Failing, Flailing, or Flying? The Millennial Career Path

When I look back at the past few years of my life, I see an absolute whirlwind. Granted, not all of that is based on my working life, having had some serious ups and downs in my personal sphere also. But, honestly, I have no idea whether I'm heading in the right direction for my career and most of the time I don't even know what that direction is.

Trying to find the balance between giving my mental health the space it needs, actually making a difference in the world, not letting people take advantage of me, and making enough money to live without the constant stress of looking at my bank account is a near impossible task and inevitably it ends up being a toss-up between mental health and money. For the most part, they both lose equally.

For most of my friends their experiences of work, or lack of it, looks different to mine but ultimately we all feel the same. No one has a clue if they're getting 'there', and no one's really sure where 'there' is.

After religiously watching The Bold Type, I'd almost started to believe that the old-school progression path of starting off as an assistant and working your way to the top might still exist somewhere. I even considered moving to London for a split second before realizing that I can't stand crowds and living alone gives me "the anxiet." Then Jane took a leap of faith and got fired, and I realized that The Bold Type was reflecting real life, after all, only none of my friends are in good enough jobs to keep my rent payments coming in while I flail around looking for freelance work. I had the great privilege of returning to customer service while I tried to figure stuff out instead.

Millennials and Gen Z are often the butts of a joke, I think I've actually started to dislike real snowflakes now, that word just riles me up so effectively. But, what does millennial success actually look like? It seems to me that even when you 'get into' a career, there's always the possibility that it will be derailed in the next six months, usually through no fault of your own. Funding is being cut left, right, and center, the expectation of new businesses are more than a single human being can deliver and there appears to be no regard for employment law anywhere. Millennials simply don't have the security that their parents did and every step in the right direction has to be so tentative for fear your foot will fall through the gaps in the rickety wooden career bridge should you dare take your eyes off it for a second. For people who come from well-off backgrounds, thankfully there's a net underneath. The fall is still pretty painful, of course, but nowhere near as bad as the millennials from working-class backgrounds who have to try and find a rock or a branch to hold onto on the way down.

When asked the dreaded question at the family gathering of "What are you up to nowadays," most of us just want to reply "Trying." Really, really trying very hard and getting absolutely nowhere.

Success doesn't look like it used to, and yet no one will tell us what success looks like now. As a millennial, I feel as though I spend more of my life in interviews and applying for jobs than I actually do doing the work. I'm constantly asked to prove myself, despite the fact that I've already proved myself for the same position, at the same level, with the same pay grade, over and over again. There's so much talk about making your passion your 'side hustle' but after working a 70-hour week, you can't seem to find time for the side hustle at all. Not to mention the fact that 'side hustle' usually means offering your services for free for several years, so that one day, maybe, someone will pay you minimum wage to do something you're actually quite an expert at now.

Are we flailing, failing, or flying? No one really knows, and the feeling can change within 24 hours. So on the rare occasion that the flying feeling comes, pour yourself a glass of wine and hold onto it for as long as possible.