Okay, I graduated from an expensive private college a year ago with a Psychology/Anthropology double major with a minor in Underwater Basket Weaving. My parents and I are now deeply in debt to the tune of about 5 figures. I've experienced the joys of unemployment for a year since -- an ever-widening period of time that employers are beginning to ask about... more on that later. The local (state) economy's not that bad compared to the rest of the nation, but so far, I've had 0 luck/opportunities, after a feverish search that admittedly mostly took place online with the occasional job fair/office complex jaunt where the prospective employers... promptly sent me back online. Since I'm an introvert who feels that my odds of making a good personal impression on a potential employer are quite low indeed, I feel most comfortable with online applications. Being online also cuts down on the odds of being discriminated against due to my race, which allows me to procure opportunities -- however few they may be -- to practice my interviewing skills. I've recieved about 6 or so interviews, but no offers -- a third of the interviews were with temp agencies.

White-collar, "true" (meaning no experience required) entry-level jobs are like unicorns nowadays. I’ve applied to a variety of jobs, mostly clerical, since that’s where my minimal experience lies, but also for jobs like residential cleaning, apprentice exterminator, Wal-Mart cashier, entry level processor in a fish processing plant, and a variety of retail positions. I applied for a plumber’s apprentice job today. I don’t know what to do with my degree when I apply for blue-collar jobs because it may be a liability, but if I omit it, I may be in conflict with full disclosure policies and I’d certainly have a gaping employment gap, one that a more cynical HR person may fill with an undisclosed stint in the pen. During my unemployment, I’ve been widening my base of computer skills and learning Spanish, but I’ve added these skills to my resume with no results. I call myself a recent graduate because I have no other attractive “brand”, but I know that the bloom is off of the rose, and this year’s grads are going to out-fresh face me. Somewhere along the line, you transition to “hard-core unemployed,” and I have a hunch that it’s after a year, perhaps less. I know that employers don’t want to hear a “Times is hard” soliloquy, so what do I say if it comes up again?

I live on the outskirts of a large metropolitan area, a desolate truck stop where buses fear to tread, so volunteering daily/unpaid internships without a transportation stipend aren't a feasible option -- also, I’ve discovered that the experience of being turned down for free labor is a surprisingly sharp blow to the ego amidst the litany that I’ve endured within the past year. I feel like my only alternative is to get an Associates' degree/certification in something people will actually pay me to do, which essentially means that I'll have to completely start over salary-wise as if my expensive education – 4 years of my life that were, contrary to stereotype, largely joyless -- never happened. I’ve been told that I'm too emotionally cold/introverted for nursing (where I could actually use my degree to get an accelerated BSN, be in a high-demand field, and receive what seems like rock star pay where I’m at). As a petite woman, I honestly don't feel like the military would be a safe option for me -- I'm willing to deal with attacks from the enemy, but not other soldiers. My friends are either in math-based majors or hiding out* in grad school. I felt that that wasn’t an appropriate reason to stay in school and decided to “face life,” only to find that Life’s ugly, its breath stinks, and it spits when it talks.

To me, it seems somewhat counterintuitive to go to grad school, because I'd be getting into more debt -- unless I went for a doctorate – which ties me up for 4 years and unless I get bitten by the radioactive math bug and change majors, will make me simultaneously under and overqualified for pretty much everything except practicing psych* – which I don’t want to do, or teaching, which is, despite the comparatively low pay, a hard gig to land and also something I’m totally uninterested in. What am I interested in? Aesthetics, but I didn’t go to fashion/art school because I wanted to be able to find a job when I finished, and I refuse to go now for the exact same reason. I'm okay with doing a job/following a career path that I have only a marginal interest in, I'm just not into spending 4 more years of my life (or 2 years and more money) to meet the minimum qualifications for something that I only have a marginal interest in.

My father’s spent more of his adult life unemployed than employed, working manual labor/security jobs sporadically after a stint in the Marines. He stressed the importance of getting a four-year college degree (he didn't know to specify which) so I wouldn’t end up like him. But now we sit on my mother’s couch right next to one another, and have literally had to compete with each other for jobs. We both interviewed for a job loading packages about 4 months back – he “threw” his interview and spent it endorsing me, because I’m his daughter, and because he’s largely given up. What do I do?

*Psych schools are currently experiencing nigh unprecedented levels of applicants, because it’s a popular undergrad major, and see “friends hiding in grad school” Unfortunately, funding for both public and private schools has experienced no corresponding increase. Quite the contrary, in fact.

*I’m not just being a Bitter ahem, Betty here. They freely admit that the dearth of jobs – even temp positions -- is why they’re returning to school.

maybe you can consider teaching english overseas for the time being... though i am an introvert myself, i have thought of it as being a possibility. at least it is a job that requires that you have a 4-year degree...

May I ask you something?

What is it you really want to do?

Life is too short to waste it on looking for a job you will hate.

Don't worry about the economy. People get hired every day. You can too.

Forget about being an introvert, you're not the first one needing a job.

Your majors contrast interestingly against the statement you are "too emotionally cold/introverted for nursing", since both majors deal exstensively with studying people.

My suggestion is you forget about trying to find "anything" and start listing tasks you'd like to do on a daily basis. Make another list of stuff you don't like or would prefer to avoid.

Then narrow your search to those types of jobs likely to heavily involve doing what you like doing. If you walk into your next interview exicited about the job you are interviewing for, you'll make a much better impression.

God bless,

Well, I studied people precisely because I dislike and don't understand them -- I wanted to work through that without having to deal with them extensively on a one-on-one basis... which is what clinical psych is all about, and why I decided not to continue on towards a Phd. I really want to have a career in fashion, but it doesn't seem stable -- I'm discovering that I don't deal well with unstructured time -- and career ascension is closely related to connections, a business background, or a combination of the two. Right now, I'm trying to figure out if I can get a job working the retail floor -- which I've applied for multiple times prior -- let alone becoming a visual merchandiser or some such thing. My problem is I don't get interviews at all because I don't have experience, and the cycle continues, culminating in an employment gap, which makes me an even less attractive candidate... unfortunately, the ensuing desperation that such circumstances lead me to and the resulting greater willingness to accept undesirable hours and/or pay that coyly skirts minimum wage that may provide that edge over/parity with my competitors doesn't show up on paper.

Previously, I was told that my "don't want" list was too long and excluded too many possibilities, so I scrapped it, because I don't want there to be ANYTHING standing between me and employment. I also don't want people to be able to hide behind excuses to explain why I'm unemployed. If I allowed my desires to color my search too vividly, I'd be unemployed because I'm "picky" or "afraid of hard work" or "I think I'm too good for ________ because I have a degree", when the truth is, I'm unemployed because no one wants to hire me, and probably because people can't afford to train people in my position right now. Besides, what's the harm in being willing to scrub toilets if I end up being repeatedly turned down to do so anyway?

Your reply struck a chord with me because of what I'm going through with my son. He was just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. He has a hard time understanding people too. From the way you describe yourself, you seem to have many traits consistent with AS. Quite frankly, I think I may have this now though I've learned to cope.

Okay you want a carreer in fashion. What do you mean by that? Do you want to design clothes? Something else? Do you live near a fashion district?

God bless,

I live near a smaller-scale fashion district... I wanted to be a personal shopper, then I discovered that there aren't that many opportunities out there... then I wanted to be a buyer, but then I found out that they do a lot of bookkeeping* and generally have a business background, which I don't. Designing is way too competitive for me, and I'd probably have to go back to school to learn how to draft patterns, then subsequently move to take a job in an area with higher unemployment levels & cost of living, while a designer's starting salary would be a pittance where I am now, let alone an area like NY or LA. Furthermore, upon graduating fashion school, my employment prospects would still be quite uncertain. Part of me wants to follow my interests, and the other part wants to make sure I'm never put in a position where I'm roundly unemployable again, especially after another costly trip to school.

So, I looked for other possible careers in the fashion industry, but they all typically start on "the floor" as a sales associate. So, I have a folder full of half-done applications to stores today. But, like I said, my previous attempts to break into retail haven't done so well, and nothing's changed since then. The retail sector is still depressed and I still have no retail experience -- not for lack of trying.

My nephew suggested that I try waiting tables, because they aren't as strict about who they'll hire, due to the fact that they only have to foot $2 an hour, and turnover is extremely high in the service industry in general, food service in particular. I'll be out today taking applications for that. In retrospect, I just can't help thinking that I wasted four years of my life and countless dollars on school because I was "smart" and "smart" people are expected to attend college... because it really seems like I have the exact same options that I would've had when I was 15, sans debt, instead of 23, saddled with it.





*One of the reasons that I think I don't have AS is that I don't have any of the vaunted "superpowers." I'm atrocious with numbers -- always have been -- and I have no fixations at all... if anything, I have a rather short attention span. That, and I used to be extremely fond of people and good with them -- I was socially gregarious and popular as a child.