From master’s student to toilet cleaner

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“I received a distinction for both my degrees, and I now clean SHIT in a foreign country.”

A Facebook post from Benjamín Serra Bosch, a 25-year-old Spaniard residing in London. In the post, Bosch expressed his frustration of having two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree but having to work in a coffee shop where he cleans toilets:

Over-qualified toilet cleaner’s rant goes viral on Facebook  (digitaljournal.com)

Bosch states that he’s not ashamed of his job, but he’s upset about lack of opportunities he’s had: “Cleaning is a very worthy job. What embarrasses me is having to do it because no one has given me an opportunity in Spain.”

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Youth unemployment: A global issue

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While I certainly know how young adults in America are struggling to find employment (being among them myself), this Huffington Post article makes it clear that youth unemployment is a global issue:

Unemployment Plagues Young People Around The World (huffingtonpost.com)

The article profiles young adults in America, Spain, France, Canada, and Great Britain who are struggling to find jobs that utilize their skills and education, while also having to pay off student loans.

20something profile: Tales From Two Cities

This post was written by Convie and E, two friends who became each other’s support system when they both lost their jobs:

Convie:

At 24, just as I thought everything was falling perfectly into place. I found my dream job working as a Journalist at one of the biggest media companies in Singapore. Sadly and unexpectedly, after only a short half year, I found myself unemployed. It felt like a nightmare, except that I couldn’t wake up relieved; I had to face the fact that it was reality.

I didn’t rush to get another job, however. Instead, I took the opportunity to really think about what I was pursuing in life. I spent a good amount of time talking to my friend, E, who had been looking for a job for almost a year at that point.

Life in our 20s: expectations vs. reality

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So no one told you life was gonna be this way…

When we were growing up, shows like Friends presented a glamorous picture of life in your twenties: living in a big city, owning a nice apartment, and having an exciting social life.

But for those us who are broke, unemployed, and living with our parents, this portrayal of our twenties has all the realism and accuracy of a fairy tale.

Make the most of unemployment

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Shortly after I graduated college, I watched the movie Post-Grad (check out the preview on YouTube). I hadn’t heard great things about it, but it interested me that there was a movie about somebody who had just graduated, had no job, and had to move back into her parents’ house — which was also my situation.

Post-Grad wasn’t a great movie, but what I really liked about it was how the main character (played by Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel) had this master plan of what her life was going to be like: win a scholarship into college, get great grades, and score a coveted job at an esteemed publishing company.

And the plan works…to a point. Bledel’s character gets the scholarship and graduates college with a high GPA. But then she blows her interview at the publishing firm and loses the job to her rival. She’s forced to move back in with her parents and struggles to find work despite her previous academic success.