An article in Style section of the Times caught my eye this morning. According to the piece, "Recent College Graduates Wait for Their Real Careers to Begin", many twenty-something college graduates have put their careers on hold, biding their time — in their parents' homes or as baristas at local coffee shops — until the economy magically improves, and they can finally land their coveted job as, say, a literary agent. While I certainly don't wish these people a mundane life working minimum wage jobs, their goals square so poorly with reality, I can't help but think that is the fate many of them will be condemned to.
At one end of the spectrum, we have people who want to work in a dying industry. These are the aspiring literary snobs or music aficionados who want a traditional career at a large publisher or media conglomerate. Unfortunately, these jobs are disappearing, and I see no reason why they will ever return to previous levels in the long run. New technology has largely obviated the role a traditional publisher or media conglomerate once played in the marketplace. The marketing might and promotional power of a Random House might still have relevance for someone like Dan Brown, but then most authors, even moderately successful ones, are not quite on the level of Dan Brown (commercially, anyway).
On the plus side, at least this group isn't completely dead in the water. The forces of technology that have put them in their unfortunate position are, in reality, the solution to their problems. Many people have made a success of curating content online, be it music, movies or short fiction, or producing content distributed via the Internet. Scott Schumann, for one, made a name for himself not by begging print publications to take his freelance work, but rather by launching The Sartorialist, the now highly influential "street style" blog. (We won't dwell on the fact his Sartorialist success eventually led him to start working for mainstream fashion publications like Vogue.)
At the other end of the spectrum are those unfortunate souls whose career aspirations don't quite square with their lifestyles. These are the aspiring artists and musicians from well-to-do families — accustomed to regular vacations to exotic locales and shopping at Barney's — who discover that most musicians and artists never quite rise to the level of an Adele or a Jeff Koons. I don't have much hope for them. Either they need to accept a life of enlightened penury, or they need to start looking for a job at a mutual fund.
More broadly speaking, though, this is a good illustration of the huge disruption globalization has brought onto the world's economies. Anyone under 30 who believes a life today will be as stable and staid as their parents' or grandparents' is delusional.
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