

I've been with 20 different employers, never fired (although laid off once), never burned bridges, always left with a recommendation, always willing to turn my hat around and do something different and always did something that I personally found interesting.

It was a very hard decision to leave my last employer. I was very good at what I was doing and had job security. But I did, and am very glad I did. I was already doing well, but in one year I've doubled my earnings, have a huge amount of responsibility within one of the top technology firms in the world and looking forward to what looks to be a much better year than last year.

My advice to you: don't ever be satisfied with your current position. Don't ever take your antenna down from listening for new opportunities. Don't ever hesitate to move on and try something new. I left a job with a salary of $75k+commissions to take a job with a salary of $28k+commissions because the first job wasn't structured to reward success and the second one was. I earned in excess of $165k a year in the second job over a four year period and would have stayed there except that the company went through a merger and my position and division went away.

Build you a network of friends and acquaintances outside of Louisiana and make sure they know your interest in seeking out new opportunities. Every single position I've had since I was 17 years old has come about from the recommendation of a friend or an acquaintance. Get onto LinkIn. Join industry groups. Write posts. Link to interesting articles. Make yourself visible. Go to industry trade shows. Many are free and you can register on their websites. Walk the floor. Meet people. Get their business cards. Send them emails thanking them and make sure they know of your interest in their company and industry. Network like crazy, even when you're employed.

Finally, treat your tweets, Facebook posts and all other social media posts as if your professional career depended on it, because, guess what? It does. Employers look at that now. So if you're a shite-poster and people can figure out who you are, they won't hire you.

Good luck is great, but hard work is better.

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The biggest part of financial security is eliminating needless recurring expenses

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You consider a phone, car, car insurance, and health insurance needless recurring expenses? Two of those things are government mandated.

And depending on your profession, Internet at home is a necessity as well. I can agree with cable being unnecessary. But can you show me one successful person who has neither a phone nor an Internet connection? Those are Necessities.

Under your logic you can argue power/gas is not a necessity. Just take cold showers and eat non-perishable foods.

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I make about 34k a year before tax . Crap job just want the experience from it. Not much chance of upward movement within the company either.

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Yeah I was soooo spoiled. Took a degree-requiring job making 28k/year. A year later I got a promotion and bumped to 34k. In year 3 I'm doing better at 46k ("competitor" hired all senior staff away with ~20% raises).. resulted in a salary schedule change and a massive raise. Although the state can be kind of.. SJWs sometimes.. they gave the same raise I got to people in other offices who weren't affected. Homeboys over in the other offices have $750/month mortgages while my 3BR apartment costs $1325

I worked my arse off and I still do. Come in early, leave late, put in time on the weekends, etc. I don't get overtime either. Just see a need fill a need and i'll work until the work is done. But if I didn't have 3-4 room mates I could not have paid my bills for the first two years.. thankfully, as pointed out in this thread, hard work pays off and it's the best networking tool that exists.

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bmy

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It seems like you are on the right path. I know it sucks to have debt involved but moving up $18k in salary in two years is nothing to sneeze at. I'd be willing to bet that you'll be leveraging your experience into a nice bump when you decide to put yourself in the job market again.

Keep networking. Our business took a major hit in early 2015 and I've become a networking fool since then and we're on much more solid ground than we were two years ago.

All of this bitching and moaning that there isn't opportunities available...


Non-skilled people are hired everyday at plants. We recently just hired a couple.
They start out at $65k

But a lot of younger people will complain about having to work outside, working weekends and holidays and large amounts of OT.

Oh well, can't have your cake and eat it too.

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hard work pays off and it's the best networking tool that exists

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If you are successful, you're working smart, not hard. If you're successful and wealthy, you're working smart AND hard.

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A good source is the local Chamber of Commerce

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Nice to know they are good for something besides hitting up every business in town for a check once a year

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Millennials who are typically just entering the workforce don't have any leverage. You're talking about recent college grads who probably just finished up at an unpaid internship

Tough to negotiate when you literally can't afford to walk away from the table. Thanks boomers

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What do people expect to get coming straight out of college? How the hell is this someone else's fault? You picked your major, not someone else.