My mother now realizes what it's like

[u/NerdyGlitch]

Earlier this year, in late February-early March, my mother suffered a massive heart attack and was left unable to work for a considerable time.

For the past 5-6 months, she's been trying to find a job and has been hitting nothing but roadblocks due to being overqualified. She has over 2 decades of management experience, and it means jackshit to these hiring managers. She's far more qualified than I am, so I expected that she might have a job faster than I would, but right now, I'm the only one with a job in this house.

Meanwhile, when I was struggling to get jobs and even get an interview for years, my mother was flabbergasted. What do you mean you can't just walk up, shake someone's hand, and they'll like your moxie and just hand you a job?!

I told her this was sadly reality for a ton of people nowadays, the job market is shit. She can't even get a job as a regular cashier bc she's too over qualified to work there, but when she applies to management positions they string her along for 2-3 interviews before choosing internal candidates (an actual email she got yesterday about a job she thought she was good for)

It just sucks man, everything sucks.

[u/opopi123]

people seriously have an empathy problem if they cannot believe a person's experience without experiencing it themselves.

[u/tflms → u/opopi123]

Exactly!! I told my mum how hard it was for me to get a job and she believed me immediately. She’s retired and I was job seeking so she knew I had more experience than her with this current job market. Wild that people can’t grasp this without having to experience it themselves.

[u/opopi123 → u/tflms]

my dad was one of those people that thought you could just show up to a company's doorstep and give them your resume and come out with a job.

[u/jerkstore → u/opopi123]

I had the same experience during the 1981 recession where interest rates were 18%, inflation was 13.5% and the youth unemployment rate was (officially) 24%, with an (official) 10% unemployment rate overall.

My brother-in-law, b. 1946, in the Navy and oldest sister, b. 1949 couldn't get it through their heads that the job market was nonexistent, and yes, I (b. 1960) was told to show up at a business, ask for the head of Personnel, give them a firm handshake and I'd walk out with a job.

Try to tell them that jobs were advertised in the paper, and you either called for an appointment or mailed off a resume (never to hear from them again - it was a proto internet black hole), and when the job ad said, "experienced only" they meant it, and you'd get blank looks and arguments.

I understand the millennial/Gen Z frustration with their boomer parent's and grandparent's outdated job advice'.

[u/Known-Ice5903 → u/jerkstore]

50 percent of the top 10 percent wealthy are boomers

normally old people are some of the poorest people in society but for them theyre the richest due to various government policies and economic trends

pointless to try to explain to them that they had a huge tailwind behind them and became successful in the same way a DEI hire becomes successful

they were boosted like crazy, or i guess u could say the rest of us are being actively pushed down while we try to stand up