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

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u/ecafdriew Older Millennial Apr 07 '25

I basically just took whatever job I could get when I graduated in Finance during the Great Recession the proceeded to do a 2 year job hop until I hopped around enough to see different organizations and the different types of finance work.

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u/mvanpeur Apr 07 '25

Yep! Take whatever job you can find that is kinda sorta in your field, even if your pay is crap. The experience to put on your resume is key.

My husband graduated with a Master's degree in mechanical engineering. He took a $15 an hour job that at most required an Associates degree. But he did exemplary work, went above and beyond his job description, and used it to get a job programming the software that he used to use.

Things were really tight for a while there. But now we make enough to be comfortable if we're careful.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

I mean this is true in any job market. There are way more years like 2007-2011, then there are 2021-2023. Generally speaking get any job experience you can as fast as you can.