What Doesn't Kill You ... Makes You Live with Your Parents Longer

When you read all the studies out there, you will discover that we in Generation Y have a bit of a reputation in the workforce for being (a) very motivated and (b) very annoying. Some of this has to do with regular old age-based differences. But a lot of it also has to do with the fact that we are used to mediums like Facebook and blogs that by nature do not respect authority. Basically, on Facebook, we are all created equal. We don't wait for the career opportunity to say what we need to say. We just start a blog.

That was one of the things I recently told a reporter for my old student newspaper, who is doing an article about using a blog to help your career. I had never thought about it until I talked to her, but, yeah, blogs are an outlet to just be who you want to be while you're busy doing the entry level work. Who is waiting around to "get discovered" these days? Not any of you I hope!

Enter the financial crisis.

Here I was enjoying my quarter-life crisis, and then another crisis comes along and tries to top it. I am sure many of you are understandably worried about your career aspirations. I think it could be good for us though. Ron Alsop, who recently wrote a book about Gen Y in the workforce, wrote in the Brazen Careerist about three things we can expect from the crisis. To sum it up:

1. Many of us are going to be living with our parents again.
2. We might have to put some of our entrepreneurial dreams on hold, because most companies aren't booming with resources to back them.
3. We might be doing more work for "safe" jobs like the government and non-profits.

No, none of those options appeal to me either. But I agree with Alsop. I think this crisis will make us more versatile. I think we'll come out of the crisis more appreciative and motivated, and when we are in our 40s, we are going to hate twentysomethings living in a booming economy all the more.