Unemployed or underemployed

[NoWomanNoCry]

Just wanted to start a thread out there for all of us who are still looking for a "real" job. Figured we could all share our frustrations about the search. And if you're like me, you're probably working a job for which you're grossly overqualified (I work in a restaurant, and I'm not a manager, if that tells you anything.) It helps to know that I'm not the only one out there.

[asm198]

I'm not looking for a 'real' job, just a job. But I feel your pain. I've been unemployed for 10 months, although that's mostly my fault. I haven't sent out resumes since September because I'm half lazy and half lost as to what I am qualified for or want to do. New city and all that nonsense.

[Desiderata]

Too funny seeing this thread... been feeling utterly and hopelessly defeated with the job search. Been 9 months trying to get into social services, which isn't even a high paying field! Honestly, nothing of any real significance has even come up. Hell, i flew across country for an interview for a job I knew i didn't really wanna do. and that was the ONLY interview I had, i was just that desperate to feel like i was making progress. Now that i'm going back to my old job, which I hate, just for the money, i feel like i've been beaten. I literally apply to a half dozen jobs on a weekly basis... and nothing ever happens, fuck... where's the ctrl-alt-del for my life??

[wordsmith]

I have a "real" job, for which I am thankful. But it's not the right job, or one I really ought to be staying at much longer. It's served its purpose, and now it's time to move on. But like Des, I'm finding that finding something else, at least something else that's right, is proving elusive. And I don't even have a lot of the limitations that other people have...I'm pretty much willing to move anywhere, and I'm not looking for a shitload of money...just a personally fulfilling job that will pay by basics. But, still, no dice.

Also like Des, I'm hoping to get back into the nonprofit, social services sector, which was what my previous job was. Still, not much out there that I'm finding by way of direct service. Plenty for "Director of Development" type positions. But that's not what I want, I understand the need for fundraising, but I'm more of the hands-on service type. I had one of these jobs (and was good at it!), I know they exist. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time finding one.

[NoWomanNoCry]

I would love to get into the non-profit sector, too - I had my internhsip at a non-profit.

I, too, feel like I am constantly applying to jobs. But the actuallity of it is there are few that come along that I'm really interested in!

I just have to rant about my current 'job', if you could call it that:

I'm working as a host in a restaurant. I am so riduculously overqualified for this job it makes me sick. Normally, I would be a server (way better pay) but my wrist is kind of messed up and I cannot be constantly lifting heavy trays and plates.

Anyway, most of the other host are in high school or college - so all I hear most of the time is their high schoolish gossip. UGH! And tontite realy took the cake. My manager asked me to wipe down the high chairs, and I'm sitting there ready to burst into tears because I graduated summa cum laude so that I could wipe up fucking high chairs!? But it's not like I can just not work while I'm looking for a job - I have to try and pay the bills somehow.

SOO FRUSTRATING! :( :( :(

[Desiderata]

And to be honest, I really feel like I'm losing. When I think about a high school reunion, which isn't too far off, i don't think I'll go. I mean, I did school and all that, and yet I can't find a decent job. I'm sure I'm being too hard on myself, but is working for VERY little money such a hard thing? I mean, am I that unappealing a candidate?? Just feels like life keeps kicking me in the teeth every time I try and stand up. Itd be nice to have 1-a decent job I like, or 2-a stable relationship. Atleast with one or the other, I could have something to lean on during these troubling times. Maybe its just me, but this whole job thing is making me more cynical about all other aspects of my life. And I don't wanna be cynical.

Sometimes I wish fate, or destiny or whatever was a person... so I could jersey the dumb bastard and beat him until he told me what the hell I'm going through all this crap for.

Don't mind me, bad night.

[wordsmith]

Just feels like life keeps kicking me in the teeth every time I try and stand up. Itd be nice to have 1-a decent job I like, or 2-a stable relationship. Atleast with one or the other, I could have something to lean on during these troubling times. Maybe its just me, but this whole job thing is making me more cynical about all other aspects of my life. And I don't wanna be cynical.


I am so with you.

[NoWomanNoCry]

I HATE thinking about my high school reunioin. It's really depressing becuase in our school's mock elections I was nominated "Most Likely to Succeed" and "Most Likely to Attend Harvard"! And right now I'm doing pointless monkey work just to make ends meet. I feel so dissapointed and humiliated. I'm sure that something will come along at some point, but I'm so sick of looking, and interviewing and being rejected - especially when I am rejected for being "overqualified". You mean you don't want an awesome worker? Fine, go hire some middle of the road hoo-ha so that they can perform badly and quit on you in a month. Whatever. Sorry for the rant.

[Desiderata]

Unless things dramatically change in the next couple years, I will NOT be attending. Last thing I wanna do is meet these people with NOTHING significant to show besides some fancy degrees whihc I now use as my paper hat for my monkey job... no thanks.

[NoWomanNoCry]

Do you by any chance live in MI? Where the econonmy SUCKS?

[labrat2111]

And to be honest, I really feel like I'm losing. When I think about a high school reunion, which isn't too far off, i don't think I'll go. I mean, I did school and all that, and yet I can't find a decent job. I'm sure I'm being too hard on myself, but is working for VERY little money such a hard thing? I mean, am I that unappealing a candidate?? Just feels like life keeps kicking me in the teeth every time I try and stand up. Itd be nice to have 1-a decent job I like, or 2-a stable relationship. Atleast with one or the other, I could have something to lean on during these troubling times. Maybe its just me, but this whole job thing is making me more cynical about all other aspects of my life. And I don't wanna be cynical.
.

I didn't go to my 10 year but not because I didn't want to. However last night I was procrastinating and being stalkerish and was looking up people I knew in my major in college and old roommates. A lot of them seemed to have generic names that are hard to find anything but surprisingly I did find a few people. One girl I dated in college ended up being an environmental consultant in pittsburgh and a former friend from high school is a PhD in process control engineering and a former roommate is going to George Washington Univ to get his MBA. I feel happy for them but at the same time it makes me feel like I'm a miserable failure. I want to get back in touch but in some ways I don't want to because I feel embarrassed about my life. I mean say I get in touch with the former roommate and go down to visit in the same crappy car I was driving in college 6 years ago. :googly:

[dreams82]

"My manager asked me to wipe down the high chairs, and I'm sitting there ready to burst into tears because I graduated summa cum laude so that I could wipe up fucking high chairs!? But it's not like I can just not work while I'm looking for a job - I have to try and pay the bills somehow."

Nowomannocry- I feel ya on this. I wanted to cry yesterday, on my Birthday too, cuz I heard this one woman at my work ask another women about why there is always new people in the office. And one woman responded 'they are just temps'. 'Just temps'- like I am not a person, an educated young woman with a college degree, I am degraded to just a temp. It is degrading at times, but I guess it is better than nothing. You are doing a good job by keeping the hosting job while looking for something better. Just wanted to share my story with ya.

[Desiderata]

I live in canada, where the economy sucks everywhere. Let alone 0 job openings.

Ugh, I've had to do the "cleaning up" jobs, and nothing like pushing a mop around thinking about that degree on a wall at home...awesome, I've really made it.

[NoWomanNoCry]

I'm sick of working for peanuts and not even making it paycheck to paycheck. Right now I am just so fucking frustrated - I have people making demands at me from all directions and I just can't take it anymore! I have too much shit to deal with right now and I just feel like blowing up! Trying to work two jobs to make ends meet, trying to find a real job, looking for a new apartment, dealing with insane relatives - I can't take it anymore! I am so miserable right now. I don't have time for crap, I'm so tired . . .

[Desiderata]

testify!

I'm so with you on this. I just finished working 1 full time and 2 part time jobs, for one full time job that pays well (yet still sucks, of course). Honestly, if this is what it takes to make it, sometimes I just don't know. I've been doing the whole work yourself insane for years now, and its wearing thin. I am so thankful I don't have any significant personal commitments right now (kids, wife, etc) cause I couldn't do that AND this.

[NoWomanNoCry]

I think I'm going to go back to school . . .

I've decided that I would actually dislike my job more if I were a corporate whore stuck in a cubicle helping some big company turn a profit. I feel like I need to make a positive difference in the lives of those who most need help.

Only problem is finding the TIME and MONEY!

[creolegirl]

I'm sick of working for peanuts and not even making it paycheck to paycheck. Right now I am just so fucking frustrated - I have people making demands at me from all directions and I just can't take it anymore! I have too much shit to deal with right now and I just feel like blowing up! Trying to work two jobs to make ends meet, trying to find a real job, looking for a new apartment, dealing with insane relatives - I can't take it anymore! I am so miserable right now. I don't have time for crap, I'm so tired . . .

i hear ya. i thought i was the only 1 that felt that way. i work as a sales assistant for an account executive who is 10 months older than me. it is so hard looking for a job while having this crap 1 while living w/relatives. i thought it would be so much better when i left my mom & step dads house. but i was wrong. i get yelling from my aunt & mom & my immature boss. i didn't minding the yelling before i got my degree, but if im a good assistant, what the hell w/the yelling? W/my huge car payment, i cant afford to move out & my bf is afraid of us living together because he is afraid of ruining our relationship. but the fact that he doesn't even want 2 try makes it hard 4 me to b w/him right now. on top of it, i am currently getting over a illness...had to take 3 days off from work this time. i was sick about 3 months ago and had to take 2 days off. ive never been sick like this before. i think the stress of everything is getting to me. if i dont get a new job and move out soon, im not sure how much more i can take

[licia08]

But like Des, I'm finding that finding something else, at least something else that's right, is proving elusive. And I don't even have a lot of the limitations that other people have...I'm pretty much willing to move anywhere, and I'm not looking for a shitload of money...just a personally fulfilling job that will pay by basics. But, still, no dice.

Also like Des, I'm hoping to get back into the nonprofit, social services sector, which was what my previous job was. Still, not much out there that I'm finding by way of direct service. Plenty for "Director of Development" type positions. But that's not what I want, I understand the need for fundraising, but I'm more of the hands-on service type. I had one of these jobs (and was good at it!), I know they exist. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time finding one.

Hello all! I have been reading the boards for sometime now and finally believe that I qualify to comment. I worked in a social service non-profit until last Thursday and it ain't all that great. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed my position, but the uncertainty and ups and down of the grant world (public and private) leave much to be desired. Needless to say I am a bit bitter about the agency's recent restructuring and my subsequent poition elimination especially because I feel that I did a damn fine job while I was there. I was happy, but now I am at home sans employment, and I wonder if I made the right decision to leave. It seemed right at the time and I would have been miserable in the postion that they offered me, but I couldn't get past the disloyalty I felt from a place that I gave so much of myself to. It's funny though it didn't hit me until I arrived back in my hometown and realized it wasn't just a visit, but permanent pending new employment.

I had an interview last week and have few more scheduled this week, but I feel like the world is crashing in on me and I don't know where to turn. The indepence and freedom I built are now obsolete and caput. I am living in my aunt's basement holding onto the vestiges of my pride as I prepare to file for unemployment benefits that the agency will contest and leave me even more depleted than I already feel.

Not to deter anyone from non-profit, but it can be just as cut throat as the for profit sector with half the pay, sometimes a quarter of the pay. Good luck in your search and make sure you get the breakdowm of funding sources, less you be reassigned to the security department and asked to grin and shuffle that you still have a job. (Can you tell I am bitter?)

Looking for non profit try www.idealist.org, and www.higheredjobs.com. They have nationwide postings for non-profits.

Licia :lol:

[wordsmith]

I know the drill. I used to work for a nonprofit, and actually, I loved it. I left to try my hand at something else, and while that's been enlightening and good for me, I'm ready after four years to get back into it, bringing my skills acquired in the interim job. I'm aware that the pay sucks, but it's about the same as my current job, and more preferable work.

I've been searching, mostly on idealist.org, for about 6 months, and while I find things here and there that apply, I have also found that employers are retiscent to hire somebody who would need to make a major move to work there. I have no issue relocating, in fact, would welcome it. But employers seem skeptical. So it's a rock and a hard place issue. I'm not about to move somewhere before I have a job secured, but it's hard to secure a job, apparently, before you live somewhere. This is the first I'm running into that particular barricade.

[samender]

I have begun the job hunt again. I feel like that has been what I have been doing since high school. Always looking...staying somewhere for a bit and then moving on...but always looking. I thought I would have a bigger break when I started this last one but I dont think it is quite what I expected and instead of waiting around being miserable I decided to start again.

[NoWomanNoCry]

I just started taking classes again (thinking about getting my BSN in Nursing) but before that I just kept busy working my service jobs. I worked as a host at the restaurant for about 30 hours a week and as a beer cart girl on the golf course about 20 hours a week. You know what the sad thing is? I was making more money than my friends with "real jobs". How ironic is it that we are told a college degree will earn us so much more, but the jobs they have for us pay squat! Whatever. The other sad thing is that if it weren't for the fact that the jobs are demeaning to my abilities and qualifications, I like them. They're easy and fun, and when you leave for the day you leave the work behind you. Plus you can take time off whenever you want, unlike a "real" job where you get like one week of vacation a year. If it were socially acceptable and offered benefits, I would take this work over many other jobs any day.

[bridgetjones]

The other sad thing is that if it weren't for the fact that the jobs are demeaning to my abilities and qualifications, I like them. They're easy and fun, and when you leave for the day you leave the work behind you. Plus you can take time off whenever you want, unlike a "real" job where you get like one week of vacation a year. If it were socially acceptable and offered benefits, I would take this work over many other jobs any day.

I have been struggling with this myself. However, I think most people who would sniff at your socially unacceptable job are probably people you do not care about or do not care about you. Yeah. I hated my old job for basically sucking the life out of me. Any job that impresses your peers or whatever tends to be soul and time sucking. Ugh... Unless you really love it. Hmmm...

Wow. I heard most Americans get only a week off. Whew! When I was in Europe bitching to people about Canadians only getting 2 weeks, the Americans were like "you guys get 2 weeks"?! That is sad. Plus I guess all I need to worry about without employer benefits is that OHIP does not cover the dentist. They say that you might make a hell of alot more money in the US. However, do you get to enjoy your money? Hmmm....

[BayAreaBum'n]

There are so many things about this thread that resonate with me. So many people looking for nonprofit positions, so many people graduating with honors, even some people temping. Or, I'm sorry, "just temping." :mad:
I've been looking for a nonprofit position of any kind for months, just to get my foot in the door professionally. Everything I did in college was leading up to a nonprofit job - but still, no one has hired me. I volunteered, interned, did research relevant to what many community-oriented nonprofits are doing. I've had a few interviews, none of which worked out. For some I was "next in line." And I've been told "not to change anything" about my interview skills. I finally got some honest feedback from my last interviewer, and she said it was a confidence issue. I seemed embarrassed, almost apologetic that I didn't have any professional nonprofit experience yet. While this is true, I understand, and I appreciate her candor, how am i supposed to project confidence when I keep getting shot down. And, I'm sorry, but I do feel embarrassed! I feel like I should've managed to break in a long time ago. I'm at my wits end, and I feel like I'm loosing my mind. I can barely have a conversation about my life without getting a lump in my throat. If I manage to muster enough composure to actually project confidence in the next interview (if I ever get one), it will be a miracle.
Furthermore, I'm completely uncomfortable in the city I'm living in - across the country from home. I haven't been home in a year, and I'm so home sick. I'm not used to the way people interact here, and I don't particularly like it. I'm having a really difficult time adjusting, and if it weren’t for some circumstances, I'd probably be leaving. (Please, no bay area defenders, I realize this is my problem, and I'm the only one on the planet who doesn't like it here - exacerbating my loneliness.)
Urgh, I'm just so depressed! Be positive? Pishaw.
Thank You for this thread, its nice to know we're not alone.

[wordsmith]

It's hard to project a good, confident attitude about anything when you're homesick. Where is home?

[jennydmt]

I'm new to the message boards but I must say how much at home I feel just from reading everybody's thoughts and struggles in life. Today I was not having the greatest day and feeling helpless and hopeless. I came to the website, read a few postings and have come to the conclusion I am not alone. I'm thankful for this site.

I graduated from college Spring 04 and from then dreaded returning home like many others I'm learning from reading "Boomerang Nation". Has anyone here read that book? Anyhow, I got a job in nonprofit which I see others have experience with as well. Im a TSS (therapeutic staff support) which is a person who helps kids with learns disabilities. I barely get hours with clients or I end up with clients who have crazy parents. Anyhow, its good to know I'm not the only person out there who is struggling through life. By reading others thoughts etc. I feel there is hope for all of us (not to sound cheesy).

[DaveInPhilly]

Like many of the previous posters, I am here to share my testimony. Also like several of you I am Just Temping(TM). I must say, though, I am looking for "for-profit" work as a 2002 graduate from Penn State's business school. I have had a lot of trouble since graduating -- some of it my fault, some of it not. However, I thought I would share so that I could join in the commiseration.

During my final semester at Penn State, I accepted a job at a Washington, D.C.-area consulting firm as a (systems) analyst. I started the position on July 7, 2002 and worked with a team on a planning document for a state government agency. After that project was nearing completion, my project managers and site managers were not putting me on any other projects. They said that they couldn't find anything suitable to put me on. On September 11, 2002, they found the project that I have been hovering near ever since -- they put me on the unemployment line. As I have come to find out, I was hired for the commercial side of their practice which never took off (they are primarily a government contractor).

As you can imagine, it's pretty difficult to pay a nearly $1000 a month (pretty cheap for Fairfax County, Virginia) rent bill with no income. So, I took temp work while I was looking for a job similar to the one I had just left. I went on interviews, even a few second interviews but wound up with nothing to show for it. I was relegated to $10-12 per hour data entry and even filing jobs.

By January of 03 I had decided to go to law school (cliche I know). However, I also got a new temp assignment -- database designer, basically -- at $17 per hour. I took the job but in the mean time got accepted to law school. Now this is the part that's my fault. I left my $17 an hour job that probably would have gone permanent and moved (with new wife in tow) to...Akron, Ohio. Yes, it's as exciting as it sounds. In fact, we lived in a tiny little town called Canal Fulton, which is also as exciting as it sounds.

While I was going to school at UA Law nights, I was working full time (couldn't afford full time law school because you can't work at all your first year) doing data entry for $8 an hour. Fortunately, this job did go permanent (with no raise, but with health benefits). Unfortunately, I couldn't juggle full time work, menial as it was, with evening law school. So, at the end of the spring semester, I withdrew from UA.

Because there was nothing to keep us in Ohio, we moved. Instead of moving back to DC or back to Pennsylvania (where we are both from), we moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. When we moved I started looking for a "real job," and just like in DC, I got interviews (some 2nd and 3rd even) but no "real job." I started working for a major *cough*Patricia Heaton*cough* grocery chain doing computerized floor plans. I thought there was a pretty good chance that I would get hired on there, but by Christmastime I found out that the department was being moved to the company's corporate headquarters 500 miles away and that we would not be hired on.

At that point, we decided to bite the bullet and get back to Philadelphia. We were quite homesick, and the job situation just was not happening. So, now, as of mid-July of this year we are back in the Philadelphia area... it's been 3 years since graduation and I have precious little to show for it. I really want to stay put at this point (the moving is getting old) but just don't know how finding a job here will be any different...

the only way at this point that I know how to find a job is to go online... and all the online sites are filled with scams and sales jobs (couldn't sell ice water to satan or flea dip to a stray dog) not to mention, the biggies, like monster and the like require you to fill out profile forms which I don't feel really express who I am and what I want like my resume does. Third online job rant: I hate those damned title lines! I can never think of anything to put. I did create my own web site portfolio thingy (www.davehudsonatwork.net (http://www.davehudsonatwork.net)) but I can't figure out how to promote it to people who could hire me :frustrate

Well, if you've made it to this part of my post, I thank you for listening to my rant. It is really nice to have stumbled upon this community of kindred spirits.

[adamdrivesa63]

Without going on for too long about my dismal job situations since my junior year of college, I feel the same underemployed and unappreciated pain.

From being faced with my editor slipping a plagiarized article into a magazine against my will where I was responsible for the editorial content, to being overworked and asked to work even more without due respect, to being lied to in job interviews about the level of job responsibilities and the resources available when they are the major selling points of the positions, to working food service and retail jobs, I know the quarterlife crisis all too well.

Now I'm in a factory job, in a union, with decent pay and incredible benefits. It is mindless and easy with a multitude of breaks and bonuses. I am happy for it but I feel very much a failure.

I mean, I am a college grad working alongside and under people who can barely read and didn't even graduate high school.

I guess I should count my blessings though. It is way too easy to be cynical and negative about my career right now. Anyone can complain and set at home and not have direction. I think the key is to keep moving and keep my head down with my eyes still focused way ahead.

The only way I'm going to get a real job is if I keep acquiring new skills, new knowledge and network with the the people I want to work with. I can do that while I do this other mindless work. I just need to not be negative.

Goodluck to everyone. Try to keep a positive perspective on everything.

[NitaCircle]

Hi, I've been out of work for almost five months now. I became unemployed because I was "let go"from my position, such a nicer word than saying right out, your "fired". It was my first real job since graduating college. There were office dynamics and politics that I did not know about, could not decode. I know now that I mostly got fired because I did not plAY the "GAME". But I must say, though I was unhappy in losing my job and having to now explain to potential employers why I left my last job, I was was elated to be rid of that position; the zombie like company, where everyday was gurrella warfare, and each task was a field full of mines.

I'm getting very very worried and depress that I will not find a position before my unemployment benefits run out. I was offered a position one month after I was let go, but I turned it down because the salary was low and I did not feel it was the best offer for me. Now I am a little worry that I may not get anything else. At the time my thinking was, let me make sure I find the right fit and not just jump into a position that I will dread coming to in a few months, and I did have that very bad experience at my last job.

What are you doing, if your unemployed, to find a job quickly?

In addition to my BA, I got certified as an Microsoft Office Specialist (excel, word, powerpoint, access, outlook), just to beef up mu qualifications and attractiveness to employers.

[Rocksiren]

I feel everyone. I was unemployed for like 10 months before I crawled back to the temp agency that hired me after I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL (seriously same office and everything). So now Im "employed" but its a hair above minimum wage and seriously temporary. In fact, as I write this, my "boss" is interviewing someone for my permanent job. They dont want to hire me (and Im not sure Id want to be hired) because I dont know grad schools plans etc. And I really want to get to someplace warm...I have the streaming reggae station on right now...*sigh*...memories...

[dragonfire]

I hear everyone's pain. I'm "just a temp" as well, and I also graduated with honors.

I had a long term assignment going that paid the bills and provided me with a little extra to save. Yes, I felt the same gross humiliation and shame; however, it wasn't that bad because I didn't work with the public, and the folks I worked with were a riot. They put me at ease while I applied for "real" jobs. Then, the assignment was cut short because the project they had me working on was put on hold.

It's been a roller coaster ride with these temp agencies. I get a job, breathe a sigh of relief, then the assignment ends or is cut short, and there's nothing else available.

THEN, when I apply for internships to gain some experience, I get turned down because I'm not a current undergraduate student!

I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. I was supposed to get married in October, but unless I get a job making at least $12 an hour, we're going to have to rescind the invitations and cancel the damn thing.

If that happens, I'll look like a loser in front of her whole family.

At this point, it's beyond humiliation. It's all out rage. At night, I imagine that I have one of those molecular transporters from Star Trek. I think about beaming into a bank vault and picking up the 2 grand I need to pay for the wedding. That's it. I'll forget about my loans, forget about the bills . . . JUST 2 grand so that we can be happy. At least then, I'll be able to take a baby step toward becoming the person she deserves.

[EmberMae]

I'm unemployed. I also graduated summa cum laude. I quit my last job December 21. I wish the temp agencies would call me back. or something. The one good thing in my life is my boyfriend. Hopefully he won't get screwed when he graduates in May. AT least then half our problems will be solved.

[Rocksiren]

Dragon- EXACTLY! The f*in internship thing. It doesnt matter that youre better than an intern because you really want to learn and are more available. Its the same horrible catch 22 "no experience" crap.

[dragonfire]

Dragon- EXACTLY! The f*in internship thing. It doesnt matter that youre better than an intern because you really want to learn and are more available. Its the same horrible catch 22 "no experience" crap.

I've been told that it's unfair for a grad to compete with a current undergrad student. I would agree if I had a couple years' experience under my belt when I applied; however, the only difference between me and a college junior or senior is a couple more gray hairs and a few more courses completed. I'm not a better candidate than they, availability aside.

I've been writing inquiry letters to companies about the possibility of interning with them. Perhaps if I click with a company that is not dead-set about hiring a student for the task, I'll have better luck.

[factotum]

I know exactly what all of you are going through. I, too, have been perpetually underemployed. And now I am unemployed. I went back to school after getting my B.A. to prevent this from happening. I just finished in August and now the same thing is happening all over again. As for internships, the 2 I had were both very exploitative situations. I got the first one through an internship program. I told them I wanted to work for one of the advertising firms they allegedly parter with, but found out they really didn't have internships there and ended up working for a corporate communications dept. instead. They kept telling me what a great job I was doing until my final evaluation when they told me I was doing it all wrong. That's the only job I ever got fired from.

I was 19 then, and I'm 27 now. I haven't really had a "real" job since. I've been a museum guard, sold designer accessories, sold designer bedding, sold custom window treatments and upholstery, and taught kids how to take the SAT and ACT. The only job where I ever got a raise and a promotion was the museum guard job. And I wrote all about my second internship, the most recent one, in another thread.

Can you belive my boss would leave town and leave me all alone to answer her phone with no advance notice and without even paying me to do it? What kind of experience was that anyway? Certainly not anything that taught me much about interior design. What I hate about interior design firms is that they will not hire interns until they have a course or 2 in AutoCAD, but in my case I never once used that program the whole time I worked there. Yet because I had to wait to apply for an internship (and also because this particular firm took 6 months to get back to me) I only got about 2 months of "experience."

Something has got to change. It makes no since that people like us are being shut out of careers for lack of experience, and it's unfair the way that so many interns are treated, esp. in creative fields. Ironically, I have tons of experience in something I hate (retail sales) and therefore have no problem finding a job that I hate.

And I don't want to just go off and try to start my own design firm. I'd like to learn the ropes from working for someone first. Besides, I can't legally call myself a designer in this state until I have worked for a few years under a licenced designer and have taken a test.

Right now it looks like I might be underemployed again. I just had an interview today at a factory that makes purses. Of course, once again, it has nothing to do with my so-called "field."

Did any of you guys ever watch the show The Pretender? Sometimes I wish I could be like Jarod and just make up things on my resume so I can appear to have the right amount of experience to get a job. Maybe then they'd hire me...

[LaFille]

Ironically, I have tons of experience in something I hate (retail sales) and therefore have no problem finding a job that I hate.


hi! welcome to my life!

i'm 23, graduated from college a year ago and moved to france, where i had the time of my life, and am now back in the good old USA trying to find a job and living at my parents' house in a pink room i painted when i was 14. oh, but don't worry... i have plenty of waitressing experience under my belt, so if things continue in their current path, i'll be serving up spaghetti and meatballs in upstate ny for the rest of my overeducated, undersatisfied life :eek: .

i WAS trying to be picky about what i'm looking for, and then i took a good honest look at the progress i have made in my job search (or lack thereof) and right now feel compelled to take anything. at the same time, i am caught in that same cycle... i am making pretty good money right now, just waitressing nights, perhaps better than i could doing a 'professional' job, but at the expense of gaining 'real world experience.' i mean, i would LOVE to see where this 'real world' is that seems to be hiding itself. not to mention i HATE waitressing... the way people look down on you, the backwards hours, the unpredictability. so WHAT DO I DO? i have yet to figure that out...

one thing though... as much grief as i have gone through, i am very grateful for my college education. i work with a lot of professional waiters and waitresses. this is their JOB. they aren't going to be getting out in a couple of months, they don't get benefits or have job security, and many of them are there for lack of other options throughout their lives. and they're all pulling for me to get out of 'the business' so i don't have to be putting up with the shit they deal with every day for the rest of my life too.

[AbstractLotus]

wow...I looks to be I'm not the only one who is still unemployed. I graduated in May and have been sending resumes since. The only places I have heard from are door to door canvasing...no thanks :googly:
I'm getting tired of sending out resumes but I'm still going at it. Thank god for email, other than that I would have run out of cash by now if I was doing the snail mail thing. :frustrate

[wordsmith]

My sister graduated in June and just in the past few weeks finally landed a position...it takes a while sometimes.

[random]

It is so nice to see I'm not the only one that's majorly underemployed! I'm new here & when I saw this thread it made me feel better about my situation, knowing I'm not the only one going through this.
I graduated in May with a Master's degree in Electronic Media. I started working at a preschool while I was in school to pay the bills & am still there. It sucks! It's a fun job & all, but it doesn't pay nearly enough considering I'm practically raising other people's kids, which I think is a pretty important job. But the pay is awful & it's not what I spent 6 years in school for. TV & radio are SO hard to get into without experience. Sorry, I had to work 2 jobs while I was in school full time for the past 2 years & didn't have any time to do an internship. I had a full-time & a part-time job & was barely able to pay my bills. I couldn't afford to work for free.
It's SO frustrating!

[pisces2473]

TV & radio are SO hard to get into without experience. Sorry, I had to work 2 jobs while I was in school full time for the past 2 years & didn't have any time to do an internship. I had a full-time & a part-time job & was barely able to pay my bills. I couldn't afford to work for free.
It's SO frustrating!
This is why I left grad school...I tried to get job/career advice from my advisor, who kept telling me to get an internship and that there was no way around it. I needed to work and needed the benefits that my job provided. At that point, I realized that if I couldn't get a job after grad school without having an internship, then I was wasting my money staying IN school.

[winelover]

Hang in there, just keep going to different interviews and be good at it.

Don't let the "required 3 years of experience" stop you, just submit your resume anyway. I remember looking for a full time was a job itself.

Let me know if you need any help!

There are tons of places that are actually hiring. Try the entertainment company: Fox, Sony Pictures, and etc., they are always hiring.

There are even some positions in my company that are opened, just HR doesn't send resumes up to them to filter out.

But anyway, I think you should keep submitting it, and maybe that one day, someone so happen will send your resume out of the HR office.

[zCanuckz]

Its amazing to see all these people in the same or similar situations. It seems like I've been told 100s of times to not be upset with being underemployed or unemployed as "things tend to work themselves out". I think its hard for people who have never been in the situation of a graduate to really empathize with it. I mean, when you are attached to the idea that you are going to get a challenging, stimulating, decent-paying job upon graduation for 4 whole years (or more), its pretty difficult to be happy pushing papers around or photocopying stuff for someone's secretary. Anyways, I'm glad to know that there are others who are also jaded with underemployment/unemployment after graduation. It definitely makes me feel a little bit better about my own situation :)

[winelover]

I totally understand the frustration, I've been there myself! It wasn't fun, I was depressed for about a few months. I didn't like the job that I had prior to this job that I like, and I was depressed for about a few months.

I finally got over it!!

I'm still experimenting the career world though, there are still a lot of things that I need to know, such as dealing with the corporate environment.

It isn't so bad at all, but the sad thing is social life isn't the same as it used to be!!

There's a site that a buddy of mine started, it's called www.twentish.com

You can go in there and read some of the articles of other 20something people experienced, or if you have any other advice, you can even share it with the others as well!!

The site is new, and it's a bit plain now, but it would be nice if you can let the others know that they aren't alone!

http://www.twentish.com

[lostnotyetfound]

I'll check in on the unemployed post. I'm 25 and have been working full time for about 2 years. Both of the jobs I held made me miserable and sucked the life out of me. The pay sucked and the work was boring, repetitive and a monkey could do it. I now feel that I really don't have any valuable experience doing anything and I still need to start over in an entry level position.

I got layed off in December and I'm trying to find another job. I'm collecting unemployment so at least that's something. I'm sick of working for companies where you gain no experience, they treat you like crap and there is no room for growth. I don't mind getting paid sh** but i need to be able to move up to something better within a few years. It may be awhile before I find a decent job. If any of those actually exist anymore.

[NoWomanNoCry]

Wow, I started this thread almost 2 years ago and I am in the same position now as I was than. The only difference is that I have been taking classes to start and accelerated BSN-RN program and will graduate one year from May with a degree that will take me anywhere I want!

[bucnutz19]

I currently have a job but am looking for something that will be much better then what I am currently doing. There just isn't much out there right now.

[winneythepooh7]

I work in non-profit and can understand why you all are so discouraged. Many of the positions don't pay a whole heck of a lot, and when you have to relocate and will barely make enough to live on (especially in major cities where most non-profit openings are located), even if you can actually score an interview, it's still not always "worth it" in the grand scheme of things.

[caninewoof]

I congrads on graduating from nursing. It's good to hear something positive. I get caught up in my present problems and forget the possibility of improvement. I'm a substitute teacher but I am getting another degree in IT. I hope everything works well.

[AshleyJordan]

I work in non-profit and can understand why you all are so discouraged. Many of the positions don't pay a whole heck of a lot, and when you have to relocate and will barely make enough to live on (especially in major cities where most non-profit openings are located), even if you can actually score an interview, it's still not always "worth it" in the grand scheme of things.


I'm also in the same boat, although I have a little seniority and work in a slightly higher-paying field within the nonprofit sector. . .it can definitely be a challenge to survive on that pay, and the sector will suffer long-term if it can't pay enough to retain talented, educated staff.

[theaterbuff]

I would love to get into the non-profit sector, too - I had my internhsip at a non-profit.

I, too, feel like I am constantly applying to jobs. But the actuallity of it is there are few that come along that I'm really interested in!

I just have to rant about my current 'job', if you could call it that:

I'm working as a host in a restaurant. I am so riduculously overqualified for this job it makes me sick. Normally, I would be a server (way better pay) but my wrist is kind of messed up and I cannot be constantly lifting heavy trays and plates.

Anyway, most of the other host are in high school or college - so all I hear most of the time is their high schoolish gossip. UGH! And tontite realy took the cake. My manager asked me to wipe down the high chairs, and I'm sitting there ready to burst into tears because I graduated summa cum laude so that I could wipe up fucking high chairs!? But it's not like I can just not work while I'm looking for a job - I have to try and pay the bills somehow.

SOO FRUSTRATING! :( :( :(
I don't have it as bad as you. But I feel your pain. I'm writing this from work. I work at a call center :0 yeah a college degree for a call center.

[theaterbuff]

And to be honest, I really feel like I'm losing. When I think about a high school reunion, which isn't too far off, i don't think I'll go. I mean, I did school and all that, and yet I can't find a decent job. I'm sure I'm being too hard on myself, but is working for VERY little money such a hard thing? I mean, am I that unappealing a candidate?? Just feels like life keeps kicking me in the teeth every time I try and stand up. Itd be nice to have 1-a decent job I like, or 2-a stable relationship. Atleast with one or the other, I could have something to lean on during these troubling times. Maybe its just me, but this whole job thing is making me more cynical about all other aspects of my life. And I don't wanna be cynical.

Sometimes I wish fate, or destiny or whatever was a person... so I could jersey the dumb bastard and beat him until he told me what the hell I'm going through all this crap for.

Don't mind me, bad night.

I can sooooooooo relate to you. I feel the same way. If I could find a real job or a relationship it would help. One or the other. or both. Both would be the best. But having neither really, really, really sucks. Yeah makes me hate life. I'm working on fixing that. I don't like hating life. I'm thinking internet dating. I always feel like a loser doing that but whatever.

[theaterbuff]

I didn't go to my 10 year but not because I didn't want to. However last night I was procrastinating and being stalkerish and was looking up people I knew in my major in college and old roommates. A lot of them seemed to have generic names that are hard to find anything but surprisingly I did find a few people. One girl I dated in college ended up being an environmental consultant in pittsburgh and a former friend from high school is a PhD in process control engineering and a former roommate is going to George Washington Univ to get his MBA. I feel happy for them but at the same time it makes me feel like I'm a miserable failure. I want to get back in touch but in some ways I don't want to because I feel embarrassed about my life. I mean say I get in touch with the former roommate and go down to visit in the same crappy car I was driving in college 6 years ago. :googly:

I feel you. But are your friends that shallow? Maybe yes and maybe no. If yes then why do you want to visit them, if no, hey who knows maybe they have some advice or a way to help you.

[theaterbuff]

I'm sick of working for peanuts and not even making it paycheck to paycheck. Right now I am just so fucking frustrated - I have people making demands at me from all directions and I just can't take it anymore! I have too much shit to deal with right now and I just feel like blowing up! Trying to work two jobs to make ends meet, trying to find a real job, looking for a new apartment, dealing with insane relatives - I can't take it anymore! I am so miserable right now. I don't have time for crap, I'm so tired . . .

I'll pray for you. Really nothing else I can help with besides that. But I feel your pain. I do. I have shit to deal with too. Just not as much as you. So I am blessed for that. Just thinking, somebody, somewhere has a shitter life than you too.

[theaterbuff]

Hello all! I have been reading the boards for sometime now and finally believe that I qualify to comment. I worked in a social service non-profit until last Thursday and it ain't all that great. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed my position, but the uncertainty and ups and down of the grant world (public and private) leave much to be desired. Needless to say I am a bit bitter about the agency's recent restructuring and my subsequent poition elimination especially because I feel that I did a damn fine job while I was there. I was happy, but now I am at home sans employment, and I wonder if I made the right decision to leave. It seemed right at the time and I would have been miserable in the postion that they offered me, but I couldn't get past the disloyalty I felt from a place that I gave so much of myself to. It's funny though it didn't hit me until I arrived back in my hometown and realized it wasn't just a visit, but permanent pending new employment.

I had an interview last week and have few more scheduled this week, but I feel like the world is crashing in on me and I don't know where to turn. The indepence and freedom I built are now obsolete and caput. I am living in my aunt's basement holding onto the vestiges of my pride as I prepare to file for unemployment benefits that the agency will contest and leave me even more depleted than I already feel.

Not to deter anyone from non-profit, but it can be just as cut throat as the for profit sector with half the pay, sometimes a quarter of the pay. Good luck in your search and make sure you get the breakdowm of funding sources, less you be reassigned to the security department and asked to grin and shuffle that you still have a job. (Can you tell I am bitter?)

Looking for non profit try www.idealist.org, and www.higheredjobs.com. They have nationwide postings for non-profits.

Licia :lol:

I'm bitter too. Isn't it fun?

[theaterbuff]

I know exactly what all of you are going through. I, too, have been perpetually underemployed. And now I am unemployed. I went back to school after getting my B.A. to prevent this from happening. I just finished in August and now the same thing is happening all over again. As for internships, the 2 I had were both very exploitative situations. I got the first one through an internship program. I told them I wanted to work for one of the advertising firms they allegedly parter with, but found out they really didn't have internships there and ended up working for a corporate communications dept. instead. They kept telling me what a great job I was doing until my final evaluation when they told me I was doing it all wrong. That's the only job I ever got fired from.

I was 19 then, and I'm 27 now. I haven't really had a "real" job since. I've been a museum guard, sold designer accessories, sold designer bedding, sold custom window treatments and upholstery, and taught kids how to take the SAT and ACT. The only job where I ever got a raise and a promotion was the museum guard job. And I wrote all about my second internship, the most recent one, in another thread.

Can you belive my boss would leave town and leave me all alone to answer her phone with no advance notice and without even paying me to do it? What kind of experience was that anyway? Certainly not anything that taught me much about interior design. What I hate about interior design firms is that they will not hire interns until they have a course or 2 in AutoCAD, but in my case I never once used that program the whole time I worked there. Yet because I had to wait to apply for an internship (and also because this particular firm took 6 months to get back to me) I only got about 2 months of "experience."

Something has got to change. It makes no since that people like us are being shut out of careers for lack of experience, and it's unfair the way that so many interns are treated, esp. in creative fields. Ironically, I have tons of experience in something I hate (retail sales) and therefore have no problem finding a job that I hate.

And I don't want to just go off and try to start my own design firm. I'd like to learn the ropes from working for someone first. Besides, I can't legally call myself a designer in this state until I have worked for a few years under a licenced designer and have taken a test.

Right now it looks like I might be underemployed again. I just had an interview today at a factory that makes purses. Of course, once again, it has nothing to do with my so-called "field."

Did any of you guys ever watch the show The Pretender? Sometimes I wish I could be like Jarod and just make up things on my resume so I can appear to have the right amount of experience to get a job. Maybe then they'd hire me...

I have seen that show and I agree.

I studied advertising in college and would really like to do graphic design. But then again it pays nothing so I don't konw. I too have tons of experience working at call centers. Mostly I hate them. I just wish I got paid more and then I could handle it. But I feel your pain.

[theaterbuff]

I just started taking classes again (thinking about getting my BSN in Nursing) but before that I just kept busy working my service jobs. I worked as a host at the restaurant for about 30 hours a week and as a beer cart girl on the golf course about 20 hours a week. You know what the sad thing is? I was making more money than my friends with "real jobs". How ironic is it that we are told a college degree will earn us so much more, but the jobs they have for us pay squat! Whatever. The other sad thing is that if it weren't for the fact that the jobs are demeaning to my abilities and qualifications, I like them. They're easy and fun, and when you leave for the day you leave the work behind you. Plus you can take time off whenever you want, unlike a "real" job where you get like one week of vacation a year. If it were socially acceptable and offered benefits, I would take this work over many other jobs any day.

Who cares about the socially acceptable crap. But the benifits part is kind of important. I haven't had health insurance forever. Years and years. It isn't good. If anything happens to me I'll just pretty much die.

[theaterbuff]

Wow, I started this thread almost 2 years ago and I am in the same position now as I was than. The only difference is that I have been taking classes to start and accelerated BSN-RN program and will graduate one year from May with a degree that will take me anywhere I want!

how's that going for you? I guess I need to become a nurse.

[HollyM]

"I don't have it as bad as you. But I feel your pain. I'm writing this from work. I work at a call center yeah a college degree for a call center."

Join the club! Luckily I've got on a teaching postgrad in September so I can leave but it's a real act pretending to be interested everyday...

[jenny_k]

im right there with all you guys... i did great in high school.. played sports, was in national honor society, had a 3.8 gpa. HS was simple. i went to college and had a whole new world open up in front of me. i had a blast, played rugby, partied, made a TON of friends. i couldnt go anywhere without seeing someone i knew, and that was at a school with almost 30,000 students. but i also hit some rough times. the partying eventually landed me to a dui, and of course my grades sucked for awhile. i ended up pulling myself together just enough to graduate. i got a BA in economics, which was a good amount of work but not till may last year or so.. i always figured id fall into aomething i liked and that i would be good with networking.. well as it turned out i hated everything i was qualified for. i hate business stuff. sitting in a cube, dealing with people that are in love with themselves, etc... ( i know thats not all buciness but it was where i was anyways). so this year in fact, i had found out that my one misdemeanor dui that was the biggest mistake of my whole life, would not completely ruin me from being a teacher (which is always what i wanted to do). so im stuck in a dead end job right now--delivering pizza to paythe bills, and waiting to go back to school, hopefully for a masters in math education..

it does suck tho. knowing that i could have done it right the first time. but instead im going back, taking out MORE student loans, an ill finally be teaching for the first time when ill be almost 30..

i feel everyone's pain here that is wiping off tables or serving customers. its a real bitch to say the least hahaha. hang in there. find something else u might like, and go after it no matter the cost. i know its easy to say, but its better living your life happy rather than depressed right? good luck all!

[Xander]

Just wanted to start a thread out there for all of us who are still looking for a "real" job. Figured we could all share our frustrations about the search. And if you're like me, you're probably working a job for which you're grossly overqualified (I work in a restaurant, and I'm not a manager, if that tells you anything.) It helps to know that I'm not the only one out there.
You're definitely not the only one out there. I decided to travel around after college, and had no real motivation to start the "rest of my life"... But when I did, it wasn't as easy/quick as I expected. Sucked. But I think it's really good that you're doing something instead of just staying home feeling bad.

Anyway, I just plugged away and even tried my hand at my own business--which was fun until it became work--then I got a traditional job, and while I'm still way underemployed, I'm getting promoted quickly...

Basically, you'll be fine. It's just a waiting game now coupled with hard work applying and interviewing. But your degree in May is a fantastic leap forward!

[NoWomanNoCry]

Well, here's some more update on me: still at the same restaurant but desperately, desparately need to get out. I got involved with a co-worker, fell head over heels for this guy and he dumped me like a sack of potatoes. How do you work with someone you are still feel strongly for, someone that REJECTED you? Aaaargh! I only have to make it through the summer before I start school full time, but in the mean time I need a new job! And here in MI, it is impossible to even find work as a janitor, I swear.

Here's the other thing: I'm interested in nursing, I really am, but it's not my first choice. I'm afraid to pursue what I really want for fear that I will fall flat on my face and fail, as in not find a job, just as I felt I did after I graduating college. I think I have huge issues regarding fear of failing. . .

[artemis83]

I work in non-profit and can understand why you all are so discouraged. Many of the positions don't pay a whole heck of a lot, and when you have to relocate and will barely make enough to live on (especially in major cities where most non-profit openings are located), even if you can actually score an interview, it's still not always "worth it" in the grand scheme of things.

That's true. Luckily, my job is very close to home, there's no way I could have accepted it and lived on my own if it was far away. Though it's a great salary and the best I've had so far, it's not enough to support myself if I had my own place, though I do contribute to the bills and food whenever I can and am able to pay insurance and phone bills