News flash! Life after college sucks...

[No Limit]

I know people keep on telling me that I will eventually find a job or things will get better or just takes time, but I actually miss going school. At least it was a routine activity that took up most of my time along with the student assistant job I had. I graduated and I'm back at my parent's house doing nothing. It's not the rosy outlook I had just before graduating. It's just depressing me getting letters of not qualifying for a trainee job. A freakin' IT trainee job for god's sakes... And then you do apply for jobs and you don't even hear back. I guess being all worked up about this is also the reason for my recent insomnia bout as of late. Now I find myself taking Xanax just to relax at times even though it's not an SA moment. It's just so frustrating how life "in the real world" plays itself out. I can't use the crux of SA to blame all of this, but having it doesn't make this burden any easier either. And it's not like I can talk to anyone about this except for a therapist that I'm paying lots of money to talk to only once a week. Sometimes I feel I can't take it anymore and feels like no one wants to listen. But who wants to listen to my problems anyway when they have their own problems. I just don't want to give up either, but it sometimes it seems easier that way.

[FreeSoul]

Things like this is why I think college is over-rated. I keep too hearing too many stories like this. Getting a degree now has become such a norm now that's no longer special.

Only thing I can say is that since you already got it, you'll just have to keep looking and applying til you snag some job with it. Hopefully college payments aren't hounding you and you can still work a wage job in the meantime that can support you.

[No Limit]

I have no school debt since my parents paid for my schooling. I guess I'm lucky in that sense. I do have a couple of years in experience in retail, but I don't look forward to applying to another one of those jobs again. I mean, I worked hard for that degree only to find myself in a retail job? Then again it's probably one of those things in life where I just have to make a compromise for now.

[millenniumman75]

No Limit,

Been there - you know it. It was 13 months before I landed my first job after graduating.
It is anxiety-provoking because people who don't understand the job market will think you are lazy. Keep trying and be surprised by nothing, becasue you will see it all. I have had a range of interviews - a wide range . All I can say is, keep trying and wear a plain suit with a red tie for interviews!

There will be people here who listen - don't worry about that part!

[Tom]

No limit, there are a few things that can be done to help you get a job. I may have social anxiety bad enough to not function in most other situations in life, but one of the very few things that I do know how to do is to get a job. After graduation, I went through months and months of sending my resume out online, thru monster.com, thru career services at school, and by word of mouth. I was pretty much called in for one interview for every 30 resumes that were sent out, and I sent out hundreds of them. I would suit up with a tie, a clean shave, and with my leather handbag at my side; I approached every interview with a firm handshake. None of the interviews were going well. I would follow up every time with a thank you letter, but that didn't help. There was something that I was missing. After several failed interviews, I decided to invest some of my overly ridiculous free time into scrapping together a portfolio. I bought a nice leather binder, a lot of clear page protectors, some page dividers, and I gathered together all of my best work from school projects and I took pictures of my senior project. I took this portfolio to my next interview and I nailed it! During the interview I was telling them about my accomplishments as usual and then I showed them the pictures of my project as proof, and that really got them interested and it steered the questions towards my project, which I knew everything about. I highly recommend that you make a portfolio, and throw some pictures of your schoolwork or other accomplishments in there. Pictures say a lot more than words.

[LostInReverie]

NO JOKE.

I am having fun with student loans and it ain't pretty. I really wish that I had waited after high school to figure out what I wanted to do. Now I have a degree in a field I no longer want to be anywhere near, I'm living with my parents working a night shift that pays a little less than crap, and the thought of a job interview makes me have to use the restroom.

Thing is, the people who get interviews are the people who ask for them. Sending out a resume without follow up is worth nothing. Anybody with a different experience is just lucky. I completely agree that a degree isn't worth as much as it used to be worth. What does matter is people skills. You could be a the world's biggest idiot and you'll get the job over the talented and skilled if you can work an interview.

I hate those people.

[Pinzelhead]

Felt the same after I finished high-school. I started working 4 months later but felt I wanted to go back to school. I guess many people feel like this. Nobody really likes change. Routine is much better.

[Zephyr]

Originally Posted by No Limit

I know people keep on telling me that I will eventually find a job or things will get better or just takes time, but I actually miss going school.

I miss it like hell. I enjoyed going to school and studying and hanging around that academic atmosphere. It was great because I got to pilot my own ship; go to class (or not) if I want, do whatever between classes, study when the mood struck me. Then come home, pick up something on the way if I needed it. It was okay because I was a student so I was 'working toward something'. I like learning new things and getting good grades and listening to interesting profs. All of that is over now.

Now I'm graduated but I really don't want to work. I'm totally built for school and academia. Even the thought of going to a job everyday just messes my head up.

[guy123]

I know what you mean. Throughout my four years of college majoring in information technology everyone was telling me how the IT field was in great demand and the jobs were high paying. I had the idea that once I had a college degree I was set for life. Now that I am graduated I have lots of book knowledge but I lack the practical experience and communication skills to get a good job. As a result I am attending a two-year technical college to get some practical experience and job connections.

[Goldrush]

What luck! I was about to make a topic.

Today marks the 10 month anniversary of my job search. How naive of me to think that, because I have a diploma, I'll have more luck finding a job than the four years I spent searching for an internship. When I hit that 6 months point, I think I lost all confidence in my knowledge of my major. So sad. With each passing months, my chance will continue to decrease because my big unemployment gap will probably raise all kinds of alarms in the recruiter's head.

[Guitarstryker]

No Limit,

First of all, know that you are not alone. I've been out of college for a year, and have moved back home as well. All I could think about in high school was how I was getting out of my cursed small town and now I've found myself right back where I started, mostly worse off than my non college educated constituents.

This is after doing everything I was supposed to do for college: Got multiple scholarships in high school, went to an in state college even though it was 6 hours away from home, hell, I even graduated in 4 years flat with a 3.56 GPA... with no student loans to pay back. Academically I'm a freak of nature (on the 4 years part... something that's pretty much unheard of nowadays). I was involved in several organizations that actually gave me real world experiences rather than sucking up book knowledge all the time.

You know what all this means in today's economic climate? Absolutely nothing. Trust me, as soon as I graduated and found out how unwanted I was by employers, I started doing research on the economy, recent graduates, twixters, quarter life crises, the stock market/housing market bust, and pretty much everything that led up to the economic ****hole we find our selves in currently. Nothing is more daunting than reading how current graduates are going to be the hardest hit by the storm because no one hiring=over qualified under stimulated graduates with an increasingly saturated pool of new graduates=more competition, less jobs, and outdated degrees as the years wear on.

Honestly, I've been so embarrassed about being home, I've really secluded myself and no doubt it's been unhealthy. I don't talk to anyone anymore, I deleted my facebook, I don't hang out with anyone my own age. All my friends are either out of state, or still in school. I'm embarassed even going to my own church with my parents. The place I pretty much grew up in feels like a judgmental onslaught. I had an older gentleman the other day ask what all I had going on, and I answered him "nothing much" just to kinda politely bypass the question, and he said "Someone your age should have a lot going on." Thanks a ton douchebag.

At this point in my life all I wanted was to be starting out in some kind of career, on my own, squeeking by paying my bills. Not comfortable, but stable. There's just too much societal debt that is taking place, both economically and socially to make that dream a reality at least right now.

I suggest you pick up the book "Generation Debt: How Our Future was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers, and How to Fight Back" The stories are pretty phenomenal about people in their 20's that are encountering a never before seen struggle in economic history.

Bottom line, we're not alone. Many people are in the same boat or worse off than we are right now.

I'd like kind of keep this a continuing thread to see how everyone is doing. We'll celebrate when people get jobs or vent when we still can't find anything. Good luck.

[sparkationsgirl]

I wasn't bitter while I was IN university. Maybe that's because I always kept assuming I would be out of the house in no time, with a well paying job, and doing really well. Even when I had my anxiety and paranoia issues, I kept telling myself to gut through it all-I would be rewarded in the end. There were times when I just wanted to drop out of school altogether, and transfer to a 2 year college program instead, or work. But I persisted at it, I just wanted to "finish what I started".

Well, here I am. A university graduate from this prestigious university. It's been months and I'm still unemployed. I realize that I am actually overqualified for retail jobs, and this is why I haven't been getting callbacks for places like summer camps, grocery stores, etc. Go figure. And I know getting a job is all about "connections" and such. Well, how can I be expected to go out a lot if my parents are always on my back about going out late at night or during the evenings, etc? It's a tough situation indeed.

I had several action plans that I took seriously for a brief while. At one point, I thought I could just become a stripper to pay off my school loans. Then I decided I would go to a 2 year college. And now, finally, I have decided that I will become an ESL teacher abroad.

The economy is pretty bad right now in general. I live in the downtown core of Toronto, and the chances of getting a job here are slim. This is why I know eventually I will have to move out, whether it's to another country, or the outskirts of the area. I don't try too hard these days by sending a resume out to every job posting I might remotely be qualified for. Instead, I look at things practically and try to narrow down choices according to practicality and demand.

[MrWorry]

Did you finish your Masters? If not, you may want to consider pursuing that.

[CeilingStarer]

Haha, Tom from mySpace was a poster here.

[SeekingHappiness]

Originally Posted by sparkationsgirl

I wasn't bitter while I was IN university. Maybe that's because I always kept assuming I would be out of the house in no time, with a well paying job, and doing really well. Even when I had my anxiety and paranoia issues, I kept telling myself to gut through it all-I would be rewarded in the end. There were times when I just wanted to drop out of school altogether, and transfer to a 2 year college program instead, or work. But I persisted at it, I just wanted to "finish what I started".

Well, here I am. A university graduate from this prestigious university. It's been months and I'm still unemployed. I realize that I am actually overqualified for retail jobs, and this is why I haven't been getting callbacks for places like summer camps, grocery stores, etc. Go figure. And I know getting a job is all about "connections" and such. Well, how can I be expected to go out a lot if my parents are always on my back about going out late at night or during the evenings, etc? It's a tough situation indeed.

I had several action plans that I took seriously for a brief while. At one point, I thought I could just become a stripper to pay off my school loans. Then I decided I would go to a 2 year college. And now, finally, I have decided that I will become an ESL teacher abroad.

The economy is pretty bad right now in general. I live in the downtown core of Toronto, and the chances of getting a job here are slim. This is why I know eventually I will have to move out, whether it's to another country, or the outskirts of the area. I don't try too hard these days by sending a resume out to every job posting I might remotely be qualified for. Instead, I look at things practically and try to narrow down choices according to practicality and demand.

did you go to UofT? what did you take there? also where do you plan on going to teach abroad?

If the economy doesn't start picking up soon, when I graduate next year I would be in the same position with no job and student loans to pay back, but I am thankful that tuition in canada is not as much as some higher end univeristies in the states, but then again part of it is paid by the government I believe.

[sparkationsgirl]

did you go to UofT? what did you take there? also where do you plan on going to teach abroad?

If the economy doesn't start picking up soon, when I graduate next year I would be in the same position with no job and student loans to pay back, but I am thankful that tuition in canada is not as much as some higher end univeristies in the states, but then again part of it is paid by the government I believe.

Yes, I went to U of T. I took psycholotgy and employment relations. It's not applied enough to get me a job in either of those fields, really. My interst in ER also dwindled as I continued to take more courses in that field.

I plan to teach somewhere in an Asian country, where there is a high demand for English teachers. I am not sure where yet, but i'll figure it out eventually. I still need to wait to receive my actual diploma first in the middle of june in order to begin applying to schools overseas.

[joinmartin]

"Thing is, the people who get interviews are the people who ask for them. Sending out a resume without follow up is worth nothing. Anybody with a different experience is just lucky."

So speaks the belief system.

"I completely agree that a degree isn't worth as much as it used to be worth."

Worth to whom? A lot of people on this forum seem to like to think of things in terms of: "this is good because it gets me this, this and this...." And, to be fair, we do love having reasons for things and this seems to be especially true here where people appear reluctant to trust themselves, others and life itself. But worth is subjective and relative.

I once had a very loud shouting match with a UK business leader who was part of the nonsense people who go on TV round about when the exam results in the UK education system come out and shout about how the exams are getting easier and that young people don't know as much and that the qualifications aren't worth as much as they used to be. Fantastic. A great way to motivate the nation's young people. Make out that all that hard work and achievement wasn't worth anything.

The recession, that biting power that spreads like a virus across the world, was at least partly caused by the actions of some in business and the banking sector (along with people in governments). The dawn of this most recent recession revealed that so called "experts" have very little idea how finance works and how to run businesses and banks so that they actually work. And yet, when the exam results come out, out they come onto the TV screens to make out how qualifications aren't worth as much as they used to be to them and their belief systems.

Something isn't "worthless" just because it doesn't get you what you might want it to get you. I have a degree. It's a piece of paper. Its worth to me is beyond measure. The whole experience gave me friends, skills and so much fun. It helped to release me as an individual from a lot of the things that were holding me back.

I fully understand and appreciate the frustration experienced when not getting the job you want to do. But that doesn't make you or your qualifications "worthless" or "worth any less".


"What does matter is people skills. You could be a the world's biggest idiot and you'll get the job over the talented and skilled if you can work an interview."

I've seen this belief system about on this forum in a number of places. It seems to be motivated out of frustration and anger and not out of reality. If, indeed, there is a reality beyond our subjective experience and interpretation of such a thing. People decide they haven't got "people skills" and then get angry when they imagine that so called "people with people skills" will get the job over someone who has the skills and ability but doesn't have these people skills or doesn't know how to "work an interview" (whatever that means).

It's the bedrock of paranoia. A doctor, one would assume, gets a job because they have some sort of medical skills and training. Whether they can "work an interview" or not. Now, I know that some people on here love to stamp their feet and scream at you how it's obviously easy for these people they've imagined in their heads and that they as individuals are terrible in comparison to these individuals who may or may not exist. But it's generalising based on experiences and beliefs. Not necessarily truth. We're all vulnerable to doing such things. I've done it myself quite a few times.

You don't know what all job interviews have or are like. You don't know what they will be like in the future. Indeed, a lot of job interviews these days require applicants to demonstrate knowledge of skills and or abilities relevant to the job they are applying for. Granted, the interviewer will want to get an idea of what sort of person they think you are and coming across well in an interview would be a good thing. But that isn't beyond anyone on here and it is more than possibly that, in a lot of cases, coming across well in the interview is not the deciding factor in who gets the job.

Indeed, a friend of mine went for a job interview last week. She was told her experience and skills were great and she came across exceptionally well in the interview but another candidate had a bit more relevant experience.

It's an isolated example and I doubt the negative belief system of some will fall because of it. I mean, it can be dismissed as a fluke or the followers of the belief system can stamp their feet and claim that this is an exception to the rule.

But what is is evidence against a negative belief about job interviews.

[plastics]

I just graduated too...I feel ya.

[MisterJ25]

Bummer for you is all I have to say.

I always knew college was a sham and kind of a BS way to judge people for a job (other than a doctor or something).

Instead of going to college I started working when I was 18. I have been at the same company for like 6 years. So I have a job making like 11 bucks an hour. It isn't a career-like job like I imagined in high school, but I am good at it and I am one of the top employees because I bust my ***. I don't complain like most people from my generation. I don't feel entitled to anything other then what my hard work provides. The thing about most college graduates is all they have is a piece of paper and maybe a sense of entitlement, nothing else the employer is looking for. "Hey, I went to college for four years" isn't going to cut it in the real world.

I am still going to school anyway. I am 26, have 20k in the bank, and have 2 more classes until I am done at community college. I am thinking of continuing my education and getting a degree in sociology, but I could always just read the books on my own. I guess I am still trying to see if going to an over priced four year school will be worth it in the long run.

The problem with a lot of people is that they go to college and major in something they don't even like (like business) just to get a crap job after they graduate. Then once they get a degree they just expect to be handed a job making 40k a year. The world doesn't work like that anymore, not since the baby boomers anyway.

You should have been working a better job while you were in school is what I think. You should have did school part time and worked on your resume with a decent job with the other part of your life.

I have a job that is ok, so I am good there, but I am going to major in something I find interesting that will let me see the world in a new way, not something that will just give me a good paycheck.

I hope you find a job soon, but for the most part, I hope you actually majored in something that you liked and found interesting. Otherwise, in my eyes, you wasted your money and your time. Don't worry either way though, college graduates now are all experiencing this.

Funny is that I was looked at like a loser a few years back when my friends were in college, and while they were wasting money buying crap at aeropostale, going in debt with student loans, and wasting their time getting drunk at parties, I was working the same job I have now and I even told them that stuff like this would happen to them. You can't major in communications or sports medicine and expect the sky to open up and rain down money as soon as you get your degree with no experience at all. Stop going to the mall and save all your money is what I said. Most young people care so much about what their peers are doing and what their parents think and don't take the time to step back and look at the big picture of post-life graduation.

Well, I go to community college part time and even I saw this was a problem. What does that tell you about what you actually learn in college?

[CeilingStarer]

I kind of don't mind my wasted money at university. I really learned a lot about life, and how to think for myself. I thrived on the academic challenges, and came out a lot more intelligent/less naive. The music scene and culture was great too. Not saying that everyone has to go to college to get these things, but I had to.

We have a good scheme here where you only pay back a small %, if you earn over such-and-such an amount (interest free, but not inflation free). I didn't have to burden my parents financially by going. But yeah, because of this scheme, degrees are dime a dozen.