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[quote=Anonymous]I'm Gen Z. Honestly, we learned from the errors of our parents and the ways they were misguided.

A job is a job. One job isn't more important than others. We saw this reflected most recently during the pandemic when those deemed essential workers were the ones who kept society chugging along (grocery workers, retail/pharmacy workers, truck drivers, warehouse distribution workers, etc.). The jobs that most people on here turn their noses up at and bicker about who and how much they should tip those workers.

My parents are big on having a good career, however in their eyes, a career = white collar and prestigious. That's not the definition of a career. A career is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life. Someone who works at Harris Teeter for 25 years has a career the same as a partner at a law firm. My sibling is a bartender who made over $90k last year. My parents do not view my sibling's job as a career even though he has been doing it for over 15 years. Even though he supports himself by doing it. Even though he is able to afford his mortgage. Even though he's able to support his wife and daughter. They constantly say things such as "you're almost 40, when are you going to get a career and a good job?"  :roll:

The job ends when it's quitting time. This is something my parents never seemed to grasp. I know many of my friend's parents didn't follow this either from what I saw when at their homes. I can remember so many evenings spent watching TV while my parents worked away on their laptops on the couch. Or watching my dad pace the sideline on a work call at my games. Or running into Giant at 7 am before school with my mom to buy brownies or cookies for an event at school because she didn't have time to bake them because she had to work from home. If I'm not getting compensated for working after quitting time, I'm not doing it.

Company loyalty = talking points for hiring you and keeping up employee morale and nothing more. We all need to stop lying about loyalty when it comes to jobs. Being loyal to one company doesn't make you special or keep you safe. I saw this twice with my mom. She worked for 15 years at one company before she was let go because her department was outsourced to another country. She found a new job and worked there for 10 years and the same thing happened again. If you live in a right to work state, there is no company loyalty. Just because I have been working at your company for 5 years, it doesn't mean I owe you anything if a similar position comes along that offers me only $5k more. If you can't match that measly offer, peace.

Job hopping = good. I'm 24 and I have job hopped 4 times in 2 years. I've also gone from $62k to $69k to $76k to $83k. When I see a job advertised for more than my salary and in the same field, I immediately apply. I'm good friends with a guy who started at the same time as I did at my first job and almost 2.5 years later, he's not yet making much over $64k. I encourage him to leave all the time and send him positions to apply to but he's a bit older (I think Gen X) and enamored with the name appeal of working for that company.

College = great but not worth the debt. I went to NOVA for 2 years and then transferred to VCU. I was able to work and pay for my NOVA classes and didn't need to touch the small college fund that my parents and grandparents had contributed to (under $15k). I graduated college with very little student loan debt. My colleagues and I were discussing student loan debt and what we think will happen (ever be canceled, is the pause really ending soon, etc) and the amount of debt most of my Gen X coworkers have is staggering. [/quote]

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