Drop the excuses. Get a job. They’re everywhere.

By Ryan Davis on November 21, 2011

GOP Presidential hopeful Herman Cain recently voiced his opinion to a reporter in an interview about Occupy Wall Street and Americans in general who are unemployed and struggling for income when he said, “Don’t blame Wall Street. Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”

Now I’m not backing Cain as my choice for our next President (not yet anyway), but I respect the man for voicing his opinion (which I agree with) and then standing behind his statement during the GOP debates that followed.

What I’m interested in now, is hearing where today’s college students stand on that opinion. What do you think?

Photo by philcampbell on flickr.com

I’ll start the conversation with my opinion:

If you’re a healthy American citizen of legal working age, but unemployed and struggling for money, the reason is probably because you’re lazy, prideful, or both.

I’ll explain.

First of all, let me mention that by “healthy” I mean that you are physically and mentally capable of working. If you’re unemployed because you’re in a coma, I get it. If you’re unemployed because your leg hurts, then you’re being lazy. There’s a job you can still do. Find it.

I think that the current US unemployment rate of 9-10% would fall to less than 5% if half of this group was more focused on finding a job and less on finding an excuse as to why they can’t find a job. You can’t find a job if you’re not looking for one. How many unemployed Occupy Wall Street participants could be using their time and effort job searching instead of sitting on the sidewalk with a picket sign blaming Wall Street for their situation?

There are jobs available. People are hiring. Small businesses are hiring. Corporations are hiring. People who aren’t getting hired are starting their own businesses. Stop believing your television. Your tv says there are no jobs so that you will be interested and watch more tv. Turn it off and go look for a job. If you’ve been genuinely committed to finding a job, you’ve been out looking between 40-60 hours every week for a month now, but your pipeline is still empty then make your own job. Create a small business while you continue to job search. You don’t need a big bank loan to do it either. You have a talent, everyone does, so use it to come up with a good you can make or a service you can provide and go exchange it with people for money. The direct selling industry is a perfect example of a very lucrative industry that is always hiring. Always. Give me a real reason why you “can’t find a job.” Get real. They’re out there. You just can’t find one that lets you feel comfortable.

I mentioned that many unemployed have no job because they are being prideful. They were a respected manager, associate, or professional for years and have now found themselves unemployed, and they would never stoop down to the level of working in something like the food service industry for example. Why not? It’s a job. They’re being prideful. They want to be respected. Who cares?! Many people would realize how little it matters what others think of them if they knew how little time others actually spent thinking about them. I suggest finding a job and being proud of the fact that you have a job and you’re no longer unemployed. Stop being concerned about your ‘professional’ reputation (what people think of you) and be more concerned with your character (the type of person you are). Pride is overrated.

Most of the time, the root of any pride issue is fear. They’re scared from playing the “what if” game. Want to know the secret to overcoming fear? Action. Action cures fear. Take massive action. Take any action. You’ll find that it will kill your fear immediately. It’s scary, but do it anyway. You’ll be better because of it. You’ll be more confident. Coincidentally, confidence and taking action in the face of fear are qualities that employers notice when hiring candidates.

What are your thoughts and opinions? Anything I’m leaving out?

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