阅读理解
Having a job is great, I have learned. It means I can afford
things such as a place to live and daily meals. And with an above-average job,
I can afford a car and occasional overseas vacations.
However, I also understand how difficult it
is to have a below-average job, having had many of them before. It's frankly
pretty awful. Owning a car was out of the question – I could barely afford to
ride the subway.
So, I decided to go to university and get a degree.
Later, I emailed my details to every company and government
institution with an online careers page. I even printed my resume and handed it
out in what seemed like hundreds of office buildings.
One summer during university, my cousin and I helped out at
my uncle's business, fixing roofs, although the only thing I got out of that
was back problems.
That same year, I got a job at a plumbing(管道工程) company, which I was terrible at. It
was no surprise when I was asked to leave that job after only four days.
A lot of people today believe the problem of unemployment in
my generation is our fault. Some accuse us of being lazy or feeling too
entitled(有资格的).
At the same time, some people accuse members of my generation of having a sense
of “specialness” that has led us to believe we can all be astronauts, movie
stars or singers if we put our minds to it. Also, a few of them think that we
would all be happily employed if we would only learn trades or become software
engineers, because those people make the most money.
I realize that not everyone can go into space, star in
Hollywood movies or fill stadiums with fans, however. I also think not everyone
can make a good electrician or design advanced computer software – I know I
can't. Everyone is good at something, but no one is good at everything. It took
me hundreds of rejection emails to realize that I had to focus on finding a job
where I could actually be successful.
And now, I finally have that job. All it took was several
years of desperation, failure and an honest assessment(评估) of my personal value in the job
market.
It's not the best start, but it's not bad for a start too.