Where are the jobs?
It is inspiring to complete your 12th year of schooling. The future beckons bright. And while we might not be bushy tailed at least we still have a lot of hair.

Except our parents do not think so. Parents worry. And journalists are happy to trot out trite articles each year about school leavers facing uncertain futures because formal jobs have become scarce.

Jobs have been scarce since I left school at the end of 1975. Despite that, in the forty years since then, I have yet to meet anyone who never found work.

We equate "bright future" with "stable income". And failing that we equate "bright future" with "a job at any income". We blame the system when we can't find a job at a corporate trough because those seats are reserved. In my case those jobs were reserved for anyone who did not have diabetes. It's been the best thing that ever happened to me.

We think that adversity in any form is bad. It isn't. Adversity is not the opposite of a bright future. Adversity is the fertile soil in which a bright future blooms. Adversity is the icing on the home-baked cookie that school delivers.

Think about it. What life skills do we learn if we walk into the first job we apply for? Ten rejections teach us more than the five years we spent at high school.

If your youngster cannot "find" a job may I suggest clearing a play space in the garage? Hang up a few posters of people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates :-)

They were kids when I was looking for my first job, except that they were playing with bits of wire and soldering irons. They not only made their own jobs, but they created highways that you and I have explored throughout our lives. That won't happen if you start working at a big firm.

The best time to start out on your own is while you are still living at home. And with a smartphone the world is truly in your hand. And you can do it while churning out the CVs...

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Warm regards

Peter Carruthers
editor@petesweekly.com