Not So Funemployed

Job hunting.

Quite possibly the two most daunting words when placed side by side. Never in my life have I faced the vast unknown quite like I’m experiencing now. There was always school to prolong aspirations and keep the future at bay. Since graduating from University in June, my life has become one giant question mark, with nary a question before it. Over the last month and a half of my funemployed life (I’m quickly learning, it’s not so ‘fun’ after all, but the ‘Unemployed life’ was already taken…) I’ve finally narrowed down the industry of my dreams and started the vicious and mostly frustrating hunt for the perfect position. Things I’ve learned over the last unemployed while, in no particular order. 

1) A University education doesn’t guarantee you anything (except 3-4 years of liver damage, binge drinking and student dept)

2) Most (if not all) companies require experience (which warrants the question, as a recent grad who’s been in school for 17 years, when were there years to spare for experience in the field of your dreams?)

3) Companies don’t call you (or e-mail you) back the majority of the time. Your resume gets lost in the shuffle or they’ve hired someone’s daughter’s best friend, which brings me to my next point

4) Connections are everything. In my experience, employers will almost always hire someone who comes with a recommendation. I don’t blame them, if I was faced with a stack of 200 resumes and half an hour to choose a new-hire, I would go for the easy way out too. But - it just makes it that much more difficult for those of us with no connections in the industry of our dreams to firstly find a position to set our sights on and secondly, actually get an interview to showcase our talent.

Needless to say, job hunting is a tough place to be in life, especially when the economy is just getting back on its feet after a bit of a tumble. Which is exactly the attitude job hunters need to have when faced with the task of tackling employment. I was given this quote at the dinner table the other night and it rings true for job hunters (and the employed too, I suppose), so I’ll sign off my first frustrated rambling with it. 

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’” 

- Mary Anne Radmacher