I recently encountered a former classmate of mine when she was working at the local movie theater. She had graduated last December, and was still working in the same place where she had been working while she was in college. She looked at me and said in a cynical tone, "I'm still looking for a job that's not here; one that will take me."

With this interaction, I realized that we both found ourselves in a similar state. I, too, was looking for a job in my career and have meanwhile taken a part-time not-what-I-studied-for job. Looking at my Facebook feed, I'd noticed that a lot of my classmates were also in the same boat.

Many college grads find themselves in that purgatory state of post-graduation but pre-career. They have graduated and are seeking a job in what they want to do, but have yet to find one and have settled for another job in the meantime to pay the bills and student loans.

In fact, a surprising amount of college graduates end up taking lower-level jobs because of the economic market. As the Economic Policy Institute notes:

"...even in good economic times, a surprisingly high share of young college graduates work in jobs that do not require their college degree. For example, in 2000—when jobs were plentiful and the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent—36 percent of employed college graduates age 22–27 worked in jobs that did not require a college degree. No matter how strong the labor market is, recent college graduates often require some time to transition smoothly into their desired career track."

But, as the article states, now it's even worse. "Furthermore, the 'non-college' jobs that workers with a college degree are ending up in are of lower quality now than they used to be. In 2000, half of recent college graduates who were in a job that did not require a college degree were nevertheless in a 'good' job that tended to be career-oriented and fairly well-compensated—such as electrician, dental hygienist, or mechanic. That share has dropped substantially, while at the same time, there has been an increase in the share of recent college grads who are in low-wage jobs, such as bartender, food server, or cashier. The bottom line is that for recent college graduates, finding a good job has become much more difficult."

While this is not surprising, it is still disappointing. Many of my fellow classmates find themselves frustrated with the job market, especially since some have moved to find a job in their career and still can't find a good job. So now, apart from not having a good job, they end up alone, without resources or family/friends.

Online, you can find several apps and websites to help you get a job (such as Indeed, Monster, or LinkedIn) or freelance on the side (such as Upwork, Craigslist, or Guru). But even with this extra help, many graduates are still finding difficulties getting a job within their career, or even one that pays well.

Not to mention, they also have to worry about student loans, which are higher than ever before. Right now, millennials don't expect to have good jobs right out of college. A lot of us have the reputation of not being able to keep a job; of bouncing from one job to another. It's really not that at all—it's repeated layoffs that are the issue.

All of this is not to mention gender and race, which provide an even bigger barrier to recent college graduates. As Newsweek states, "the employment rate for young graduates was the worst around the ages of 21 to 25, with the employment rate for that segment falling from 84 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2012. During this time, the gap in full-time employment for whites versus African-Americans also widened, from 6 percentage points in 2000 to 14 points in 2012, with African-Americans on average not making the median wage until age 33."

While this whole article states a very depressing fact, we are not without hope. As Huffpost states:

"At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA.
At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.
At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.
At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.
At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.
At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.
At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.
At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.
Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 49.
Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.
Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 38.
Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 41.
Morgan Freeman landed his first MAJOR movie role at age 52.
Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.
Louise Bourgeois wasn’t featured in the Museum of Modern Art until she was 71."

So while things are depressing now, hopefully they'll start to look up soon. Or not?