When I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts, I worried about securing a job. Still, I had good grades, campus involvement, even experience working in the Study Abroad Office. Everything would work out because it always had before.
People chanted mantras like, “don’t worry, you’ll get a job eventually”. Let me point out how this sentence is akin to, “there’s someone for everyone”—comforting but not based in anything concrete. I did get a job that carried me up the East Coast to New England to work with Chinese students studying English. It was a wonderful year spent exploring America’s hometown, ogling autumn colors, even joining a MeetUp group or two. But it was soon to end. Living at work can be a bit much, and I had a job lined up back home in the Ol’ Line State.
I moved home in a whirl of good-byes and excitement for the next step in my career. But, one temp job down and the initial job for which I left New England still had yet to come through. This is for college students peaking through the window at the world of adulthood and those who are like me, wondering how our Bachelor of Arts landed us at a pizza place.
Countless mornings, I woke up and got dressed just to plop on the couch with my laptop warming my legs in the dead of winter. I logged on to Indeed and re-wrote the same cover letter and edited the same resume only to never hear from 90% of the positions to which I applied.
I want to be real here This does something to the head. Sure, I’m lucky I’m able to live with my parents and I made and saved enough money in Massachusetts that I’m not struggling to pay my car insurance. But, suddenly the image of a confident young woman capable of taking on the world begins to warp.
What’s wrong with me? Pages of the calendar rip away as anxiety creeps up the back of my neck. Will the employer question the four months unemployed? The longer I take to get a job, the less likely I am to get hired.
To draw a curtain on this less than attractive struggle that may be inevitable for emerging young adults, I will say that I ended up with an internship after 5 months of assuring friends and acquaintances that I was doing great and secretly freaking out every other day. The internship is not paid, so I also began working at the new pizza place in town.
The only way we can be happy as we move out of college and into the world, is to shake society’s expectations. Don’t be ashamed if your path is different and please do not stalk your friends on Facebook, or worse LinkedIn, to judge how they’re doing. Who knows what struggles they’ve undergone to get where they are.
Here are a few tips I’ve learned for the job search:
- Network.
Don’t be afraid to ask people if they know a guy. And by the way, keep that college network fresh. I send Christmas cards. I’m serious. Even if you decide grad school is the next big adventure, you’re going to need references and recommendation letters. Better that your professor remembers your face when writing a glowing testimony on you. - Don’t be afraid to take a part time job (or even full time).
I avoided it because I felt like I couldn’t work at a restaurant as it was a waste of my major. It’s not. Having something scheduled with a purpose might be the distraction needed to avoid slipping into anxiety. I actually really like my job at Mod Pizza. The pizza is delicious and my co-workers are great. - Take breaks from The Search.
Put your time in applying throughout the week and then enjoy the rest. Once you finally get the job, you’ll wish you still had hours to do with what you please. Take the time to go for hikes, write that novel you always said you would. Do something.
I’m nowhere near where I figured I’d be two years out of college, but there’s something to be said about accepting our position in life wherever it is. I chose to focus on what I’ve learned in the last few months, rather than the professional development I’ve missed. As The Little Engine That Could once said, “I think I can”. Keep chugging, my friends.
