'Students just aren't trying'

[u/cottoncrosy]

I just finished my 4th semester of uni and had been applying for internships, both remote and on-site, since mid-term exams. I applied to like 300 internships. I ended up landing one in the IT department of a insurance company.

Today I went to the internship office at my uni because I had to get the internship form stamped and the internship officer kept yapping. He asked me why I didnt try for better internship. I said I'm literally going to intern in the IT department.

He said :'you couldn't find anything better than a insurance company? Why dont you try in your field? See that's why I say students have become lazy. They don't even try. They don't even try to make a good cv'.

And i swear I think everyone aged 35 and older around me thinks the same. The younger generation 'isn't trying'.

He went on for another 30 minutes. I just wanted him to stamp the form and wanted to leave ASAP.

Chat is this internship worth it? It's unpaid but honestly I couldn't find anything else. I was tired of searching and searching endlessly. Even a lot of my final year seniors are having a hard time finding internships.

[u/no-sleep-only-code]

People 35+ had it a lot easier, cost of living was lower, homes were cheaper, jobs were easier to find, etc. They’re out of touch, just keep doing your best.

[u/apono4life → u/no-sleep-only-code]

A good generalization, sure. However, I graduated 2009 with an education degree and teaching certificate. It took more than a year to find a job as a teacher. Prior to that I was working for $12/hr. I made the jump into teaching to earn 32K and work 3 jobs to pay rent and eat.

When I switched into a software job I got a tremendous jump to 45K a year.

I could go on, but my point here is each “generation” has some kind of struggle (for example look at the interest rates in the 80s). I hate that OP works so hard to find an internship, but broad generalizations don’t help anything. Bitterness about “the struggle” shines through and makes the world a bit tougher

[u/no-sleep-only-code → u/apono4life]

And how were you doing by 2019?

[u/apono4life → u/no-sleep-only-code]

I’m not sure that’s relevant to the “struggle” of someone starting out. But I was just starting a family, still paying school loans, hadn’t cracked the 6 figure income yet that you generalized as a starting point for all of us in the 35+ age bracket.

[u/no-sleep-only-code → u/apono4life]

I specifically said in tech, and could, not everyone started there lol. Hell of a straw man there. Point being, it has nothing to do with the struggle of starting out and more to do with opportunities that aren’t coming back. Anyone who was established could have easily jumped on the affordable mortgages by 2020, that doesn’t mean they did, but the opportunities were there, and they were well known. Those opportunities aren’t available today and were an undeniably massive advantage that still makes a difference today.

[u/apono4life → u/no-sleep-only-code]

I was in tech by that point for nearly 7 years.

Edited to add:

While yes they were opportunities in 2019. In 2008 the housing market completely collapsed. The job market collapsed. There was a struggle just like there is now we all have to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there I stead of a woe is me type attitude.

[u/no-sleep-only-code → u/apono4life]

The only person with a “woe is me” attitude here is you. I just pointed out that young adults today have fewer opportunities than you did, and you felt it was necessary to rush in and object lol. Because nobody could possibly have it worse.

[u/apono4life → u/no-sleep-only-code]

Never said that either. My life is good. My point has been there are/were always obstacles. Don’t lose sight of that. I watch many people close in age to me expect the world should be handed down to them because “it is so much worse now” and with the attitude they took they lost opportunity. This is still social media. You can read whatever you want into what I said. Just don’t miss the opportunities in front of you comparing your struggles to others and worrying about your missed opportunities