Post-College Job Search: The Horrific, Painful and Grey Area

My entire college career I heard stories regarding the job market struggle. I've had relatives, friends and work professionals fail to find anything. My analyzation of these situations was condescending. I assumed these people weren't trying hard enough; they weren't smart enough; they didn't prepare themselves well enough coming out of college. I was extremely blessed to have had three distinctly different but valuable, professional internships since my freshman year of college. One with a successful, privately owned but multi-national company, another with a professional sports team and a third with my own college. I had outrageous leadership experience; I was an NCAA college athlete; I wrote for the college paper; I did service work and was a Dean's List student. I thought I had fully taken advantage of my four years in college. As graduation approached, I had very high hopes. I assumed I would easily land a job. However, my attitude quickly changed. My plans to move and be successful kept getting pushed back. My once arrogant view of the unemployed became a reality; it was gradual karma.

I'm 23-years-old with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication - Media Studies with an English minor. I'm enthusiastic, experienced and driven. None of these characteristics seem to help. Instead of progressing in my professional career, I work roughly 30 hours per week in retail. All my accomplishments are rounding-up to selling over-priced shoes to unpleasant people with plantar fasciitis. It's not that my current situation is extremely depressing, although it may not be motivating. It's that my situation and the application process is confusing for someone who assumed they were ahead of most individuals their age. But I was wrong. I see "less qualified" individuals with jobs, and I see other friends already being promoted. So, what do you do? HOW do you get a job? If I had these answers I wouldn't be writing this entry. However, I may have some insight.

I've read it all. I've listened to career advisers, utilized my college's resources, networked, wrote unique cover letters, crafted my resume towards every job I applied for and had so many people attempt to stick their head out for me to help me obtain a job I've lost count. You name the strategy, I've tried it. I don't just utilize generic job searches, I find specific ones. I look through company after company in cities all over the United States. I've now applied for more than 100 positions since April 2011. Through the process I've had three phone interviews and one face-to-face interview. Since Sept. 12, 2011, I've applied for 45 jobs with a result of two phone interviews, one face-to-face interview and denied by nine others. Where the hell is the other 76% not saying a word back to me?

To be blunt, the hiring process is pretty f***ed up. There has only been a few positions I've applied for where I wasn't completely qualified. Organizations don't hire like they used to. Instead, they bring in HR consultants who tell them how to hire instead of using their human instincts to judge a person based on their experience and capabilities. I went through an hour and a half behavioral interview -- beyond brutal to say the least. I OVERLY prepare for my interviews. I'm ready for any questions, I cover all my bases and weaknesses. And here I am, 23 and working in retail.

I'm not sure you'll find tons of answers from me, but I can tell you what it's like looking for a job and having six months of no success.

Apply, apply, rest and then apply some more
You need to be relentless. Now that I no longer am a college athlete, I don't have class nor am I a president of a student organization -- I have a lot more free time. Applying for jobs has joylessly become a hobby. If you aren't finding a job, you need to make it your hobby. Even if you just had a phone interview -- KEEP LOOKING! Don't assume you'll get a job since you were referred -- I did and wasted valuable time where I could have looked for other positions. Applying will ware you out, and eventually you'll feel you've overused your resources; take a break when that happens, have a beer and then get right back to it.

Where do I look for jobs? Eh...
You could use a generic search like CareerBuilder.com, but those ad affiliated/driven sites only bring you so far. They post "available" jobs which have been filled weeks ago, and you may waste time applying for those. You'll soon get countless emails from insurance companies asking you to work for them in sales even though they have never met you. And yes, you need to utilize some sites like that, such as Indeed.com. Regardless, find smaller, unique ones towards your field. For example, I use BigShoesNetwork.com, which is specific to the mid-west my my career interests. In addition, you'll have to just look at company's websites. Not all positions are posted all over the place. Get creative.

Resume/Cover Letter: Should you be unique? I'm not quite sure
I've applied for a lot of positions with fairly mundane cover letters, and I've also applied to some much more creatively -- which most people suggest you should do. I can't say either way is better than the other. My "boring" cover letters have ended up working better. The biggest key is to make it all concise, consistent and render each letter or resume to the specific job and hit the key points the posting is seeking. I feel companies shouldn't put huge weight into cover letters (depending on the job), and I'm not sure if they really do. As long as your cover letter is well written, not too long and without errors, you've done the necessities.

Networking? You can try...
One of the main reasons I was so involved in different activities in college was for networking. As I previously stated, I've had former supervisors, co-workers and friends attempt to help me -- not one has been successful. However, I have friends who have been hired by various organizations without a job posting -- all three of my internships were that way. Knowing people is eventually what will help you, whether it's your first job or a career advancement later on. My suggestion is to join some groups, kiss some girls and get to know people -- you never know when you'll need a favor.

Follow up after applying...if you can...
Yes, you should always follow up after applying, but that's not as easy as it seems. I actually get pissed off when people tell me to do this as if I'm a moron. Big problem with this tactic...sometimes you can't. There will be no email listed, no phone number and some jobs specifically tell you not to contact them until they contact you. This all depends on the organization, job etc, but the truth is a lot of times there is nothing you can do but apply.

Work part-time while you search, even if it's horrible
All my interviews have asked me if I was currently working, and I noticed for all the interviews not being currently employed was a pretty big red flag in the process. You need to have some sort of income. The advantage to working a cruddy, part-time job is those employers are used to turn-over. If you work there three weeks and suddenly have an opportunity work-out, no quite as hard of feelings. Working part-time will also remind you of why you received a degree.

Perhaps finding a job needs a handful of luck and farts
Luck does have a lot to do with it. There are many factors you can't control. Landing an interview can depend on the mood of the recruiter, timing of when you apply and who else is applying. Just take care of what you can control and hope for the best. Every company looks for different aspects in an application (i.e. did you spray perfume on the envelope?)

I may be in a uniquely bad position, but I also see the pain and struggle with other friends. It's embarrassing to tell people I see out on the weekends I'm still looking for a job. I hate it, but at this point all someone in a position like mine can do is to continue to aggressively search. Apply, search, apply and network until you puke. If you are worried or struggling over where your life is headed, you're not alone. Just do what you can to put yourself ahead of others -- even if it's grad school.