Phase 1: The Optimist.
So you’ve just graduated. Congratulations. You have a B.A., or B.S. in _______, and you’re ready to apply it in the workforce. After all, aside from some forays in to binge-drinking and other generally irresponsible behavior, this is why you went to college in the first place. You’re ready to hit the ground running; you’re determined to begin laying the foundations of a successful career, and so the search begins.
So you start looking. You begin with the usual suspects: Monster, Craigslist, Career Builder, etc. To a slight degree of dismay, you are disheartened to discover such a barren wasteland of selling insurance and rental cars when you search the category “entry-level”. That’s OK. You know there is something called a “recession” going on because you watch the Daily Show and follow Wolf Blitzer on Twitter. You’ve been told to expect this as the job market isn’t great; but you have your degree in tote, and thus remain encouraged that your greener pastures lie near on the horizon.
Phase 2: The Strained Optimist.
By this point, you’re about 1-2 months removed from graduation. You’re doing alright. You’re picking up some more hours at your part-time job because you’ve inherited this glut of free-time now that you’re not in school. Your quest for employment is ongoing, and while nothing has come of it yet, you’re doing your best to remain undaunted.
You’re beginning to dig deeper. The usual job search engine meat grinders continue to disappoint you with their results, so you adopt the role of sleuth and begin isolating specific companies you would want to work for. Much to your surprise, many of these companies list job postings directly on their respective websites. You’ve struck gold. Since most of these “careers” links are buried in the bowels of the homepages of most companies, you’re convinced that no one else has thought of this. You are, of course, wrong, and droves of your peers have also discovered this “secret”, but you’re still floating in a blissful sea of post-grad, real world ignorance.
So now you’re applying to companies directly. You remain confident that your resume and cover letter are going to pique someone’s interest, because you’ve shown initiative and proven yourself to be resourceful. You’re still exchanging emails with your internship supervisor, and while it has yet to produce anything, you feel there is still reason for optimism. You did, however, receive an unfortunate letter the other day indicating that your student loan repayment grace period will be ending in October. There is a haunting voice in the back of your mind that is indicating this search could be a long and arduous one. A sense of panicked urgency is beginning to slowly envelop you.
Phase 3: OK, so things are bad, and likely getting worse.
Four months ago you accomplished a terrific feat and graduated college. The world was at your fingertips, and you were very much excited at your future prospects. At present, however, you’re moving back in with your parents because your lease is up and the looming detriment of student loan payments leaves you with little recourse.
By now, you’ve had maybe three job interviews. You’ve likely been passed over each time for someone ten years older because they boast a significantly longer list of qualifications, and, almost incomprehensibly, they are even more desperate. Remember that recession thing we spoke of earlier? You are in the throes of it, my friend. Your internship supervisor is scarcely returning your emails at this point, and you’re seldom getting a response when you proactively inquire with HR at XYZ Corp. in a vain attempt at showing initiative. You have, in all likelihood, abandoned all hope of finding a job you may have any semblance of enjoying, and still, it all seems to be for naught. You’re beginning to loathe the words “Exciting marketing opportunity!”, because even the cauldrons of perpetual employee turnover that promote them aren’t returning your calls.
Is this what you had in mind four years ago? Get comfortable, some of us have been living in it for a lot longer than four months.
Have any advice on escaping this post-graduate limbo? We want to hear from you at entrylevelsiberia@gmail.com.
