Age 14 to 80+: Taking Indirect Routes to Making a Good Living, Like GM's Mary Barra

 GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra started out her career journey checking fenders and hoods at one of the automaker's plants. She was 18. That helped pay for college. 

But for many other young people, that kind of early opportunity to get to understand a business and how a particular company goes about making its money hadn't been even considered. They went off to college, didn't work for income in college, graduated from college, likely are saddled with student loan debt, can't find paid work and are featured in media articles like this one in CNBC about a generation "crashing out" emotionally. 

Some of them, like:

" ... recent Boston College grad Michael Hartman ... recently sought insight from a psychic about his career trajectory after around 10 months of unsuccessful job hunting."

No, Hartman hasn't been one of my clients but other Gen Zers who are usually don't understand the profound shift in the labor market. Maybe over forever is the standard route of college to full-time knowledge work employment. 

That's why I introduce to them what has become an atypical route - which had been common in Barra's time: learning how to go to work on the job. Any job. There they get down how success looks in that sector. They acquire experience other employers will pay for. They develop contacts. And they could be movin' on up, there or elsewhere. 

That job could be in a fast-food restaurant, a grocery chain, a big box or at a landscaper. And it could be while in high school. 

But how many parents encourage their offspring to get part-time jobs in high school. Most consider that a distraction from focus on good grades and bulking up on the kind of extra-curricular activities to cite for the personal statement of the college admission application.

In the early 1960s my first "real" job was at age 17. It was being a long-distance operator at New Jersey Bell Telephone, part-time during school year, full-time during vacations. 

After I graduated college they talked to me about a position in public relations. Instead, I smugly went on to pursue a doctorate, which it turned out, was unmarketable. After bouncing around for three years post-PhD, I did put together a 40-year career in public relations. That irony was never lost on me.

So, instead of sitting around chasing the declining number of entry-level knowledge work jobs, you bet, get hired anywhere. That's a starting point. Or a restarting point for all generations. Reddit, Fishbowl, Glassdoor and Blind chronicle the despair of professionals who have lost jobs and can't get back in their downsizing industries. 

Okay, that one job doesn't pay enough to pay the bills? Add on a second one. Then go on from there. What you now have is a sense of direction. Possibilities become visible. 

Another old-line reality: Nothing gets you work like having work. The wheel of fortune could start going your way.

Tarot Card Reader. Medium. Intuitive Career Coach.

Don’t Give Up Before the Miracle.

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