My name is Meagan. This is my situation--stop me if you've heard it before: I'm 23, just graduated from college, and my part-time job, which is completely unrelated to my major, ends in two weeks.
Unoriginal, I know.
What I don't know is, is it me, or is it the job market?
Probably both. I am as agressive as a sea cucumber, and really don't understand the delicate balance between arrogance and self-confidence in a cover letter. My mom says to give them just enough to get them interested, to show a little skin, so to speak, and then promise more in an interview. I've tried this, but employers keep calling my bluff.
I'm one of millions of people who are in the catch-22 situation of finding work without professional experience, but you need professional experience to find work. Basically, as Heller wrote:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to.
My impending unemployment is the result of a blunder on the part of my supervisors, and in their effort to make up for exceding our budget by thousands of dollars, are cutting my position, which pays the least of any in our department. Clever, guys.
Over the last two weeks I have applied for positions as a copy editor, a baker's assistant, a trivia host, a transcriber, and finally, for cashier positions at Target and Food Lion.
No bites yet.
I have learned in this short period of time there is no actual way to write a cover letter and guarantee success. Or, if there is, I have yet to find that free template online.
I've also learned that craigslist has moved from a weirdo's playground to a valuable job-hunting tool. This, and that those silly tan people on Jersey Shore make an outrageous amount of money to get drunk and act a fool. Disheartening? No!
This is my goal (or, if this were a resume, my objective):
Find a job by within a month, regardless of standards. Make rent for the month of September.
My game plan:
Forget college. Master's degrees are the new bachelor's degrees. Apply for anything and everything I consider myself even remotely qualified to do. Unfortunately, I lack the social skills and short-term memory to work as a waitress.
The weekend is fast approaching, two days that can be considered job hunt limbo. I'll be back Monday, still hopeful, still applying.
Until then, here are a few tips:
Don't overestimate a sense of humor. But maintain a good one while looking.
Don't overlook jobs just because they seem embarrassing or beneath you.
Don't donate sperm or eggs for a quick buck; sell used books or electronics instead. One certainly pays more than the other, but could also produce a child, and there are more than enough of those already.
Unless you are selling sperm or eggs, you cannot realistically expect to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from home. Don't overlook minimum wage.
Stay optimistic.
And finally, I want to thank my neighbors for the free internet. I couldn't do any of this without you, whoever you are.
See you Monday.
