Hey, have you heard? There might be a recession! Maybe even a depression!. And as much fun as that kind of thing might be for those who miss the convenience of the bindle and loved old silent films where men in ratty suits cut up old boots for supper, for the 3.6 million people who have lost their jobs in the last few months, things kind of suck right now.

I’ve written one or two things about the recession on this site already, but for those of you just tuning in, here’s the short version of my feelings on the economy, Generation Y, and the perilous future we face: It will be bad for a while. Maybe a long while. Gen Y is in the best position long-term, because we’re not exactly too concerned about losing our retirement savings. The best strategy is to think long-term, and be patient. (Failing that, just go hide for a couple of years in grad school. You’ll be fine!)

So that’s the recession. And hopefully you’re nodding along at this point. But those sorts of macro-level thoughts and long-term generalizations are only one side of the coin. The other side is simpler, and more personal. It’s got to do with young people who are facing an imminent graduation date and, while maybe they’re not thinking about dashed retirement dreams of foreclosed yachts, would still really like to have a job in the next few months. Because they really don’t want to have to go back to living with their parents.

But how do you get a job when the economy sucks? You make yourself exceptional. Now, more than ever, you’re only going to get your foot in the door if you can offer something that very few others can. There are literally thousands of skills you could develop and highlight towards this end, but there’s one giant ability that I think stands out above the rest: writing.

It seems simple — almost trivial — but there are very few occupations that don’t benefit from strong writing abilities these days. Think of how many emails are sent a day. Think of how much time is wasted by people who can’t string a coherent sentence together within those emails and thus cause titanic communication headaches. Think of how things are moving online — to blogs, to wikis, to twitter — to an internet that is still (and, I think, will always be) predominantly comprised of text. Of written communication.

And the great thing — from this perspective, anyway — about the job market right now is that very few people can write. There are lots of people who think they can write just fine. They probably put “Strong Verbal and Written Communication Skills” on their “résumé” and everything. But odds are they’re either abbreviation-abusing hunt-and-peck typists who respond to emails with single sentences that make no sense but are in a stupid font like neon green Comic Sans or they’re academia-clinging malcontents who write run-on sentences that use buzz words incorrectly due to the value-added paradigm that existing vertical touches base with vis a vis existing synergy or whatever.

You can be different. You can be better. Being among the effective written communicators in your office isn’t likely to win you a ton of overt recognition or anything, but it is something that will inevitably be noticed. It’s the kind of skill that has obvious application outside of whatever you were hired to do, and that is actually notoriously hard to find in applicants.

So how do you learn to write? You just do it. You write. The internet has given you an incredible platform filled with people who will read and respond and help you get better. It’s a wonderful tool that will help you get better every time your keys hit the keyboard. Embrace that.

And don’t be embarrassed. We’re all still learning.

Photo by soartsithurts. Licensed under Creative Commons

That’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? I do kind of wonder if this isn’t just a constant feeling amongst newer workers, though. Did young workers in the 60s, 70s and 80s really walk into their first real career-style job expecting nothing but hardship and strife? Are we really the first generation that expects better than that?

The article does touch on what I think is the real reason behind this supposed phenomenon: “There is more job availability today, so this generation isn’t afraid to change jobs, and it’s used to adapting.”

So, really, maybe it isn’t that Gen Y is unique in expecting better, but rather that we’re the first to actually get it?