Wed 27 Jan 2010 – 15.31
Scott is joined by Craig Ward and Lisa Edwards, English graphic designer/typographers in who are now living in New York. Together they eat ice cream, drink tea, complain about customer service, and discuss life as an expat on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sorry, this episode is unedited, and includes no theme music, bookmarks and, you know, editing. I may add that stuff in time, if there is demand for such (hint hint)
Grey New York
Shakespeare Cafe
PG Tips
Ghostbusters Tour
Hook and Ladder 8, TriBeCa
Friends and Seinfeld, filmed on a soundstage in Burbank
Häagen-Dazs
Keith McNally’s show(s), XO and Ham Radio
Campfire Noises
Early episodes of twentyhood
How the UPS website should look
layoffs with UPS, bad experiences at the UPS Store
Chinatown(s) and the death of Little Italy
The Lower East side’s rich history
Studio Culture by Adrian Shaughnessey and Tony Brook
This Ain’t No Disco, website to see design studios
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Download Episode 039 (.mp3, 1:03:47, 79.2 MB)
posted by Scott in life, podcasts, relationships.
Thu 07 Jan 2010 – 15.52
There is a feeling of rage mixed with exhaustion mixed with disappointment that comes from realising your own job prospects are dim. It’s almost a state of mind, where you view yourself in the third person, weighing events with both rational and emotional views, yet not being able to govern yourself with either faculty.
What can be done when you’re laid off, facing an impossible job market and ruthless competition? How can you come to grips with your own self-worth when the world around you says you are worthless? And how does one pay rent?
Recently, a friend relayed to me these feelings, in not so many words. She had been laid off from a job she didn’t exactly like, but now faces the task of finding something new. Being a middle twentysomething, it is difficult to assert expertise in a given field, but holding a degree (in her case, a Master’s too), you can’t market yourself as a penniless learner.
I, and she, have both found ourselves previously in such terrible job situations that we’d rather have no job at all. In my case, I quit this job in favour of the generally unfavourable lifestyle of a freelancer. In hers, she was laid off as a gesture of professional half-mercy, finally cutting her free from a job that was more trouble than anything else. (although the pay was good). But neither of us are eager to jump back into a job that we know isn’t brilliant. Or rather, we can’t tolerate that level of frustration again at such a critical time in our lives and careers.
Being a working twentysomething is a powerful thing. We are energetic and eager to learn, we don’t have personal baggage (mortgage, kids) so we can move from city to city, we don’t mind the late hours and enjoy making connections with co-workers, we’re plugged into the latest technology and can spew knowledge of all subjects in a manner unlike our parents. We have a lot to give. But in return we do have some requirements — simple requirements — for a fulfilling, or even tolerable, worklife.
We need to be taught. Resourcefulness can only bring us so far, especially when we are new to a field of specific role. We need to find a rhythm, even if that rhythm is a sort of managed chaos that may come from certain professions like journalism, (or blogging). We need to be led, for there is nothing worse than a spiteful boss who is constantly monitoring you, telling you what you’ve done wrong. We wouldn’t mind an industry-appropriate salary and maybe even a day off. And we need to know that there is, in fact, a tomorrow — that every step brings us forward. These requirements are somewhat philosophical, but with these in place the rest is just details.
What do we do now?
Should we just quit our jobs and hide out until the economy gets better? Should we travel or live on a farm? Should we move back with our families and write a book? Should we go back to school? (I would advise against that, though, unless you’re studying to be a nurse or engineer)
In the 4+ years since finishing grad school, I haven’t been able to shake these feelings. I haven’t managed to find the instant answer to finding workplace happiness and the general answer to career happiness. I don’t have iron-clad advice for weary friends and I don’t know how to un-fuck myself from the current situation. The feelings persist.
And yes, the title of this post is inspired by the James Taylor lyrics to “Shed a Little Light”… there is a feeling like the clenching of a fist / there is a hunger in the center of the chest. …
posted by Scott in careers, education, life, personal finance.
Job Prospects in the Recession
Mon 21 Dec 2009 – 9.33
The very excellent BBC Business Daily podcast has tackled the sensitive subject of job-hunting during the recession. While clearly it sucks, there are some subtitles in play. According to the program, workers who are hired during a recession are often hired in lesser roles, for lesser pay, and then have a harder time throughout the length of their careers. A scary sentence indeed.
Yale economist Lisa Kahn remarks on one point with which I strongly disagree: that a graduate degree strongly improves your likelihood of finding a job. While the theory has been sound for generations, the practice observed by peers and colleagues (and by myself) is that the extra degree doesn’t matter for shit. In many cases a graduate degree is viewed simply as another line on a resume — easily skipped.
I write this now from behind the desk of an office where I am consulting. In many ways, I have found a job, but as the podcast reiterates, most of the hires in the last 18 months have been temporary, conditional, freelance, or otherwise non-permanent.
This all comes through the lens of my bourgeois middle-class existence. There are folks out there who literally can’t afford to look for work. The transportation, dry cleaning, printing, etc. are too expensive. And what about those factory and farm workers who are out of work. Unless there’s another factory or farm, their prospects look bleak.
So as I sit here on Madison Ave., dressed in a crisp shirt and tie, I wonder, how has your job-hunt been going? Are you out of the woods yet? I’m getting there.
•• Check out the episode entitled “Your future job prospects? 21 Dec 09″ »
posted by Scott in careers, education, personal finance.
Fri 18 Dec 2009 – 14.27
Why am I only finding out about this now? There’s an entire website devoted to tracking bloggers in their twenties. I imagine the site lets us all be social, as we’re generally a talkative bunch. And by talkative, I mean horny.
20 Something Bloggers — the bloggers with the most to say »
I’m gonna go poke around and see who I can discover. And yes, I’ll probably try to get some of them on the ‘cast.
posted by Scott in life, this website.
Graduate Student Lives in a Van
Tue 08 Dec 2009 – 15.31
Well, the headline kind of says it all. Today I uncovered the story of a Duke graduate student who, in an effort to save money and avoid debt, lived in his van while he attended classes.
If it weren’t an English major writing, I surely would not have read. Here’s a taste.
The idea of “thrift,” once an American ideal, now seems almost quaint to many college students, particularly those at elite schools. The typical student today is not so frugal. Few know where the money they’re spending is coming from and even fewer know how deep they’re in debt. They’re detached from the source of their money. That’s because there is no source. They’re getting paid by their future selves.
posted by Scott in education, health & fitness, personal finance.
The Multigenerational Workplace
Mon 07 Dec 2009 – 12.50
At Thanksgiving yesterweek, we got to discussing the bizarreness of work. At the table were seated no fewer than three family members who are, you might say, less-than-gainfully employed. My laid-off aunt and uncle have both reinvented themselves recently, and I, of course, have been mucking through the freelance world for far too long.
But the topic soon shifted from job seeking to job doing. As the youngest person at the table, the conversation became and odd referendum on my entire generation — and theirs. We concluded what many business writers are already saying: managing the multigenerational office is going to be an immense challenge for businesses in the 21st century.
To an extent, workplaces have always been multigenerational. Apprentices and Masters usually slotted into the age groups of sons and fathers, respectively, and the entry-level workers have often been remarked for their freshness compared to the veterans. “Do you even shave?” and that sort of thing. But in decades past, one’s working life was generally considered to be a single generation in magnitude — 30 years or so — and one would look to retire around 50, 55, 60, maybe 65 if they love what they do. However, the Baby Boomers put an end to that, and as more Boomers pass 60, they have no plans to retire. Instead, their children are joining them at work, not as novelty guests, but as co-workers.
posted by Scott in careers, life.
Thu 15 Oct 2009 – 18.56
Imagine that one day you’re working at a successful magazine, making $50,000 per year, and living the life in New York City. A twentysomething fantasy for many. But then suddenly you’re laid off. Now, with the market for journalism shrunk to a caricature of its former self, you’re forced to scrape by with freelance gigs and unemployment checks in search of a job that may or may not exist. Stinks, doesn’t it.
This isn’t fiction, it’s the story of Amanda Ernst, a twentysomething former magazine writer and editor of FishbowlNY, a blog about advertising, media, and journalism. Amanda recently went under the microscope and talked about her adventures on NBC’s Today Show, even disclosing figures to help align her struggle with viewers who may be suffering the same drama in their lives. Read the chronicle of events from her point of view on FBNY. (for her efforts, Amanda was blog-slapped, lightly, by Gawker) The result, in this case, is positive: Amanda survived, and is doing alright, although it definitely didn’t happen automatically.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Amanda Ernst discusses losing her job and coping with the financial strain
The thesis is fairly well-known: if your income suddenly drops (especially from getting laid off/fired) you need to restructure your life accordingly. Drop the expensive gym membership, cut back on lattes, quit buying fancy clothes, and of course keep track of all your spending so you know where every penny ends up. I’ve discussed personal finance at length, and even recorded a podcast episode about the cost of living.
But the struggle for employment and the fight against idleness stress more than the wallet, they tug at the very fabric of our existences. At least, they should for most of us twentysomethings, who are trying to establish ourselves in the world, trying to make sense of our careers and relationships, as well as finances. I suppose it’s like Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs — after we satisfy our ability to eat and sleep, we start looking for more, and that usually means we need a satisfying work life.
This is the topic constantly discussed on the Chief Happiness Officer blog, which I highly recommend. For a more academic, but heartily interesting, perspective on work and life, check out the new book from Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. And if you’re one of these Internet bloggy people, try this post from Serena Renner, a co-worker of Amanda, no less.
The great sea of the economy may be swollen and unsteady, but it will calm in time. But no matter the condition, twentysomethings will look out onto the horizon and wonder what awaits. Our careers, and our lives, are in constant motion, with waves and tides that will surely shake us loose when we least expect it. But isn’t that part of the fun.
For an amusing diversion from the often-depressing existence of twentysomething unemployment (or perhaps, non-employment), check out this article which outlines in most pityous detail, the plight of the upper class, who are struggle to pay all those private school tuitions, and whatnot, in this sour economy. Lifestyles of the Rich and Needy »
Perhaps a solution to it all is to work a different job literally every day. I know that folks change jobs more frequently in this, our new century, but this is taking things to the extreme.
posted by Scott in careers, coffee, education, health & fitness, life, real estate.
Thu 08 Oct 2009 – 9.19
Speaking of the Walk of Shame, now there’s a convenient kit you can keep in your bag or under your desk to accommodate such a situation.
Clever, this, but it makes me think of the obvious point — if you’re prepared enough to have a Walk of Shame kit, chances are you’re not the type that ends up doing the Walk of Shame in the first place. Half the shame is being wrapped in the same soggy clothes with head throbbing, etc.
Hell, what do I know, I’ve never done it.
via Eric Hollings »
posted by Scott in health & fitness, relationships.
Wed 30 Sep 2009 – 12.39
Remarks on dating and growing up, in New York City.
Scott and Rashan sit on a bench in Union Square and rap about meeting girls, dating, kissing (girls, not each other), moving in together, trying to get laid, and the inherent awkwardness throughout it all.
The BBC’s Audio Ecology Project: Save Our Sounds (via CBC Spark #84)
Should I resume the Podcast? A ton of work.
Scott’s [mis]adventure with speed-dating
Don’t pee next to another guy
CP Time
Dating ratios in NYC: Stupid Articles
Whole Foods singles event
The wisdom of Keith and Chemda
Crate & Barrel
Marc Maron
Texts From Last Night
The Walk of Shame
George Carlin – Armpits, Asshole, Crotch, Teeth
Hitch, that movie
Jessica has been on the podcast
The science of a hug
No science to love
Much Ado About Nothing
Make Her Chase You: fucking crap
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Welcome to the Beehive
Pens that record audio
Do you NEED a degree?
Shop Girl
Follow twentyhood on Twitter
Scott on Twitter
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Download Episode 039 (.m4a, 1:05:14, 30.6 MB)
posted by Scott in podcasts.
Wed 23 Sep 2009 – 11.04
Many twentysomethings will try their hand at online dating. Whether an alternative to the bar scene, or the result of a super-busy schedule, most of us have at least filled out a profile for an online dating site. But the site OKCupid.com has enlightened the Internet community by highlighting, through data analysis, what terms and trends lead to success in first-contact emails through their dating site.
What’s striking is how certain words and phrases are overwhelmingly repelling, while others seem to invite. Some of these results would seem counterintuitive, but hey, you can’t argue with statistics, right?
Have a look at the results over on OKTrends
The puzzling part of this all is to what degree we should try to socially engineer ourselves the chance at dating. Isn’t there more alchemy involved? More gut instincts and first impressions? Is it “fair” that only the most careful copywriters and persuasive debaters will land even a response?
I, for one, would be interested to see statistics relating to photography. Should we include a full-body photo? A bathing suit/shirtless photo? Colour of black-and-white for the main headshot? Professional studio shots? And how many is too many? Personally, I can testify that I get so fucking annoyed when a girl will place a photo of her dog, or the Eiffel Tower, in her online dating profile. Cmon, what are you trying to hide!
posted by Scott in relationships.