A viral essay making the rounds right now tells new grads: "If you can't get a job, it's YOUR fault." 😳
After reading it over, I think it's half right and half completely bonkers.
Here's what rings true to me:
It's true that grads can't just rest on their laurels anymore (if they ever could!).
After all, employers no longer just want to see your GPA - they want to see what you actually BUILT. An app. A Substack. A Discord bot. A dinner series. Anything you shipped that nobody assigned you.
And the rarest skill in 2026 is the simplest one: doing what you said you'd do. ✅
But here's the dangerous half:
Telling a struggling 22-year-old "it's YOUR fault" isn't tough love.
It's just cruel.
A whole generation was handed a playbook - check the boxes, get the seat - and the deal expired before they could cash it in.
That's not a character flaw. It's a system that changed the rules mid-game.
So let's drop the blame and keep the lesson:
❌ STOP optimizing for a credential that stopped screening years ago.
✅ START building one small thing that proves you can learn, finish, and follow through.
Anyway, that's my $.02. But I'd love to hear your take in the Comments! 🙌