Lacking a desk, most of my computer usage, and therefore job searching, has taken place in the comforts of my bed. Also lacking any proximity to my friends, most of my socializing has occurred through computer usage. Other than cleaning and the grocery store, I spent the majority of the summer so far hiding from the humid and rainy Florida summer by sleeping.
I've read many a Facebook updates and Tweets (is that the right terminology?) that hit every shade of the spectrum when it comes to the summer after graduation. Summer classes to finish up, getting that last bit of traveling in, "bonfires, beers, and blunts," job searching, job interviewing, job going, job complaining, lack-o-job complaining, internship bitching, internship appreciation, getting married, having babies, and the list goes on. Really, it does.
I am, unfortunately- but for the sake of my friends still searching, admitting to my lack-of-life and bed-induced craziness to let you guys know that you will all find something incredible when it's right.
I really did start to lose my mind the week before last. I sent out and emailed and cold called until I was so discouraged I hated everything. I felt like I was waiting around for somebody to respond to my email and say "Wow, ERIN! YOU'RE PERFECT FOR THIS JOB! Please come work for us! I'll start you at $60,000!" Finding a job in the wrong market, in the wrong economy is a full time job, a full time commitment and a full time downer.
They aren't offering what I think I want to do.
What do I want to do?
That is not what I want to do.
I really like that, but they didn't respond to my resume.
Should I send a .pdf or a .doc?
Is this cover letter pretentious?
That's not enough money to get an apartment and pay my student loans!
That's too far away with traffic.
That's not enough hours.
They aren't offering an insurance package.
What if I can't find something?
But then I hit a point and said, I need something to get me started, to get me going, and ultimately- to get me out of my parent's house, so let's get this ball rolling. The job I got was posted as an administrative position for a small company that wasn't sure what they needed. Turns out, they needed someone more than to just answer phones, a Director of Marketing. I know I got really lucky, and I say that knowing that the pay is not competitive in the least and I also have no insurance.
Most of the people I know who are actively looking for jobs right now have portfolios that put mine to shame. Most of the people I know are personable, intelligent, resourceful, and motivated. (Most :-P). And, because of the school I got to go to, most of the people I know are also lucky enough to not have the same financial pressures that I do.
So, what I want to say is, enjoy this odd liminal period in our lives. So what job searching is a pain in the ass? So what you feel like if you hear "well, because of the economy we..." one more time you're going to punch a wall?
When in your life are you going to WANT, want- not neeeed, a job as much as you want one right now? Enjoy the excitement and the urgency and the lure of something new. Enjoy the yearning to prove your accredited knowledge and your unpaid experience. Enjoy it if you can, because it'll be over before you know it and it'll never be this way again.
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