Comic Strips

Everyone's experience is different, and things ARE absolutely more difficult in recent decades than many decades ago.

That said, I remember around the time I was graduating and how it felt like the vast majority of everyone I knew was baffled by my willingness to move far away (for the job), and how many of them refused to move away from home (where there weren't many job options for degrees).

There's also choices to make to do projects or a thesis around real productive ideas to build something to show off to employers. There's opportunities to practice interviewing, shadow careers, and make yourself presentable and stand out for your field, and again I just remember very few who actually put in the effort and wanted to appear well-rounded amd with a portfolio of sorts to distinguish themselves. Most of my classmates seemed to just want to check boxes and expect a career to happen.

Some people in my personal experience seem unwilling to do what's necessary to make their degree worthwhile.

Yeah you may be able to get [insert degree] at [random local college], but a lot of the good careers are not going to be where you got the degree, amd you really have to find ways to convince employers why you're different.

Then on top of all of that, there's just some luck as well. And I know in some ways I also just got lucky in landing a job.

Meanwhile, ever since I moved and started a career, I have been surrounded by incredible degree-wielding people from all over the world. So clearly lots of people do find success and they are doing great jobs.