Going to college was never something that was questioned in my life, without my parents even having to say it, I knew I wanted to go to college. Maybe it was something instilled from teachers at a young age, or maybe my parents talked about it more than I remember (which based on the first sentence written, I don't remember very well). Either way, by the time I got to high school the idea was already in my head that if you want a good job, or even a job in general, you need to graduate with a degree from college. When thinking about this, it makes perfect sense. Continued education and the life experience you can gain from living (somewhat) on your own for four years can be extremely beneficial.
After my senior year of high school, I like so many others, packed up all my things and made the venture to the campus of the University that I chose to attend, which was Central Michigan University, if that is important to anyone. Starting college was a great truthfully one of the best experiences of my life. I was lucky enough to be living with one of my best friends, my parents were very supportive and helpful in making sure I had everything taken care of for my first year, I was excited about these new college classes, and bonus, I (thought) I knew what I was majoring in.
Through my time in college I changed my major a few times, but so does almost everyone. I started thinking I wanted to major in Public Relations, however after literally one class I knew that ethically and morally, PR was not for me. So in an effort to discover what I really wanted to do I started taking different classes in different departments and landed on Advertising. I was happy with advertising but at the same time it didn't fully feel like this was my passion and I needed to keep looking. Of course, feelings of stress ensued and I ended up using the career advisers on campus, which I wish I had utilized earlier in my time at CMU. With their help I ended up finding the Commercial Recreation and Event Management programs, which as soon as I took one of those classes I knew that this was the career field for me and this is what I was meant to do. Also, it let me stay with advertising as a minor so it really felt like getting the best of both worlds.
Through these programs I got what I believe is some great real world experience. I organized a 5k Run to benefit LiveSTRONG with a group of classmates, I got to work with Gus Macker Basketball, I had joined an events student organization on campus, I planned a hypothetical 3 day convention and I completed a six month internship with a golf course as their events intern. I felt prepared to enter the adult job world when I graduated in December 2012.
This is when the shock of how tough the job market is set in. I realize it was probably me being naive, but no one ever conveyed how tough it would be to actually find a job. Referring back to the start of this post, I thought a degree was basically a golden ticket to a career after college, which this may have been true in the 90's and early 2000's and then the economy bottomed out and changed everything for all of us. The issue here isn't even having a difficult time finding companies looking to fill events positions, it's the fact that with what I felt was good experience and education, I seem to fall short of the qualifications. My favorite jobs posts are definitely the ones that say they are entry level jobs but require two to three years of real world experience in the field and then suddenly:
Seriously, if this is an entry level job, which by definition is usually understood to be perfect for recent grads without a large amount of real world experience, how are you expecting me to have two to three years of experience?! It comes back to the joke that's currently circulating the internet, I need this job to get the experience I need for this job. It is currently May (I have been searching since October) and I have yet to secure a job, although to be fair, I do have some hopefully promising prospects.
However, the road to get to this point has at times felt like a huge practical joke being played on not only myself but all other job seekers out there. I have countless times been sent an e-mail saying that my qualifications do not match up to their entry level position, that the person who was meant to be leaving has decided to stay (which no hard feelings there, I wouldn't want to leave my job either in this market), that upon evaluation they have re-evaluated and the position is going to be combined with a current employee, or simply I never hear anything ever after the initial we have received your resume and are currently reviewing it confirmation. It's been very tough and at times incredibly discouraging, especially when that super fun letter comes in the mail to remind you that your grace period for your loans is almost over and this is how you feel:
So to wrap this all up, college grads and other job seekers, I feel your pain. It's tough out there and sometimes it seems like the best option to devote all your time to figuring out how to win the lottery instead, and hopefully my next post will be about how I have secured a job and couldn't be happier, but until then, this has been my experience with the job market. On a final note, although I have reiterated over and over again that this is tough, it will do none of us any good to get discouraged and give up, so, fellow job seekers keep and open mind and try to stay positive.
