Trying to Find a Job In Croatia is Like Trying to Be an Actor/Actress in Hollywood

[LittleSally]

People say that Hollywood is the only place where getting the job is more difficult than the job itself.

I say: "You've obviously never tried getting a job in Croatia."

There was a time when finding a job here was as easy as it is in more developed countries all over the world - if you have good credentials, if you're qualified and smart, and have a good interview, there are pretty good chances you'll get hired. And if you like the job, you can choose to have it for life.

Croatia is the purple on on this map of Europe.

In the past 15 or so years, finding a job in Croatia has been exactly like trying to book a leading role in a Hollywood blockbuster - so many years of pointless auditions, and then they cast the person who's the director's nephew or who slept with the producer.

It seems pointless.

And this, my friends, happens every single time.

Yeah, you're going to get an odd, part-time job, or a substitute job for a short period of time, but you're so easily replaced by anyone who's familially related to your boss, or one of your more prominent coworkers.

Yes, you could argue we should all go to other countries looking for work. But the catch 22 here would be that you have to have money to move to another country, and you have to have a job to earn that money...but if no one would hire you, you can't accumulate enough money to actually go anywhere, right?

How lovely would it be if you could get the job based on your merit, your competence and the desire to learn and improve?

That sounds amazing...and, sadly, like a fairy tale most young Croatians can only dream of.

What makes this even worse is the fact that being college educated - master's or doctorate levels - you're less likely to get a job, than if you've only finished high-school.

Why?

Because the state is obligated to pay higher educated people more + there are fewer jobs for college educated people than there are of grocery store cashiers, fast food workers, waiters or cleaning crews...

In a world where nepotism is running rampant in all private and public sectors, it's difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get the job you want, need, are qualified to do and would be an overall perfect fit for.

Croatia is a corrupt country, people do as they please and the law just stands idly by because they themselves are being payed to do so.

Croatians are considered very smart, well-educated, hardworking people, but our potential isn't valued here [college degree Croatians are more often than not either overqualified for most available jobs or just not hired], so many young people move out of their country so they could have a normal life somewhere else... Europe is full of Croatians, especially Ireland, Germany and Austria.

As one smart person once said: Croatians only fail in the homeland! ...and it's true...

I know that ending this MyTake on a positive note would be something amazingly 'inspiring' or easy to read, but, unfortunately, I can't do that.

My country is amazing, in my own mind, but the rude awakening of existing in a place like this is: the older you are, the more injustice you'll have to endure and the only way out is to get out.

[didigo182]

I confess I'm shocked. My idea was to travel to Croatia, learn the language and get a simple job, I alway's tought as a very beautiful country, I wanted to stay for a while not definitly. And I did not know it was corrupt I thought it was well managed.

But this question of work? It is in practically any place in the world dosen't change much.

[Cccgala]

That "Generation Jobless" image in your myTake makes me scared of the future. I can't shake the feeling that our generation is doomed.

I have seen people older than me that get rejected in job interviews despite putting top-notch credentials in a curriculum vitae or in a résumé. This job and employment system is disheartening.

[AlphaMale1]

All the places you mentioned are either socialist or run by liberals.
Think about that the next time you or someone you know is bashing a politician who is neither of these.

In the USA it was the liberals (Democrats) who sent our good paying jobs to Mexico and overseas. President Clinton with his NAFTA agreement was the killer. Then Obama added to it by making it all but impossible to run a company profitable in the USA.

The only way an employer can afford to pay a good wage is by having good employees who strive to make the company succeed. Thus, they succeed along with it. Giving away handouts to the lazy will destroy an economy as eventually the money to pay for those handouts dries up from fewer paying taxes.

This is not rocket science. However, the friendly folks behind the New World Order have been pushing this agenda for decades. They want everyone to rely on the government for their safety, a place to live, medical and food on the table. Why so few ask the question of who is going to pay for all of this is beyond me.

This is why a job, let alone a good paying job, is difficult to find.

[ChocoLada]

I knew that, I have some relatives in Croatia. Poor Balkans, we have similar situation in Montenegro :(
Svu nam ekonomiju iźedoše mafijaši, bagra imperijalistička.
I suppose the same thing happened to your factories in major cities. Nemoš vala posla dobiti ni зero ako nijesi pod nekom političkom protekcijom.
Maybe we should all join together against the foreign oppressors and traitorous politicians, we need a revolution :P

[LittleSally]

Haha U potpunosti se slažem!
I'm in!
=)

[ChocoLada]

Tooo 😎👍

[Femdomina]

My Opinion was removed for grammar. Meh, it's only because it was partially in Montenegrin, and I can't post another one because it's says "Cannot submit more than one opinion" (despite the removal). Lado nadam se da se ne ljutiš, samo da ponovim što rekoh 🙃
Same here in Montenegro. "Đe god dođeš, u bilo koju zemlju na Balkanu, svuđe je isto, osim možda u Sloveniji, ako i njih računamo. Nijesam još viđela da je bilo ko mogao dobiti posao ako nema neke dobre veze, kuma, rođaka ili komšiju. Omladina samo śedi kod kuće jer više nemaju para ni da idu u grad. Đedovi i babe samo kukaju kako nam je bilo lijepo nekad davno, u bivšoj državi, ali što se može kad su prošla ta vremena. Političari daju lažna obećanja, samo baljezgaju jer ništa pametno nemaju da kažu, lako je njima kad im đeca idu na privatne fakultete đe ne mogu da padnu osim niz skale. Tajkunska banda vlada cijelim regionom, nema nam druge no da iđemo u dijasporu" - It's between quotation marks now, is that ok mr Moderator? :)

[ChocoLada]

@Femdomina Haha, no problem, ne ljutim se, it happend to me too, a few times :P

[Femdomina]

Then I'm in too, long live the revolution! ;)

media.giphy.com/media/6901DbEbbm4o0/giphy.gif

[TatyanaTheEmpress]

@Femdomina The same thing happened to me, I mean the post removal, because I wrote some things in Bosnian. @ChocoLada Do you mind if I write it in here, just like she did?

[ChocoLada]

@TatyanaTheEmpress No problem, samo naprijed đevojke, we are all in the same economic and political mess :)

[Femdomina]

@TatyanaTheEmpress Damn moderators, hahaha :D

[TatyanaTheEmpress]

Okey dokey, here's my deleted post, I'll put it into quotetion marks, just like Femdomina did:
I know how you feel, "i kod nas u BIH je isto "stanje" (s*anje), sve su nas političari uništili i pokrali", short and simple :)

[ChocoLada]

Mobsters and politicians are all the same people, in Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, and other countries around us.

[oddwaffle]

If you have an over supply of labor for a long time then it means the country doesn't have enough small businesses growing.

It's obvious that businesses aren't taking advantage of the labor supply. There are many reasons but the most common reason is lack of government support for small businesses growth and too much regulation in the labor market.

If you have a severe under employed labor supply then your business sector isn't growing as fast as possible and you are having severe lack of innovation.

[SirenDep]

This reminds me of my own country. In Greece it's the same situation. People want to work, and are hardworking. Those who have good connections find a job more easily. Young people are being hired more, because they get payed less, however they ask of you to be experienced to take you. But you can't find a job if all require experience in the first place, unless you work as a volunteer. And jobs that don't ask for experience are usually underpaid or demanding.

[steveguitar]

That's he same that is happening in Canada. I'm back in school again, taking a whole different type of program compared to my last. I sill apply for full time career with my previous diploma, but I don't get excited really

[MarkRet]

I don't know much about Croatia, but nepotism rarely works out well in the long run. That's how revolutions get started. I've heard that Serbia is just as bad.

[Giacomanzo]

Nepotism rarely work out well on the long run? Half our Parliament is made of old men who have some relationship with politicians from the 60s. It's hard to find a Lawyer office or an Accountability office whose office was not owned by his father or his mother. There is so much Baronism in Hospitals that your only chance to get to work in the Medical world were you studied in instead of 700 km away is to lick your Primary's ass during Med School. If you are an Universitarian Professor just like another member of your family, it doesn't matter how much you will fuck up, the desk is yours. A professor of mine threatened one of her students to never let him pass the exam on an e-mail. She is still there teaching. Don't know about your place, but Nepotism is the ONLY way to start a decent carrier here, other than kissing people asses. Meritocracy doesn't exist at all.

[MarkRet]

@Giacomanzo - There's nepotism in the USA too, but in private industry over here it's a matter of survival of the fittest. If a company is riddled with nepotism, and the nephews or whoever can't do their jobs, that company will eventually lose out to a more fit company. I used to work for a retail chain, and the people in the top echelon were just about ALL related to the president in some way. That company is LONG gone.

[Giacomanzo]

That's not the case here, if not for multinational sharks. Especially in smaller town, it's all a matter of who you know to get a job, even for internships and such.

[MarkRet]

@Giacomanzo - I think there are laws in the USA that if a company gets beyond a certain size and they're riddled with nepotism, the government will actually go after their asses. On top of that, we have lawyers who are ready to sue ANYBODY for ANYTHING. These lawyers will also go after claims of nepotism.

[pervertedjester]

Sometimes I've had to take lower paying jobs in the past just to keep working. And I've had to leave off some work experience so I could get them. Still it gave me time to find a better one while not going completely broke.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

welcome to the 21st century job market. that's what it's like in america as well.

[LittleSally]

Is it, though?
In my mytake I'm not exaggerating, all I wrote is 100% on the face of it true. Not hyperbolic...
From all of the Americans I interacted with, it's not the picture I took away from living there at all...

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

I shit you not, an entry level job that was listed in a field I wanted to get into wanted 7 years with a masters degree in engineering and a proven track record of efficiency performances as well as knowledge of 7 programs and c++... This was listed as an entry level supply chain analytics job.

[Dog19]

There's millions of jobs, it's hard to apply for jobs

[vekin]

well I am from the Netherlands and here it can be very hard too and if you get one it's often just for a short period of time

[LittleSally]

That's rough... I never knew that. Good to know.

[Hans222]

Oh my goodness Sally... you need to catch a plane... or a boat... or a long distance train. Time to excape hell!

[midnightmoon05]

Thank you for the MyTake. Hope things get better.
Was wondering what it would be like to visit.

[Iron_Man]

I'm not very familiar with Croatia but if you need any help Sally you're welcome to come to my country the United States of America and come on over to Miami Florida I can help you out.

[Nik1hil]

no wonder @Monii6 works for 16 hrs so hard and is always stressed and burned out.

[Zorax]

Tell me about it, lol, all the facts show that life in Croatia sucks, sad but true, šta se tu može zemljakinjo, ajmo svi u Irsku :P
Another great Take 👏 🤝

[Jayson101]

I'm sorry to hear that. It's tough I know but in a country where there are so many unemployed, I cannot imagine. Did this begin with the break up of Yugoslavia?

[LittleSally]

A bit later on, but basically yeah...

[IhateGAGCUCKS]

Finding a job anywhere, is like trying to find a needle in a haystack

[DonkeyRick69]

I've met Croatian accountants working as labourers on building sites. They are good lads

[Jager66]

"or who slept with the producer."

Sounds like a good country to open a business..

[apple24]

I have one question? What did you study in college?

[nbbn5]

Here also it is like that for many people
But this just looks very bad