The Question: What long term impact will the recession have on you?

Well, the recession sucks. News about when we are going to come out of it colors our twitter and blog feeds. We just can't stop talking about it. The more we talk about it, the more the recession's impact on our lives is reaffirmed. That said, the recession has made being a savvy college student a harder task. These are supposed to be the best days of our lives, but it's hard to complete everything on my 'to do before graduation' list when everything on it involves a $30 plus investment. As for long term impact, I think the recession will continue to define us as a generation who struggled with (and subsequently conquered) the difficulty of finding a job. The recession forces us to get creative both in the short and long term. Creativity in making ramen noodles dinners last longer to creativity in networking through social media sites to land a job that a friend's friend's coworker's girlfriend knew about. We'll beat the recession, but it will always be a part of our personalities.

This is the advice I wish I had taken in no particular order:

* Go to community college and then finish up at a state school. Pay as much as you can before considering loans. Starting your life with 30,000+ dollars of student loan debt is no way to start your adult life.

* Don't aim for your dream job. Study for a career that you won't hate and keep your passion alive after work hours. Health insurance and a steady salary will keep you afloat while you dream up your next big thing.

* Don't try to save 3000 a year. Save 3000 a year. Even if you work a crummy job. Increase these savings as you get older to 8,000-10,000 a year. By the time you are thirty you will be able to comfortablely afford a nice home.

* Get over luxury branding and the never ending cycle of "newest + coolest gadgets." Treating yourself is okay now and then, not on every paycheck.

* Learn how to cook, cut back on the beer. If you order in and go out every night you will feel and look terrible by the time you 30.

what recession? i kid, of course, but in all honesty, i think that a positive attitude is more important that freaking out about not having money. sure, i value my job more than i might have had there not been an economic disaster, but i don't live my life much differently. i am 23! i travel and party and live. this so-called recession absolutely made me appreciate my career, but i think all things are cyclical and ever-changing - jobs, life, and the economy. rock on, kids!

I went to school for engineering, but there were no jobs easily available when I graduated. As I wrote cover letter after cover letter to engineering jobs, I realized I didn't even really want them. The job descriptions themselves could have put me to sleep. After spending a few weeks applying for every engineering job I saw, and not getting anything in return, I asked myself, should I continue to work very hard to try and get a job I don't like?

Uhm, no thanks.

If getting a job in engineering had been as easy as cover letter + resume = salary, I might not have noticed how much I didn't like the idea of engineering.

But, because of the time commitment I faced of trying to find a position, I was able to reflect on the fact that I wanted to move in a different direction--writing.

Maybe I would have realized I wanted to be a writer either way, but the recession gave me the courage to do it today. If I have to work hard for something, I should be working for something I looove. I can thank the recession for giving me the time to realize the right direction to head in, and that impact will last a lifetime.

The recession had a long and short term impact on me, and not so much on my daily spending. What happened to me was I began to get very nervous about being able to find a job when I graduate, so I started working harder to distinguish myself from others by doing as many internships as possible. I really believe if I hadn't been as nervous about the job market I would not have had many of the opportunities I have had so far, and this will hopefully eventually lead me to a good job and career come graduation this spring.

I can't work or think in long term. Short term for the next few years, I will carry on just watching trends. I knew the recession would happen, but didn't know when. The '40 somethings' were in debt way over their heads, and the Government spending was totally out of control. So, the recession hasn't had an impact on me directly. I was stunned that it happened so fast.

I won't buy low to sell high in the near future. Money is more important than inventory now. I saved some and cut back in 2007 so I could ride this down time OK. Customers need money to buy high, so I will use patience. If the former spender/buyers become addicted to things again, I'll sell to them. If they become addicted to money itself (saving) like many people did after the depression, they will NOT spend it, Ever. Money + them, till death do us part.

So my long term is yet to be decided. Will the public become greedy again or prudent? Depends on how expertly the marketers do their job for me.

Do these thoughts make sense to anyone else?

Although the most obvious answer here would be that of employment, I would have to say that the recession has colored my spending habits the most. I am no longer the "free-spender" I once was. Due to the forces of un-gainful employment and sizable debt, I proceed with a caution to my spending that limits me greatly. Rather than planning for how to spend the paycheck, I now ask "How do I save this?"

It's certainly making it harder for me to find a job in my field, and I hope that doesn't become a trend. The job I have now is a good starting point -- and I was fortunate to find it, and it's certainly better than my retail job -- but I don't want to do it forever. I put money towards a degree for a reason; I'd like to eventually use it.

But other than that, like another poster said, I'm fortunate to live with my parents and not be paying off college loans. I'm paying for a car, but that's about it as far as major expenses. I do need to save for an apartment and just in general, so that means spending less on a personal level, but that's not so much a product of the recession as it is just a product of me being a 21-year-old college grad living with her parents. So I guess it hasn't had much of an effect -- and I hope I'm right on that. If I've been living in a fantasy world, fooling myself, and suddenly find out, I'm going to be pretty upset.

Short term, the recession hasn't affected me much yet. I'm fortunate enough to live with my parents, while I prepare to graduate early (which will be in 2 months) and they help me as much as they can. As I look for jobs, I'm sure that the long-term effects will be just as severe for me as they are for other people now.

Long term, I think job candidates will be more competitive in an effort to differentiate themselves. I know I'm looking to do everything I can to stand out from the crowd, which is hard enough in the advertising industry as it is. Also, because we're taking lower pay now in response to the recession, it'll be harder for us to earn more in the future.

Overall, though, I'm sure things will level out. The demand for junior-level copywriters will go up (it has to, right?) and the talented, hardworking individuals will rise to the top again. It just might be more difficult to show someone that I have skills and that I'm willing to start from the bottom and prove myself from there. If anything, the recession will impact our psyches the most. I know that when I get down about the job market, I need to take 20 minutes and be upset, but then after that, I put my game-face back on and focus on the fact that I've done some great things and created work that I'm really proud of. The recession will make us more self-aware and help us realize that we can't crumble under the pressure of fewer opportunities - we need to become more confident in ourselves and our abilities in response.

I'll echo Jenna's sentiment (minus the shoe thing).

My parents have been great to me, and the offer is there for them to continue to support me through job searches, (hopefully blissfully short) periods of unemployment and any other obstacle I may face. My wife and I are hoping to buy a house in the next few years, and my father has offered to help because of the 8,000 dollar tax credit for first-time home buyers. Who knows how many more times the deadline on that is going to be extended?

But, as Jenna said, I don't want that kind of help. I have lived a charmed life to this point, and I could write volumes on what that has meant to me - both in terms of how wonderful it is to have such a great support system and how much I have to learn in order to fully be able to do it on my own.

And even though it may be harder for me because I haven't been scraping by on my own before, I welcome that challenge. It's tougher still because of the recession, but it'll give me a greater appreciation of what it takes to accomplish independence.

It goes back to the ability to see value and sacrifice in the support that people give you and to want to give the same to your children when times are tough.

I'm extremely blessed to have parents that support me financially during my educational journey. Currently, I have yet to take out any loans for school or applied for more than one credit card. Working part-time on weekends, my almost insignificant paychecks go to gas, savings, cell phone bills and assorted weekly expenses. My parents often say, “You owe us your life!” I agree. While I still have the financial support of my parents, I’m taking full advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. I’m working to distinguish myself from the masses of fellow colleagues, having a blast doing so, all in hopes of landing my dream job or any job for that matter. I’m anticipating a butt kicking next year when I’m inducted into the real world and my financial ties are severed. So, long term impacts? As of right now, I’m in agreement with Mike, and am focusing more on short term.

I'll start with a short-term impact. I think my hair's going gray. Like many others, I thought an M.S would me a job. The recession woke me up with a slap to the face. More than ever, I realize a a piece of paper with my name in calligraphy doesn't guarantee anything. I still dream of becoming a wunderkind copywriter on Madison Ave., but the recession has put that on hold.
Now, any job will do.
With my dreams deferred, I can't help but wonder like Langston Hughes. Will they "sag like a heavy load" or "[will they] explode?"

The recession hasn't changed the way I spend money so far, but as I transition to the real world from college life, I'm sure this will change. I will need to work on saving more money and hopefully I'll learn how to successfully invest. I'm more worried about the short term, because finding a job in this economy isn't easy for anyone, so this scares me a bit. We will certainly see what happens as I get closer to graduating.

I am thankful that my parents are willing to support me until I find a job this January (currently finishing my education). However, I don't want to ask my parents for another thing. They have done enough to pay for my education, and I have worked two jobs for the past 2 years on top of school to pay for as much as I can on my own. I never cared what the price of groceries was, and I used to get them delivered. Now, I only buy generic brands, and I go get them myself. As a student that has my education paid for, I still make small efforts to minimize my cost of living. Part of it is guilt that my parents are paying, and the other is just common sense. I can't make a justification for spending more on most things, with the exception of shoes of course.

I stayed in college for another year. Long term it's tough to say what that will mean, but unlike how the waiting place is framed in, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I've found that waiting can be a good thing. I waited an extra year before going to college, enrolling as a Post Graduate student at a boarding school instead. Turned out to be the best decision I've ever made. Got me a scholarship, a trip to India and a study abroad in Prague... and a better idea about what I wanted to do.
This time the world is making the decision to wait for me. But, more time to think before jumping into a job or a career may be a good thing for me. As long as I'm able to support myself while having internships and working on my resume (a luxury I know), I can keep poking around finding/ positioning myself for the job I really want.
Lets just hope things are better by next year. That's when I'll start complaining.

Right now I'm still in college. I don't want to leave my minimum wage job (even though I only get a few hours a week) for fear of not being able to find another job. I would rather hold on for dear life to a job that won't do anything for me in the long run.
Also, this summer I'm hoping to find an internship. I'm afraid that I won't be able to find one and start getting the experience necessary to begin my career and improve on my resume and portfolio.
I'm just petrified to graduate. I don't want to have to move back home because I'm incapable of finding a job, and I know that I will just take the first offer given to me.

I've always been good about saving my money, and I think the recession has enhanced this quality. Now that everyone is being extra careful, I'm now EXTRA EXTRA careful with my money.

I will have to put off my dream of buying a Golden Jetski.

I graduated college right after the dot-com bust. I learned handy tricks like how to best prepare stale bagels from the 'day old' bin, your old college ID: the discount card that keeps giving and that inexpensive colorful scarves can obscure the fact that your winter coat is 5 years old. Then, things got better and I practically bankrupted myself to go back to school. Here I am at the beginning again.

I think "being poor" has 2 different meanings - one is actual poverty and the other is a somewhat callous way to describe 'experiencing financial independence for the first time.' It's so like ingrained as almost a rite of passage. A recession makes less of an impact if you experience it when you're supposed to be 'young and poor' anyway. "I can't afford a second martini" isn't as powerful of a lesson as "I'm going to lose my house."

The bad decisions that cause recessions are made when things are going well. My hope would be that we can get deeper than the "things will get better" mantra, actually understand how this happened and make better decisions as consumers and as future business leaders.

My standards for employment were also lowered considerably. As a recent graduate, I expected to find a job that I loved easily! Now I now how foolish that notion was. However, I ended with some wonderful people from substantially different walks of life and I appreciate everything I learned from them.
The consequence of this was that I really upped my game in the job market. I made more phone calls and checked back in in person and even bragged about myself at interviews. And it felt pretty dang good to get the job offer I was hoping for.

I think this post is raising a bigger questions about recent grads and what do you do if it's difficult to get a job to avoid the "what the hell have you been doing" question that Sam brought up. To answer that, still hustle. Study, get entrenched in your industry and follow your passion. Read, blog, keep connected, freelance, start a company. Don't stay idle.

As for the recession question, my purchases are more thought out. I won't just mindlessly spend money. I'm more calculated and spend money on things that really matter, that give me the most value. I'll look for a used Macbook pro instead of buying a new one. There are so many things I could spend money on that don't add a lot of value to my life, and I've attempted to cut as much of that out as possible, and I'm making my money go a lot farther that way.

I window shop now. My savings account is growing and I am becoming more "frugal." It will benefit me in the long run.

I'm one of the lucky ones... I got a job in my field, doing what I love, 5 months after graduation.

The biggest impact the recession has had on me is that I'm a lot more cautious about credit, loans and buying things I don't need. I'm saving all I can, and in a wide variety of places. I think the recession will actually benefit our generation in a lot of ways by making us more financially savvy.

I know that the recession currently has placed a lot of stress on friends and family, but the effect it has on me has actually been positive.

Knowing that it is difficult to land a well-paying job right out of college, I feel that working harder when I am in college will make me more competitive and eager to jump into the working world. I am extremely excited for my upcoming graduation in May because I have already been talking to prospective employers.

I feel like the recession has made me into a person who can plan well and understand that the economy will always have its ups and downs and that organizing your life accordingly will make sure that you will be safe in situations where all employers are hiring to when none are.

Odd as it sounds, I have to thank the recession. When I left college in May 2008, I was on a complete high. After years of free labor for national competitions, several internships, and extracurriculars, my mind raced at the thought of finally getting paid for working the same weekly hours as a CEO. As Christine mentioned, I was giddy just to be compensated for once. That didn't happen. In fact, I still don't have the full time job I imagined I'd be doing by now, and yet, I still wish to thank the recession. Having been so high, you could only imagine the fall. I went through some really tough emotions--the kind of stuff that made you question your self-worth; did it even exist? Was college just some microcosm where I seemed to be valued and perform well, but out here I'm nothing? Eventually, these feelings were overcome by my refusal to stay idle. Even though I couldn't be hired full time, I persisted in finding ways to continue my education and improve myself. I now have my strongest mental will to date and it's thanks to the recession. If everything worked out as I hoped, had I got that full time dream job off the bat, I would have been spoiled by it. The fact that this hasn't been easy has reminded me why I always have to stay hungry. It can always happen again. My spending habits will change when I start earning money, but not in any way that was unplanned before having it. I want to see things in the world; I want to try the local cooking in far off places. Of course, I'll make sure to have a safety net of income, but again, that was always in my plans. The last situation I want to end up in is living paycheck to paycheck, only to have a paycheck not show up.

Coming out of school this year, the recession has an immediate impact. It's not about being able to shop the way that I want, or to eat at the restaurants I've become accustomed to. Instead, it's about wondering "how am I ever going to get a job?" The postings I'm looking at all say they require more experience than I have. A few years down the road, those postings will say the same thing, and if I don't get a job, I'll get to answer the what-the-hell-have-you-done-with-yourself-in-five-years line of questioning.

Even longer term than 5 years, I think it stunts the growth of my career. Starting a career, along with ending one, seems to be the most difficult thing about it. If I can't start one for a longer amount of time because of the recession, that stalls me. If I have goals I want to accomplish, I have to push my timetable back. And that could affect anything from when/if I start my own business, when I retire, when I have kids, when I buy a house. That's a lot to push back, and some that I may not be able to do just because it was a bad economy when I was on the job market for the first time.

The recession has taught me a lesson my parents have been struggling to teach me for a long time-budgeting.
If I had $5 in my account, I'd use them. I took out an 8K loan for my semester abroad in London, had $500 when I came back, and instead of saving it, I bought a Marc Jacobs bag (I needed it). You get the picture of my little problem. But a few months after I started my job and my graduation money was gone (on things I needed of course), I started to feel the pinch. "Oh yea" I remembered, "there's a recession". I decided to write down everything I spent money on for a week and see if it was really worth it. It wasn't. Not only was I the only person my age eating at the restaurants I was eating at, I had spent $80 on drinks and it wasn't even the week end yet. And then it finally hit me- I wasn't under my parents money anymore=I'm poor. The recession taught me that I'm poor, and the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem, right? Dear recession, my bank account thanks you.

Despite the recession, I'm still making more money than I ever have before (been in the workforce for almost 5 years now). So to me, I'm still moving up. Sure, my bonuses/promotions may not be as robust as if the recession hadn't happened, and I did have to move cities due to my previous company going down in flames, but its all part of being a young adult, right? New experiences, new places, and I'm still doing well for myself. I'm confident that given the range of experience I've gotten, in part DUE to the recession, will bode well for me in the future, once things stabilize. I'm not ready to purchase a home yet anyway. I still clip coupons, shop at Aldi/WalMart, etc., but I've always done those things- I've always had to, being a poor college student. I'm in a good place now bc I've got no college debt, paid my car off. I even went to grad school bc of the recession.

I just spent $75,000 on graduate education, and I probably won't find a job for a long time. I am interning right now at a Boston-based ad agency, and I am President of AdLab. In the past, these two qualities led to multiple offers. Now, I'll have to cast a wider net (which defeats the purpose of my degree--I WANT to work in an ad agency) or stay unemployed.

I never really had money to begin with... So when I transitioned from being a poor college student to a salaried employee, I was just happy to have a steady paycheck. Eventually, once I actually have disposable income, I know I'll be spending all over the place. I have pent up passions for fashion, traveling, good food and theatre that are being stifled!

Although, I think that the recession may have lowered my standards for employment, so I'll have to overcome my gratitude of being employed in order to fight for more pay.