Recently, a Gen Z college student went viral on the social media platform TikTok, explaining the difficulty of securing a job in today’s economy. New York City resident Lohanny Santos recently explained her viral post from last month, which has garnered over 23 million views.
According to Santos, she was motivated to peruse the city with a stack of her resume in search of prospective employers. “This is the most humbled I’ve ever felt in my life,” the 26-year-old began. “I’m literally holding resumes, a stack of them, so that I can go in person to places and say, ‘Are you guys hiring?'” she said in her TikTok.
She further explained the dismaying nature of being rejected from minimum wage jobs, especially as a college graduate. Santos complained that her true ambitions of creating TikTok were not paying the bills, prompting the boots-on-the-ground job hunt she was documenting.
“It’s honestly a little bit embarrassing because I’m literally applying for, like, minimum-wage jobs. And some of them are being like, ‘We’re not hiring’ and it’s like, ‘What?’ This is not what I expected,” Santos continued. “I graduated [from] college, two degrees in communications and acting. I speak three languages … I’m just going to keep trying.”
Santos later pointed out that she did receive a job offer as a barista. However, it required her to complete 18 hours of unpaid training. “I felt so down again. I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’” Santos stated in another TikTok she made. “Like, I finally get a job with the person who wants me to work for free … This is not cool.”
“So many people are also unemployed, looking for jobs, and not being able to find one,” she said. “Some people have higher education than I do and they, themselves, are also struggling.” Santos continued lamenting the current state of the job market. “This is a tough job market. I’m not alone in being unemployed and struggling.”
Santos received an outpouring of praise from the internet, with many supporting her tireless efforts to obtain employment. “It’s so very brave to walk into places with your resume!! you’ll find a job,” one TikTok user posted in the comments section. “Never feel embarrassed. You should feel proud that you’re pushing your pride to the side and being realistic,” another person said.
However, many Americans, particularly those in older generations, have expressed disdain toward younger generations such as Millennials and Gen Z. The American Tribune reported on comments from famous actress and filmmaker, Jodie Foster, who expressed how “annoying” it is to work with Gen Z.
“They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace,” Foster said. The actress continued to complain about their lack of professionalism. “They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.’,” she continued.
Foster continued describing the shortcomings of younger workers, stating, “Or, like, in emails, I’ll tell them this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like, ‘Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?’”
Watch Santos’ TikTok below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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