[Moderator Note: The OP Has been banned and will no longer respond or read your responses to this post.]
So I just graduated about 1.5 months ago from the University of Texas (Austin) with a BA in Economics and a minor in Business Administration, GPA 3.083, etc. Not terribly bad credentials to start with. I do have some interesting things on my resume from previous jobs and academic achievements (major research papers), but I never did any internships. All in all, I hear that my resume is good, and I'm fairly proficient in writing cover letters.
Now, I graduated with about $5000 in the bank to hold me until I found a job. I truly did not realize that it would be this difficult, this upsetting, this demeaning... and definitely not this long. Suffice to say, I've been unsuccessful.
Upon graduation I had the goal of trying to get a job (almost any job) in the Texas beer brewing industry - most preferably from a local micro/craft brewery or a brewpub. This is my passion. Long term goals include starting my own business; I originally wanted to open my own brewpub, but have changed slightly to running a nonprofit organization for Texas micro/craft brewery advocacy (and earning my living from donations and other fund-raising activities).
Unfortunately, either of those would take a bit longer than I can afford to set up and start earning an adequate living. Thus, I've been doing the whole 'job hunt' thing. And I must profess: it is absolutely soul-crushing. But more exposition first:
I am strongly independent and entrepreneurial personally, and I strongly identify with Steve's articles about why one should never 'get a job'. However, I have to do something in the short-run to support myself, and like I said, setting up my goals (aka 'dream jobs') would take a while longer than I have. And, they are risky to boot - there is no guarantee that I'll earn anything in the next few years, if at all.
Thus I job-hunt, looking for something suitable for a college-degree-holding individual that wants to earn a decent living doing something they can apply their skills at.
So you may be asking: just what have I found?
I've found that I must completely throw out *all* of the following:
Job/position/field of work preferences
Geographical location preferences
Notion that I could earn even barely enough to support myself
The idea that I would be a valued and respected member of society
The last one is what really irks me. I've read up reports (even some from here) and fully understand the logic of employers employing predatory tactics to instill fear of job security. And perhaps I had some notion of some sort of 'entitlement' - not necessarily that I'm some spoiled bratty graduate - I would argue the exact opposite. However, it's made very explicit all the way along the chain of primary education and then through college that a degree is invaluable and in most cases (especially Economics! come on!) will easily lead to many favorable job
offers.
I hate,
hate, hate the fact that I have stooped so low as to be willing to sell away a part of my life, to become a mindless drone to cruel and ignorant masters - and even STILL I can't find anything that will pay the bills in a month and a half.
Especially now, given the economy (ironic, given my degree), it's downright impossible to find anything. All those laid-off experienced workers are free and are in competition with ME, who has 'less to bring to the table' (technically speaking). All these ads I find - ALL OF THEM - require years of experience. How the **** do I get experience in the field if I can't even get a job to begin with? And even worse, I now find that there are predatory scam job postings - and I almost fell into that trap a few days ago.
In retrospect, I should have skipped college. I'd like to go return my diploma and get my money back, so that I could repay those loans that lock me in a cage of fear and anxiety since paying them off now seems nearly impossible.
I'm not looking for encouragement, not at all. I appreciate it, but I've heard enough of the "you'll find something eventually!" and "hang in there!" lines that people spew without thinking. I don't find that they are encouraging at all - the more time I spend on this incredulous hunt, the more I find that I am selling my soul... or perhaps that it's already been sold, and now I'm feebly trying to get it back (and in the most erroneous and misguided way).
What I am interested in hearing is if anybody else feels this way about job hunting. Although I acknowledge that most here are entrepreneurs, I imagine that there are at least a few here in the same situation - gotta get something short-term just to survive.
I have seriously considered faking my own death to evade my loans, scooping up all the cash I can, and making a break for Mexico. This 'life' that must be adapted to seems depressing and impossible, and I refuse to simply comply. Thus I believe I will go back and try to make my own way again, and I'll just have to work 100 hours a week to simply earn enough money (hopefully) for quite a while just to pay rent. I'll probably have to get some menial job, employ some freelance sales like I used to (eBay and craigslist), and simultaneously be planning the creation of my dream job, the nonprofit beer advocacy group...
I'm just overwhelmed with all of this nonsense. How dysfunctional of a society do we live in when a qualified and intelligent person is more likely to end up homeless than happy?
/end rant
