Shaunanagins

“See, the thing is, I don’t believe job security exists. And when you don’t believe in job security, that changes everything.”

This was my explanation for why I quit my job. The reason I became a full-time freelancer – or at least, the reason that seemed less wishy-washy than “I just want flexibility, man.”

While everyone at least pretended to see the validity of my statement, there was a pattern I noticed. If the person I was talking to was either a) under 30 years old; b) an educator (managers counted, usually), or; c) worked in an HR Department, they would aggressively they nod as I said those words. Seriously. It was like their heads were about to roll off.

Yes. Yes. You’re about as safe in your cosy office job as you would be cold emailing for freelance gigs. How does that change how you look at the world?

I’m not saying it’s a good thing. Sure, industries being disrupted was exciting when I was a student. Now that I’m in the position of starting my big-kid life, the vulnerability is less thrilling. And even if a company is kicking ass and taking names, outsourcing and automation often make full-time hiring far from the most business-savvy option. Think about it – a full-time office employee is essentially a person on retainer who is protected by a TON of government regulations. Who’s surprised that companies are moving away from this? 

If you’re security-driven, this situation really blows. Or if you would like to qualify for a mortgage. Or if health insurance is something you need.

At the same time, switching to a “task not time” way of looking at work – rather than those aforementioned retainers – seems a bit more human. As a freelancer, I promise you it certainly feels that way.

But, whatever. You probably know the pros and cons. Hell, you’re probably living them right now. You can love it or hate it, but either way the question is: what do we do now?

As someone who’s gone full-time freelance, here’s my take.

Despite having taken an unorthodox career path, I’m a rule-follower like you’ve never seen. Yes, a creative rule-follower. Sounds horrifying, right? I didn’t know what the deal was until Grade 11,  when a creative writing teacher presented the class with a whack-ton of rules for writing. The whole thing made my brain spin, until he added “You need to learn these rules and follow them before you can break them, so you can break them right.”

This. This. We all should be taking exactly this advice as we navigate this crazy new world. We need to learn the rules so we can break them.

Here are the steps I took, steps that could perhaps help you – whether you have a super-secure jobs or not – to navigate these changing times.

Step one: Learn how things “work.” I put this in quotations, because the modern workplace keeps changing and traditional lessons won’t always apply. But they’re worth learning, because even if your client or employer doesn’t ascribe to traditional “rules,” they come from them in some way. We can learn the “rules” through school, or from gainfully employed people around us (parents, relatives, friends, etc), or from society as a whole. We should of course learn about employer-employee relationships, but we should also learn about outsourcing. If you are working, find out who is being paid by your company for what and why. At home, find out how the contractor painting your bathroom structures his business. Learn how waitstaff manage tipping out and income fluctuation. Talk to bored employees. Talk to stimulated employees. Talk to anyone who has ever hired someone else for anything. Do 4 completely different types of jobs and compare how their payment systems work. And of course, all the while, measure how each of these scenarios make you feel so you can seek out the right fit in your own career.

Bottom line: If your understanding about how careers “work” is limited to the employer-employee relationship, you’re missing out on how most of the real buying and selling goes down in this world and you will not be able to complete steps 2 and 3.

Step two: Learn which rules you should follow and which ones you should deter from. The more you learn about the “rules,” the more you’ll realize that there are rules you are rewarded for following and rules you are punished for following.

For example, one of the “rules” of employment dictates that you should give 100% of your energy and loyalty to one company or mission. That’s a bit silly, unless it’s your absolute life-fulfilling passion. People with a bunch of money very rarely invest all of it in one business. They diversify their investments. The investment of your time could be seen the same way, as long as you are lucky to find enough worthy pursuits.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t take a stable job in order to focus on their families or their non-monetized side-projects. That’s still another means of diversifying. But as fewer and fewer so-called stable jobs become available, it’s worth looking at other ways to navigate traditional wisdom or “rules” like being loyal to one job.

Step three: Delicately, kindly, break those damn rules. We’ve been socialized to succeed in an economy that is, in many ways, going away. For many of us, it feels as though we’ve been given a bathing suit and shipped off to Alaska in December.

We’ve been asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” instead of “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

We’ve been taught about jobs instead of careers.

We were in our twenties (or thirties, or forties) before anyone even mentioned maternity leave, or pension plans, or child care costs, or unpaid internships, or invoicing, or needing therapy, or most of the hundreds of things that paint our current career paths.

And guess what? No one was trying to hurt us when they neglected to teach us those things. They were simply showing us the rules as they currently stood. Go to school, make a resume, get a job, retire.

But here’s the thing – if companies are allowed to change the rules (and they are), then we must be willing do the same. I’m not urging everyone reading this to become self-employed, or even to take multiple jobs. But consider the rules that you are following, and question them. Question whether you’re following them because that’s what you want and/or that’s how the system really works…or because that’s just what you’ve been told.

Ethics are important, integrity is important, and kindness is important (I gave multiple months’ notice at my last full-time job for a reason). But don’t mistaken any of those virtues for the need to follow outdated rules that the people above you couldn’t care less about.

I don’t believe job security exists. That’s a frightening notion for a person like me. A person who would like to raise a family, have a home, and build a life. But it’s not something I have the power to change. All I can do is react to it.

That’s all any of us can do – learn the rules, yes, but try not to be swallowed whole by them. Be a good person, but protect yourself from exploitation. And get damn, damn good at what you do so people will be happy to pay you for it.

(Oh, and fight for policy changes that make sense too. Always do that.)

For International Women’s Day, I want to let you know that I see you.

We all know how social media works. An exciting trip will always, always get a thumbs up. An engagement ring? Oh man, that will break records. And so we share those things, because that’s what people want to see.

But that’s not all you are. And when you share more of who you are, I don’t always say something.

So I’m saying something now.

I love the art you create. I am SO jazzed about the plays you are in, the drawings you make, the music you play, the poetry you write. I can’t believe you find the time and dedication in this busy life to create.

Sometimes, I feel guilty that I can’t come to your show so I don’t tell you how much I admire your creativity. Thank you for making the world a more colourful, culturally rich place.

I love your mind. When you post an article with a thoughtful comment, I am grateful for your perspective. When you share what you are learning, reading, and working on, I immediately want to learn more about it myself.

Sometimes, I feel like I don’t know enough to comment on the things you share so I don’t let you know how much I appreciate your ideas.

I love your hustle. I love seeing simple glimpses of how you get through those busy days. I admire the unique combination of JOBS SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS DREAMS that you have created, that you own, that you are always working to make better.

Sometimes, your hustle makes me self-conscious about my hustle so I don’t cheer you on like I should.

I love the posts you write. I love reading your stories and understanding your worldview. I love your perspective and appreciate your vulnerability in sharing even the simplest inner thoughts. I love the ones I see myself in, and I love the ones that show me a new perspective.

Sometimes, I get so lost reading that I forget to tell you how much I enjoy your words.

I love what you share. Not everyone is a creator, but when you take the time to curate the things which you find important, entertaining, or enlightening, it makes my life fuller. So much of the content you share makes me laugh, learn, and think.

Sometimes, I get so caught up showing the video or article you posted to the people around me that I never tell you how much I appreciated you sharing it.

Most of all, I love the amazing things you show me when we hang out offline. 

When you start talking about something you are passionate about and your eyes light up.

When you are strong in the face of challenges. I admire how you approach barriers, personal and professional, with focus and poise because nevertheless, she persisted.

The little things you do that make your house a home, things you probably don’t even realize you are doing.

The creations you don’t show the world – that photo you took hanging on the living room wall, the wonderfully researched paper collecting dust on the shelf, the incredible meals that you concoct “for fun,” the work you have done to become a better person.

But you don’t get a “like” for the hundreds of little things you do to make the world a better place. In fact, chances are you barely share those things (because a lady shouldn’t go around bragging, dontchaknow).

Please, my friends, keep bragging. Tell me how you make the world better. Show me your awesome style, tell me when your show is, start conversations. Keep challenging me to be better, stronger, and more compassionate.

I see you. And I thank you.

It’s a ring!

It’s a house!

It’s a baby!

No, it’s…two unemployed twenty-somethings living out of a used Pontiac.

Our announcement seems a bit different than other “settling down”-themed news from couples at this age and stage, but I think a lot of it comes from a very similar place. Like many people, my boyfriend and I met, dug each other, and started building a life together. We got big kid jobs. We decided what our goals were. We saved, saved, saved. We planned and replanned.

Then we gave notice on our lease.

Then I quit my wonderful job in marketing.

Then we sold our furniture (not that we had much, anyways).

And now, here we are. No babies, puppies, or mortgage payments in our near future. But still—trying to build a cool life together, investing in solid goals.

The only difference is our goals look a lot like this:

Yeppers, turns out when two history students hook up, it is only a matter of time before they leave reality behind and attempt a big Civil War themed road trip.

(We. Are. Huge. Nerds.)

This is about more than a single trip, of course. Long-term, I’m taking the plunge into fulltime freelancing. Essentially, I’m starting my own business. Rest assured: I’m terrified.

“But you had a job-with-benefits-and-RRSP-and-and-and…”

…and I loved that job. I loved almost everything about it, but I needed to try this. Maybe fail at it, maybe not, but I needed to try.

I don’t know much at this point in the game, but it seems to me that getting super-skilled at the (lucrative) things you love is a good way to go about career building. So even if I fail, I want to spend at least the next couple years becoming amazing at what I really enjoy–writing, content strategy, digital marketing, and back again.

It’s half entrepreneurial, half sabbatical, and all scary.

This is a we decision, of course. A bit more career mobility on my end gives us the opportunity to live closer to the Niagara farm my plus-one runs with his dad–he can actually come home at night, and I can awkwardly pretend to help. It opens us up for future winter trips before we actually set down roots. It’s a step towards the life we want to build together, which is pretty freaking cool.

Admittedly, this isn’t what I thought partnering up and creating a career would look like. My mental image growing up was a little more white picket fence and a little less laptop-wielding nomad. And maybe we’ll do that someday.

But for now, this is what life looks like. After months of saving and preparing, we’re here. I couldn’t be more excited.

When I left school and entered the “real world,” I had no idea what I was doing.

I mean, no one really did. Maybe no one ever has. Still, I can’t help but feel that despite the best intentions of our educators, my peers and I felt lost in a lot of avoidable ways. Our concept of career focused on a dwindling supply of Occupations, as opposed to centering on Skills. Skills which, frankly, a lot of us lacked.

The world has changed since the last time a lot of our educators had to get started. And since we spend the majority of our time before age 18 being prepared for “life” by adults, I think we owe them – the teachers, curriculum creators, parents, and role models – some feedback on what we face in the big bad world.

So I turned to communities of friends, entrepreneurs, and job-seekers on Facebook (through personal and Bunz networks) and asked for their feedback on what they think educators should know about the “real world these days.

These are their experiences.

1. We have no idea how to do our taxes. We live in a world where 15% of people are self-employed, where side hustles are the norm, and where deductions are all over the place. Doing taxes is simple enough if you have one revenue stream, one home, and no major deductions. But add in being a self-employed person, a student, someone who depends on tips. So many of us are playing a losing game with taxes, and that’s wrong. This is such a basic part of our civil responsibility and financial lives, and it isn’t even mentioned until our first return is due.
2. Also, our personal finance knowledge leaves something to be desired. Often, we teach kids a big fat nothing about money management, then hand them a credit card and student loan at 18 and say “be smart!” In a world of bank fees and buying on credit, an unprepared young adult can make some bad decisions. And in an economy like this, those bad decisions can cripple a person for years and years (and years and years) to come.
3. We can’t cook (and it’s sucking the life out of us). The year after I left middle school, they scrapped Family Studies class in favour of more English and Math. The result? A lot of people simply never learned how to cook. If schools won’t step up, this should be a priority for parents, after-school programs, and really anyone who helps prepare young people for adulthood. Our physical, mental, and financial health depends on it.
4. For many of us, the answer to”What do you want to be when you grow up” is “It doesn’t exist yet.” Slotting students into traditional occupations (doctor, teacher lawyer, tradesperson, repeat) ignores the very real changes in our technology, society, and marketplace. Shifting the focus to marketable skills instead a small selection of Jobs will prepare students for the unpredictable future. Career & Salary negotiation coach, Kathryn Meisner, worded it really well when she wrote “I think it could help everyone involved if we acknowledged that careers are not really linear anymore, post-secondary education may not always be relevant (gasp!) and shifted to facilitating career exploration.”
5. What we can do/make often matters more than what we know. Sure, knowing how to use certain programs and perform basic tasks is desired by employers, but most are hiring you to do something, not just know something. A couple tangible examples of our talents and abilities would go a long way in winning over potential interviewers. Many of us graduate with nothing to show for our practical skills (or worse, no practical skills period) and that’s a problem.
6. Experience matters. Volunteer opportunities, co-op, and any other resume-ready experiences are pretty much necessary to get your “foot in the door.” Getting something interesting on a young person’s resume (mine was volunteering at a local TV station in high school) can save some serious scrambling later on.
7. We need to be good at more than one thing. For those of us who went to University, the idea that we need to hyper-focus on one subject is often burned into our brains. The rest of the world, however, is much more suited to a multi-disciplinary education with a lot of soft skills sprinkled in. So sure, young people should find what they like and become GREAT at that. But unless it is highly in demand, tunnel vision can kill off many social and professional opportunities. Stay curious and well-rounded.
8. Stories, mentors and role models make a difference in our lives.  Growing up, we are exposed to the stories of our teachers and family members every day – which is great, if we want one of their careers. But if we want to do something different, it can seem impossible if we have no one to look up to for direction. Having uncles and aunts in Communications and Marketing influenced my decision to study those things. Meeting a blogger at age 20 is the reason I am a blog. Real people, real stories, and solid advice show us what is possible and how to get there. Being exposed to mentors from many different backgrounds would make a big difference for many otherwise aimless young people.
9. Collaboration is everything. All day, every day, I have to work with someone else. My partner. My parents. My co-workers. Some account manager in Chicago. All of us need each other to reach our goals, and it isn’t always easy. Learning  patience, communication, and accountability will help in every aspect of your life.
10. …but so is knowing your boundaries. In this collaboration-centric world, knowing what you are able to handle from others and what you are able to give of yourself is hugely important. There are toxic workplaces and relationships. You do have the right to move on from a bad situation. Socializing kids to have respect for authority or to work in difficult groups isn’t terrible – my teacher needed to corral us somehow,  and learning how to handle hard situations is worthwhile. But long term, finding workplaces and relationships where you feel comfortable and respected should be a priority.
11. We don’t know our rights. When the boundary thing gets really ugly, this is important. Many of us don’t know our rights as tenants and we don’t know our rights as employees. Even if we do, we don’t know how to go about defending those rights. Since we are thrown into a world where we have to find an apartment and a job, a working knowledge of this basic legislation would be invaluable to many.
12. Social media is a part of our life – for better or for worse. I was warned a great deal about the dangers of social media growing up, warnings that were very important. But I quickly learned that while posting the wrong things could stunt my career, posting the right things would jumpstart it in a big way. Networking and self-expression online is neither fantastic nor horrible. It’s just different, and we should be taught about both the opportunities and the challenges it presents.
13. We really, really, really need to be able to write emails. Applying for an job? How about a grant? Trying to network? So much of that happens online now, and being able to express yourself through a keyboard is a big deal. My parents used to roll their eyes at all the time I spent on MSN messenger (remember msn!?) but chatting with my friends online taught me how to communicate in writing. This has been invaluable in making and maintaining good impressions and just plain getting things done.
14. We know mental health matters, but we don’t always know how to cope or find help. We learn most of our coping skills at home. That’s great if our role models at home have experienced similar challenges and know how to cope themselves. Otherwise, it can cause more harm than good. This issue isn’t unique to our generation, but the fact is we know too much now to ignore it any longer. By addressing these issues early and working to provide resources, young people can identify mental health issues and know address them. That will save lives, build empathy, and create a healthier society.
15. We need to be able to negotiate. In high school, I questioned a grade for the first time. It was scary, but soon I started asking for explanations for grades regularly. I realized that opening a dialog and taking interest in how I was being graded always ended well for me – it gave me information on how my teacher marked, taught me how I could earn more, and made sure I wasn’t losing out unfairly. I am incredibly grateful to the teachers who engaged in those conversations with me, because out here in the real world, negotiating your worth is kind of a big deal. Encouraging students to engage with authority over things that matter can lead help them negotiate for fairer compensation in the future.

A note to any teachers reading this: Wow. I am amazed that you do this job, especially with all the crazy people like me trying to tell you how to do it. It can’t be easy getting us ready for this crazy world. For all the things the education system gets wrong, you get a lot right.

Thank you to the teachers who break through the BS to teach us the important stuff that may or may not be in the curriculum.

Thank you for the people working tirelessly to create a better system and keep up with this ever-changing world.

Most of all, thank you to everyone – inside and outside of education – who continues to talk about this stuff. The ones who question what is going on. The ones who keep an eye on the changing world and care about how young people are being prepared for it. The ones who share their triumphs and challenges in hopes of a better experience for the next generation. Thank you, especially, to those who responded to my awkwardly-worded questions on Facebook. I love that together, we get a far clearer picture of what’s happening (and how to make it better).

I am scared of this real world thing. I am ill-prepared for it, in many ways. But I am also ready in many ways, too. And for that, I am grateful, grateful, grateful. We all should be.

Dear American Friends,

A recent poll shows that, thanks to political rhetoric and false sentiments, 49% of Americans don’t think the United States has the largest military in the world.

This is shocking to those of us who are only too aware of the Unites States’ military might. It is also telling. It suggests that many Americans feel vulnerable. Maybe they feel  like they’re losing control. Based on who you have running as the Republican nominee, many Americans must feel angry, too.

Those are bad sentiments to combine with the largest military in the world. And while you might not know you have that kind of strength, let us assure you: You do. That’s why we pay so much attention to you.

Sure, Hollywood makes some nice flicks, but we don’t pay attention to the USA’s breaking news because you can sing and dance. We don’t pay attention because America is exciting and bold and free, either–the majority of countries around the world are democracies, and many arguably do a better job at it than the US does.

No, we pay attention to you because you have a lot of weapons and influence. Because you have a veto and you can blow us up. Because what you do affects all of us.

Every country you invade. Every industry you invest in. Every dollar of aid that goes into the wrong (or right) pocket. Every weapon you dole out. Every international plan you back (or back out of).

We don’t pay attention to you because you are a role model to our budding democracies.  We pay attention because you have nukes that could destroy everything the other 95.6% of us in the world have built.

I can’t speak for everyone, but as one of your next door neighbours (you know, the ones who spell “neighbor” wrong), last night really scared me

When I judge a leader, I look at their job description. In Canada, our Prime Minister is just a glorified Member of Parliament–someone who shakes hands and does Buzzfeed shorts more often than the average politician, but whose vote is the same as that of the rep across the aisle.  The Prime Minister is part talent scout, assigning MPs to departmental leadership roles, and part host/diplomat.

Your vote for President is a little more intense than our MP picking party. Your leader has much more power in your country. Your leader has much more power over other countries. And so, when you vote for your President, I urge you to also consider their job description.

The President of the United States is Commander in Chief of the largest military in the world. Not kinda-sorta-maybe the largest military in the world. You might not believe it, but you have the absolute, no-kidding, borderline ridiculous largest military in the world. So naturally, it would make sense to pick the person who best understands defence, alliances, and global politics.

Yet yesterday, one of your candidates suggested that China invade North Korea, totally ignoring their alliance. He said he “hasn’t thought too much” about NATO. He believes multinational organizations make decisions based on offhand comments he makes during TV interviews.

The President of the United States represents your country on the world stage. Your international relations are in his or her hands; with a global economy and international debt, this is a more important and delicate a role than ever.

Yet yesterday, one of your candidates insulted the international community so incredibly that his opponent turned to the camera for on-the-spot damage control.

The President of the United States is responsible for presenting policy priorities, and for managing the celebrations and reparations which shape your nation. A solid knowledge of your history, economics, and laws are critical to lead it in the right direction.

Yet yesterday, one of your candidates championed trickle down economics, a system which has consistently failed throughout history. He went on to suggest protectionist trade policies, paying no attention to the bad track record of such policies and refusing to consider jobs outside of the manufacturing sector as real options for growth. He paid zero attention to very real and well-studied precedents.

I’m being generous here by picking at the policies he presented. There weren’t many.

The majority of his talking time was spent spewing factually inaccurate nonsense. He claimed that Clinton has both been fighting ISIS her whole career, and that she started ISIS. He couldn’t even get his personal history straight when questioned on Iraq and his involvement in the birther movement. His concept of timelines and basic American history is skewed, which is hugely disconcerting for many people in the international community. It feels like you’re on the verge of electing someone who knows less about American history and politics than a 10th grader in another country, and that’s scary to watch.

I admit, this article is like a neighbour hearing yelling next door and giving unsolicited marital advice.  I know it’s out of place. I know our dissent will only fuel some opinions that Trump is in America’s best interest (because if it’s bad for the rest of the world, surely it must be good for you…or so the fallacy goes).

Normally, this would prevent me from writing anything. It’s why I haven’t said anything yet. Your election, your country, your problem.

But when the well-being of that neighbour threatens your own livelihood and security, I think it’s fair to say something.

I purposefully left out some of my private concerns about Trump, including his taxes, policies on domestic crime, and remarks about race/gender. I hope Americans talk about those things, because they are important to discuss. But I don’t think it would be right for me to wave around my opinion of them in this article because my opinion really, really doesn’t matter there.

But where economic realities, international relations, and military action are concerned, the international community has a stake in what’s happening. And while we don’t have a vote, it would be wrong of us to not tell you that we’re scared. We’re confused (so, so, so confused). We don’t understand how it got this bad.

Dear American friends, we want the best for you. Our economies, our people, and our politics are so intertwined that what’s good for America is almost always what’s good for Canada.

And based on what we saw last night, Donald Trump is not only bad for you–he’s dangerous for the rest of us.

Sincerely,

A concerned Canadian