Finding A Good Job After Graduation Is Harder Than It Looks

By

If you’re a recent graduate, like me, you might be wondering where the heck your life is going. It’s late summer and the freckles on your face are dark brown, like flecks of mud.

For four years summer has meant freedom: lake water and shitty beer and endless sunlight. Now September brings an empty void. A big ol’ hunk of the unknown.

Summer jobs are ending and their profits are being spent quicker than you thought. You don’t have the funds to travel and your lease is up in the fall.

So…what’s next?

For many, it’s the infamous “job hunt.” Hours and hours of scrolling on Indeed and Workopolis, and, if you’re absolutely desperate, Craigslist.

You apply for jobs with nondescript titles like “communications analyst” and “maintenance consultant” and boast about them enthusiastically at dinner with your parents.

The enthusiasm dwindles. Let me tell you.

Just because you have an undergraduate degree does not guarantee you a job. You don’t just waltz out of grad with a suit and a salary — life just isn’t that simple.

It’s easy to get discouraged. You might spend hours on an application only to receive an automated e-mail regretting to inform you that you were not accepted.

At first, your goals are clear: you studied philosophy in school and now you want to teach. But two months go by and you’ve only had one interview with an employer you didn’t trust. You turned the job down because you wanted something better.

But it’s just… not… happening. Slowly, you start to let other jobs into your periphery. You notice the “hiring kitchen staff” sign in the window at the pizza place on the corner, and you consider the appeal of working at a local gas station.

This mild interest soon turns into desperation. You hand out your resumes like Valentine’s cards in a first grade classroom. Anxiously, you wait by your phone with the volume on full blast.

But you’ve forgotten why you started. You’ve forgotten what you set out to accomplish in the first place. Was kneading pizza dough really the goal? No. It wasn’t.

Finding your first job is a tumultuous time. Unfortunately, many undergraduates expect the process to be much easier. The most important thing is not to lose sight of what you’re worth. Persevere. Be patient.

You’ll get the job, one way or another.