Monday, November 18, 2013

I'M SORRY GUYS, but if you choose to major in Sociology don't expect it to be easy getting a job in your own town, especially in a tough market. Try choosing a more marketable major, or get yourself together and either change career or go find that dream job elsewhere. Or learn a profession: there's nothing wrong with being a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician (A few years ago I hired a German guy and his son to make some reforms in one of the bathrooms in my apartment in Barcelona. To tell you the truth, having some Germans doing manual work for a Spaniard had a whiff of the Planet of the Apes, where normal roles are reversed. But did they complain about it? You bet they didn't; they worked hard, did a superb job with good attitude, and left the place impolute. Since then I've recommended them to several friends, and will hire them again when I need something. But I digress)

And if you do leave the country in pursuit of opportunities you haven't found at home don't be a drama queen and don't say you're “in economic exile” (I've heard this even from a unpaid researcher in the university of Mucia after she was hired by Harvard, as if it was a tragedy!). People go and find a job where opportunity is, and sometimes the transition is hard and yes, you may even have to work as a waiter of shop clerk for a while. Deal with it.

I have never heard people from Oklahoma or Nebraska going to New York of LA and complain that they've been 'expelled' from their places. And if they do, if they are in complaint mode, they don't get much opportunity in NY or LA either… Nobody likes whiners. So stop whining and start realizing that life is not like a movie. Shut up and find work, instead of demanding it.