(no subject) [puszysty]

Someone on my FL made a pot about being a grown up and living in the "real world", and well. Such posts always make me feel like shit. Primarily because I'm stuck in limbo between college life and the "real world". Or maybe I'm still trying to convince myself that the myth of getting a job after college is actually true. Every time someone I finished school with gets a job in their field, I become more depressed. One week from tomorrow, it will officially have been 12 months that I finished school. Twelve. A full year.

Yes, I know you've all heard me whine about not having a job a million times now.

I don't feel adult. My parents are still paying for my insurance because I don't make enough money. I've been thinking about taking a PT job at a store or restaurant or something, but wondering if anyone will bother hiring me. I don't get home til 5:45 most days, and I need time to eat dinner (health issues don't allow me to skip meals), which means I'm really not able to get to another place until about 7. Think anyone will take me for just weekends?

If this is the "real world", I hate it. I'd rather go back to school, where my efforts actually paid off. I've entered into a mindset of "why bother" lately, and I know that's bad, but I'm not sure how to get out of it.
I just don't have the time to pull together grad school apps before the deadline, so it'll be at least a year and a half before I could actually go back to school again. I made a HUGE mistake in not going earlier.

I also may have made the mistake of moving to a city that contains the largest college in the US. Thousands upon thousands of grads who have the advantage of going to a recognizable college that recruiters actually bother to visit.
(By the way, career services at Hope tried to get me access to some of UT's job search functions. I haven't heard a thing from them.)

God, and I was having a good day too.

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Hmm. Well, I know this isn't the sort of job you want, but it IS a job so... I will again offer to put you in contact with my friend at TNI. It's a call center job, tech support. Not a lot of fun, but it would be mostly people your age and there's health insurance for FT employees. It doesn't pay a lot to start, but you'd get a raise every 6 months or so.

I know it's not in your field, but honestly, I don't know many people who actually end up getting jobs in their "field" especially within the first five years after graduating. I mean, I have a degree in English (yes, useless) and I run the website for the English department. I *run the website*. I can tell you, I didn't learn html and css in my lit classes :/

Grad school might seem like a good option, but it's hard to get into. Not discouraging you, but depending on the program, it can be very competitive. I applied three times and only got into one program. And that was social work, and I ended up having to take out another $10k in student loans, and that was with a half tuition scholarship. So it might seem like a good option, but there are definitely drawbacks.

Keep applying at UT. Apply for every job you seem even remotely qualified for, even if you think you'd hate it or it's not what you want, because once you get IN at UT, you can easily transfer to other positions within the system in other departments that you'd actually like.

Anyway, that's my advice. I didn't have a real job until almost four years after college, and my real jobs have both been admin positions. I had a 3.6 at one of the best Universities in the country and a 3.8 in my major. I speak two foreign languages and have a year's worth of social work internships and two years of national service under my belt. And I am an admin. So yes, the real world isn't awesome and it doesn't always recognize your accomplishments, but you know... we're also in a global recession. Unemployment nationally is almost 7% and underemployment is over 12%. Everyone is struggling and I think that at this point, you should worry less about getting a job worthy of your qualifications and just getting *anything*.

Also, there are several 24/7 restaurants here that would probably be happy to hire an experienced server. Magnolia, Kerby, Maudi's...

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I guess...we'll see what ERS has to say first regarding their call center.

I currently have 5 applications in at UT. No luck yet, the last office I called told me they had 100+ applicants, so it's not looking very good there.

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You never know. For UT, I researched each department and wrote cover letters for each one specifically. It's hard to get a job there, but it's so worth it when you do.

Ah fuck. I just realized I submitted a letter for the Center of Middle Eastern Studies and wrote Department instead. Apparently they're 2 different things.

I have to agree that it is a lucky few that get jobs in their fields right after college. If it's specific enough, I can see it but.. after college a job that will pay the bills till you find something that fulfills you and is in your field is more my (and others I know) experience.

And yes, at times the real world sucks. My first yeas after college, I dreamt of going back, too. But now... I've trudged my way through to a pretty good place.

It does get better.

I've also heard from SO. MANY. that unless your field specifically demands a Masters degree, it's not worth the cost to go back. I thought about it and even applied, but I'm not going.

crap, that was me. LMAO!