Would you ask this question to an employer in this new economy? I wouldn’t – lest I be cast off as one of the self-obsessed, entitled brethren of my generation.

When I saw this scene (again) in Good Will Hunting, though, I realized how much it oozes the spirit of Generation Y. To our own fault, in some cases, we would rather work for a company dedicated to promoting societal benefit than blight. His type of genius is remarkable and extremely valuable, thus companies and individuals pursued him. Steadfast in his beliefs, he sought the personal triumph in standing on his principles.

When you have bill collectors on your back and financial pressure causing discord within your family, can you afford to hold onto principles? Watch the clip. Let me know what you feel in the comments.

Good Will Hunting transcript snippet

WILL

What?

SEAN
Do you have a soul mate?

WILL
Define that.

SEAN
Somebody who challenges you.

WILL
I have Chuckie.

SEAN
You know, Chuckie’s family, he’d lie down in fuckin’
traffic for you. I’m talking about someone who opens
up things for you. Touches your soul.

WILL
I got..I got..

SEAN
Who?

WILL
I got plenty.

SEAN
Well, name ‘em.

WILL
Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Frost, o’Conner, Kant, Pope,
Locke…

SEAN
That’s great. They’re all dead.

WILL
Not to me, they’re not.

SEAN
Yeah, but you don’t have a lot of dialog with them. You
can’t give back to them, Will.

WILL
Well, not without some serious smelling salts and a
heater.

SEAN
Yeah. Well, that’s what I’m saying. You’ll never have
that kind of a relationship in a world where you’re
always afraid to take the first step because all you see is
every negative thing ten miles down the road.

WILL
What? You’re going to take the professor’s side on this?

SEAN
Don’t give me a line of shit. No.

WILL
Look. I didn’t want the job.

SEAN
It’s not about the job. I don’t care if you work for the
government. But you can do anything you want, you are
bound by nothing. What are you passionate about. What
do you want? I mean there are guys who work their
entire lives laying brick so that their kids have a chance
at the opportunities you have here.

WILL
I didn’t ask for this.

SEAN
No. You were born with it. So, don’t cop out behind “I
didn’t ask for this.”

WILL
What do you mean “cop out?” I mean, w-w-what’s
wrong with layin’ brick?

SEAN
Nothing.

WILL
There’s nothing wrong—That’s some– That’s
somebody’s home I’m building.

SEAN
Right. My dad laid brick. Okay? Busted his ass so I
could have an education.

WILL
Exactly. That’s an honorable profession. What’s wrong
with..with fixing somebody’s car. Someone can get to
work the next day because of me. There’s honor in that.

SEAN
Yeah, there is, Will. There is honor in that. And there’s
honor in, you know, taking that forty minute train ride
so those (college kids come) in the morning and the
floors are clean and the wastebaskets are empty. That’s
real work.

WILL
That’s right.

SEAN
Right. And that’s honorable. I’m sure that’s why you
took that job, I mean, for the honor of it. I just have a
little question here. You could be a janitor anywhere.
Why did you work at the most prestigious technical
college in the whole fuckin’ world? And why did you
sneak around at night and finish other people’s formulas
that only one or two people in the world could do, and
then lie about it? Cus’ I don’t see a lot of honor in that,
Will. So, what do you really want to do?

WILL
I wanna’ be a shepherd.

SEAN
Really.

WILL
I wanna move up to Nashua get a nice little spread get
some sheep and tend to them.

SEAN
Maybe you should go do that.

WILL
What?

SEAN
You know, if you’re going to jerk off, why don’t you
just do it at home with a moist towel?

WILL
You’re chuckin’ me?

SEAN
Yeah, get the fuck out.

WILL
Hey, no, no, no. Time’s not up, yet.

SEAN
Yeah it is.

WILL
I’m not leavin’. No!

SEAN
Listen. You’re not going to answer my questions, you’re
wasting my fuckin’ time.

WILL
What? I thought we were friends. Whadoyou mean
you–

SEAN
Playtime’s over, okay?

WILL
Well, why’re you kickin’ me out, Sean? I mean, what? I
mean…you’re lecturing me on life? Look at you, you
fuckin’ burnout. What winds your clock?

SEAN
Workin’ with you.

WILL
Where’s your soul mate? You wanna talk about soul
mates? Where is she?

SEAN
Dead.

WILL
That’s right, she’s fuckin’ dead. She fuckin’ dies and you
just cash in your chips and you walk away?

SEAN
Hey, at least I played a hand.

WILL
Oh…You played a hand and you lost. You lost a big
fuckin’ hand and some people lose a big hand like that
and have the sack to ante up again.

SEAN
Look at me. What do you wanna do? You and your
bullshit. You got a bullshit answer for everybody. But I
ask you a very simple question and you can’t give me a
straight answer. Because you don’t know. See you, bo
peep.

WILL
Fuck you.

SEAN
You’re the shepherd……Shepherd…Fuckin’ Prick.

Link to the full transcript

In my daily job searches I find descriptions that are either lacking in detail or rife with detail but seem to expect too much. This new economy has created an employers market wherein workers without degrees are suffering. If college graduates are increasingly in jobs that don’t require degrees, what does that say about the ability for non-degree’d workers to get past resume screenings? As a result, jobseekers without degrees are taking on work that they should be paid for just to get the experience that overworked HR departments are concluding they’re not qualified to receive.

I took a snippet from a recent listing. You tell me. Are these requirements evocative of an exploitative work environment or not?

an immediate position for an Intern to build and chart our Social Media Web content presence. This is an unpaid Internship. You will be responsible for charting and creating our professional corporate image on FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, RSS, eNewsletter, Blogs, as well as the redesign, layout and content of our existing web site. The ideal person will need to be innovative, passionate about online marketing, extremely creative and have an innate ability through their own personal knowledge and/or education that will allow them to immediately take responsibility as the Social Media Web Content Coordinator.

Responsibilities:

* Create, develop and maintain all content for our FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, LinkedIn, eNewsletter and all other web site or social media outlets.

* Identify opportunities to drive traffic and sales through social media platforms.

* Act as the voice of our social networks by providing relevant and interesting content.

* Increase the number of followers/fans to our accounts through community outreach and interesting content.

* Connect with and engage customers to help us better understand what they want.

Can these tasks be done well by someone who is financially responsible for themselves?

There are job descriptions that suggest a great working environment with adequate pay. Is this one of them?

On December 15, 2010 and December 22, 2010 #GenYChat will be sponsored by the mobile application: SWAGG. The SWAGG app lets users give electronic gift cards that can be used with over 3000 stores and merchants including CBSSports.com, JCPenney, and Wet Seal. SWAGG is on a mission to Stand Up To Cancer, and they’re donating $1 up to $125K every time someone with an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry Torch downloads and registers the mobile app.

Not wanting to alienate #genychat participants, I did distribute a post seeking community feedback and all responses were in favor of the sponsored chat. There will be little difference to these chats. The sole addition will be three sponsored tweets that will go out at the beginning, middle, and end of the chat.