It's graduation season, and the most common thing I'm hearing from my friends is that their kids can't get jobs.

I've been blessed to have a great career and to have done very well. As a result, I get asked for advice quite a bit. Why anyone would ask someone who left a cushy, breakout role at a rocket-ship company to start his own business, I don't know.

Usually, when someone tells me their kid can't find a job, I ask the same questions and get the same answers. They all want a cushy job right out of college at a major bank or financial institution where they can make a ton of money and supposedly have a clear path to the good life.

And sure, there are a number of "chosen ones" who do exactly that. I'm friends with a lot of them. Investment bankers, venture capitalists, lawyers, private equity professionals, and finance bros are constantly pitching us and trying to win our business. We also work with many of their firms as customers.

Some are happy, and some are miserable. Some do incredibly well, while others burn out or get discarded.

So I'll say what most parents don't want to hear:

Maybe their kids don't have jobs because they refuse to do the jobs we did on our way up.

There are plenty of good jobs available to new graduates today. A simple search will show them. But if you sit down and talk to many of these kids, they won't even apply.

Here are a few real-world stories from real friends of mine.