adulting: finding a job sucks
Pretty much the entire time I was in college, I had the confidence that upon graduation, I'd have a big girl job all lined up... Or at least have one within a month or so of being home. I graduated in May and it's now September... I don't know if that was me being naive, or if a lot of other recent grads are in the same boat as I was... or rather, still am. I've been looking for full-time employment for about six months now, with obviously, no success. I've had my fair share of interviews and second interviews, but nothing works out. And after six months of applying, interviewing, and then getting rejected (or, let's be honest, never hearing from a company ever again), that process has become pretty grueling and honestly kind of detrimental to my confidence. I knew I probably wasn't going to end up with my dream job right away (not that I even know what that is right now), but I was hoping for some sort of job to at least help me figure that out and get there before I'm 50.
Finding jobs that I'm even qualified for seems like quite the hefty task now, and most of the jobs that pop up in my search results now, I've already applied for. I've even applied for hundreds of jobs I'm not really qualified for on the off chance that the employer might read my resume or look at my portfolio and think they should take a chance on me. My thinking was that, by applying, I sort of prove in a way that I am a dedicated, hard worker. But again, all of this is getting really exhausting, and I'm getting really bored of sitting at home and applying for jobs all day, when what I really want to be doing is working a job. But, boy if I got paid for every job I applied for, I'd be a millionaire by now.
I really thought that by now I'd be a working professional, working a 9 to 5, grabbing a drink with my coworkers after work, and learning and growing as that person everyday. At this point, I just want to go back to school and get another degree or something to fill up my time... maybe that would help me out. Unfortunately, I'm still not even sure another degree would help my cause at this point either, even if I could afford it, because it seems like it's more about who you know, not what you know. So, if I could give any advice to anyone still in college: MAKE! THOSE! CONNECTIONS! And then use them. I've begun to do everything I can to use my connections to find employment, so my fingers are crossed that it works out this time. I'm pretty sure it's my time to start moving up in the world now. There will definitely be no giving up on my agenda.
In the meantime, I've got to find other, more productive ways to spend this in-between time. Sure, applying for jobs is productive, but I feel like now I should just be focusing on building my portfolio and learning more skills on my own that could be helpful in getting a job and in the workplace. So I guess that means more writing and more creating. But we're still not giving up, as much as I may want to. Hopefully September turns things around - it is after-all my favorite month.
Thank you for coming to my short, ranty post.