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Saying that it was their best opportunity of securing employment in today’s difficult economy, President Obama advised young Americans to just follow around an old man until he made them his apprentice while speaking to a group of Virgina high school students on Tuesday.
“I’ll be honest, folks. I know it’s tough. I believe that young Americans will be best prepared for employment if they follow around an old guy and just see where it goes,” said Obama. “I encourage each of you to find a man who looks like he’s been working at the same place for 50 years and just tail him. You’ve got to seek out job opportunities wherever you can, and right now that’s with old men who might die soon.”
“Maybe, if you work hard, you’ll even have the opportunity to become an old man’s protégé. You have to be prepared for anything in this economic landscape,” the president added.
Obama’s advice is aimed at young Americans who may be having difficulty finding a job without a clear career path or an elderly man to teach them his trade. The president emphasized that recent graduates should look for an old man who does something they’re interested, but that tough economic times called for being creative and “going into analog clock making if that’s what it takes.”
“It’s not something I’d considered before graduating, but I don’t really know how else to find a job,” said recent Boston College graduate Jesse Morris of his apprenticeship with elderly man David Kennedy. “I started following Mr. Kennedy, and eventually he told me to just come to work with him and help him clip metal.”
“He’s a metal clipper, so I guess that’s what I’m going to be,” Morris added.
This is the most recent effort by the president to get Americans working following his “try making a website that a lot of people like” initiative.
