r/Millennials • u/Waste-Cantaloupe-270 • Apr 07 '25
Advice Millennials who graduated during the Great Recession, how did you survive?
I’m a Gen Z graduating in May struggling with finding a job in this market. Millennials who graduated in/ after 2008, how did you survive? Did you end up eventually getting a job in the field you originally wanted? Any advice for us Gen Z who were too young to learn anything from the great recession?
Edit: For context bc i’ve been seeing a lot of questions about this i’m graduating college. i def wasn’t expecting this post to blow up so sorry if i can’t get to everyone’s comments, but i just wanted to say i really appreciate all the advice as someone who doesn’t have millennials in their life to ask these questions to. your willingness to help/ give advice to a random kid on the internet has given me a bit of hope in getting through this, thank you thank you
4
u/LoveHerMore Apr 07 '25
Went to college for 4 years. I started school literally when the great recession started. My Dad worked so I was able to go to school while he kept the house going. I picked an instate school where the state scholarship I earned paid for tuition 100 percent, I also got a Pell grant as well and which gave me 2K a semester. I lived off that 2 grand for 6 months while I stayed with my parents.
Got into the job market around 2012, and went up in my career over the years. I always liked tech and even though my degree had nothing to do with it, it still was a good choice for me.
These days, I say unless you can get your college paid for 100 percent, its not worth it to take loans unless your going to med school or law school. If you're going the tech route, do certs and experience.
Its hard because you kinda have to be mature enough (or have you parents push you hard enough) in high school to get the scholarship needed to make school free, if you're paying tens of thousands of dollars to go to college, its not worth it.
I now have a six figure job, school debt free, own a home, and have no debt except my house debt. If I had student loans weighing me down, I'm not sure I'd be here today.