It often seems like Generation Z-ers – people born since 1997 who are now looking for jobs –are too often unprepared for living in the real world.  

People who are so unprepared at such an overarching level cannot be blamed for that kind of problem.  

Parents are responsible for teaching their children to grow up with an understanding of the responsibilities being an adult.  A child’s significant lack of understanding of the real world can only be due to parents who, whether by neglect or ignorance or over-protectiveness (e.g., a “hover mom”), have failed to educate their children, leaving them disconnected from the reality they must face as adults.

Be Productive

Being productive is what businesses or any other employer require in return for the money they pay you.  

There is no free money.  You have to give something in return for the money you get paid.  Your dedicated time and your dedicated effort are required for you to produce the things expected of you by a business.  

A business must be as productive as it can, at the least expense that it can.  Expenses are the killer of profit, and contrary to Socialists’ claims to the contrary, profit is a necessary requirement for all life – human, animal, or plant.  Profit is the foundation for improving the standard of well-being, and for continued economic growth.  

That means the same must be true of your employment, and your life, as well.

You get paid for your productivity; nothing else.  There is no other reason for any employer to pay you money.  

TANSTAAFL 

“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.”

Whether you are an employee or you run your own business or you go to a store, it works the same:  money is exchanged for the desired object or effort.  

Would you be willing to spend your time working for somebody for free?  

Would you be willing to give your money to someone without getting something of equal value in return?

A recent Fox News article echoed this point.  That article’s title says it all:  “Generation Z gets wake-up call on how the ‘real world’ works:  'Success isn't handed to you'”

Success isn't handed to you, the article points out, adding “that's exactly what Gen Z-ers assume.”

A survey, it reports, shows that about half of all managers find it difficult to work with Gen Z-ers due to “lack of communication skills, effort, motivation, and even technological skills.”

Technological skills – from the generation that grew up with their eyes glued to their cell-phones?

All of these factors – especially communication, effort, and motivation – are important for every adult’s well-being – and all are the responsibility of the parents who failed to assure their children developed those personal traits.

The seven parts of a business

A business is normally made up of seven separate areas.  

Six areas typically require a college degree:  management, marketing, accounting, manufacturing, IT support, engineering, and product research and development.  The pay in those areas is generally fairly good, and are good choices for a career, depending on your personal interests.

The seventh area, working the production line in a factory, requires no degree.  No special education or skills are required, so the pay is not very high either.  

If your college degree is in something like “Comparative Literature”, that does not prepare you for any of the first six areas.  Unless you are planning on being a teacher, which requires additional classes, being a factory worker is all you are qualified for.

If you want to make a good living and enjoy a middle-class or better life-style, get your college degree in one of the first six areas.

An alternative to college is attending a trade school.  Good opportunities are available to trade school grads, although usually at lower pay than for college grads.

Once you are hired for a job, work hard, get the work done that is expected of you – and unflinchingly give that extra, beyond-the-expected effort and accomplishment to show that you deserve annual raises and to be promoted every few years.  

Singer Billie Holiday put it very well:  “If you come across, I’ll come across.”  That is true for all of us, in whatever profession we choose.

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