We graduated.
Congratulations. Way to go. Pass the cake. Count the checks. It's a very exciting job seeing four years of work finally come to fruition in a celebration of your determination and persistence. You took the hard tests, dealt with the annoying professors, and somehow managed to survive the college nights out. You deserve a party. But, most of all, you deserve a job.
The J-O-B, the light at the end of the tunnel of your college career. The thing you expect to come fully furnished with your new college degree. We have our golden ticket, right? The diploma is the golden ticket?
Well, as a one-week, well-versed, post-grad, these are the real steps of applying to a job post-grad.
1. Be unrealistic.
We're new to the real world. And to the newly graduated, the sky is the limit. You can do anything, you can be anything, and we expect to have all the jobs laid out for the taking.
Never for a second did we think that we couldn't be the newest Buzzfeed employee or the next writer for a hit MTV show. Move over Prada stylists, we know how to dress, and we deserve a spot.
We've been taught to dream big, and a week out of college, why shouldn't we?
2. Talk the talk.
We have it all figured out. We've been answering the question of "what do you want to do with your life" for four years. We're pros.
Why test the waters too soon? We've been working for four years, and we know the jobs will be there. In my mind I've been a seasoned writer in the New York scene for years, I can hold off a couple more weeks before fully committing to adulthood.
Your parents' couch will be very comfy compared to the harsh reality of real life, so no doubt you will sit back, and wait for the world to come to you.
3. The quick apply
There are thousands of websites for new grads. The first mirage to come with newly graduated life. There will be thousands of sites that will lead you to believe that they "have the job for you." Sign up with them, and you will be a real-world applicant in no time.
You will fill out a couple of applications, feel like a big adult, and return to your Netflix and popcorn in celebration.
Exactly the ease you expected post-grad, right?
4. The stressor
Once you've been chilling for a week, your parents will start to question. Where did you apply? What company? What location?
And you will begin to realize that you haven't heard back. That small company you knew you would be a shoe-in hasn't answered back. Your dream job ignored your résumé. Your dad's cousin that promised you a position decided they had no room for new people just yet.
It's the first dose of reality on the adrenaline rush that is graduation.
5. The freakout
It's happened. It hit you. You're no longer a super awesome post-grad, but instead a 22-year-old unemployed graduate.
You start to hear the ticking clock in your ear, your parent's house begins to get smaller and smaller, and no matter what you do you cannot stop applying to jobs.
Each job wants years of experience, and you boast a super cool internship you kind of did while also abroad and partying in every country possible. Nothing seems to be matching what all your professors told you would matter.
The more you apply, the more you stress, and before you know it you're applying to states you've never been to, cities you've never heard of, and positions that you would never accept in your lifetime.
It's a stressful time, and it's harsh. Breathe during this stage. I promise it will help.
6. The realization
This happens the minute you decide to talk to a friend. Talk to one of your other recent-graduate friends, and ask them what they have been going through the past week.
Nine times out of 10, they will be just as freaked out as you. They will tell you the thousands of applications, the millions of minutes spent worrying, and the realization that this might not be as easy as we all though it would be.
This will make you feel a thousand times better. As long as your not suffering alone, life is not as tough.
7. Reality
This is the moment you become an adult. You realize what you're up against. There are a ton of graduates. There are a ton of people looking. And not just graduates, but people with years of experience.
This is not the time to give up, though. this is just the time to readjust your reality. We are graduates, and we did work hard.
We deserve jobs. So keep going. Keep working. And though it may not be as easy as we thought, it will happen for us all.
