| Topic Name: |
24 year old burnout |
| Message Name: |
Listen to McGuin, fella |
| Date Posted: |
08/30/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
Hello,
I just wanted to see if there was anyone else out there like me. I am a 24 year old person, laid off once from an IT firm. I ended up with a better company, but now there are rumors of the same thing happening again. I was always a top student, went to a good school, and did everything right. However, with all the stress and stuff, I feel like I'm 24 going on 45. I look at people who are in college, and they look so much younger than me. (I was only in college a few years ago, for God's sake!)
Its amazing what I have gone thru in the working world at my age. I think it is unique for our generation for us to face so much stress so soon. In past recessions, it seemed like it was the old people who got screwed. Now, I have heard of many friends, acquaintences who have been laid off, or face a lay off.
Is there anyone out there who feels like this, or has a similar story?
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| Message: |
He's right even though he didn't have the full story.
I had the opposite problem coming out of school. I graduated in the middle of the 1982 recession and pushed a broom for a year before I landed my first professional position. Then I had a rough 2 years making peanuts and riding the bus before things improved much. So I never had as much to lose as you have had.
I don't know whether you or I were worse off. You have my sympathy.
But don't give up, things will come back. And when they do they can improve very, very fast. After my 2 years apprenticeships my salary doubled twice in the space of 3 years.
Keep on the cutting edge of technology as best you can (easier to do now than it was then because of free downloads and simulators). Work for peanuts (or for free) rather than mope at home. I
had a 3-month spell of unemployment during the peanuts year when I did a database system for a church gratis. All grist for my resume, and it counted as experience when things turned up later.....
Best of luck.
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