What It's Really Like to Be a College Grad Without a Job

What It's Really Like to Be a College Grad Without a Job

I also included some advice throughout the post for how to get a job and tips for college graduates looking for a job.

In relative terms I graduated college recently and I, like many others did not have my life figured out (and still don't completely but I have made decent progress). Although society seems to tell us that we all should know exactly what we are doing with our lives that is rarely the case for most people. It is also hard to determine what to do if you don't know what your dream job is or what exactly you want to pursue. You may have a general idea but the perfect job for you may not exist yet or you may not be aware of it.

For me, I just wanted a job that was in the industry that I thought I wanted to work in but I didn't have a specific title in mind. I also wasn't trying to be super picky. As a college grad in these days we are not really afforded the luxury of being offered many, many jobs and having the power to negotiate much or hold off for something amazing as it's hard to even get one job offer. It is a common joke but unfortunately true that it is hard to get hired without experience but to get experience you need to be hired in the first place. Due to this most people have to settle for something less than stellar, but having a job (even if it's not ideal) is better than not having one. Also, it is rare to find a perfect job right out of college and as we are younger and less experienced we usually need to start out at the bottom of the food chain anyways.

Things to Keep in Mind

It is not that uncommon to not have a full time job right after graduating college. Many people may work part time or just have some time off to adjust to life after college. It is a big change and the start to a new chapter after almost being in school for 20 years, which is the vast majority of most people's lives up until that point.

In general getting a job is tough, even for people who have been out of school longer and who do have more work experience already.

It is almost a job in itself to get a job. Getting a job takes a good deal of time, research and effort. So do not feel as though you are useless or doing nothing while looking for a job as that is time consuming and it takes work to go through the job search process.

You are not alone, many others are in the same situation as you are and there are many different resources you can tap into online, in your network, and you probably have access to your college's career center which can be very helpful.


How I Felt As a College Graduate Without a Job

After graduating college I was working, however it was not full time. I felt embarrassed to not have a full time job right after college although that is not a rational thought. There is nothing to be embarrassed about earning a degree and working about 30 hours per week right out of college. I do not know why that 10 hour gap had such an affect on how I felt about myself and my worth. (That was my situation but if you work(ed) more or less hours than that the sentiment still applies).

After I had been working for a while I was laid off and again it was very embarrassing. However, the lay off had nothing to do with my work ethic or my abilities, it is just something that happens in business and in this case it happened to me. It was of course frustrating though and when I ran into people from college, or high school, or my parent's friends, etc. basically anyone who knew me but not what was actually going on in my life (and they asked what I was doing) I hated having to tell them that I was currently out of work. I didn't want people to think that I hadn't been working at all  since I had been and I did not want people to think I was being lazy. I did not take a break after school ended and I did not take any vacation during the summer after I graduated, I had been working. But again, I knew what the situation was and the people important in my life knew what was going on so it shouldn't have mattered if other people looked down on me for being temporarily out of work. However, I am sure that no one actually felt that way about me as they know the harsh reality of the job market. We are always our own biggest critics though and usually perceive things about ourselves in a more negative manner than other people do. 

In general I felt like I had done everything right in order to be successful but it wasn't enough. I was a good student in high school and did extra curricular activities, I got into college and was involved on campus, I was in the honors program at my college and on the honors student council, I studied abroad, assisted the study abroad office, worked, had 2 internships, and graduated from college with honors. And yet things did not pan out the way I hoped, the way that I thought they should or the way I was told they should (by society). But my situation was not a reflection of me as a person, it was just something that happened to me (being laid off was just an effect of me being where I was at that point in my life). It is definitely an experience I have learned from and grown from. It is okay to be scared about the future as we don't know what it holds, especially as someone on the job hunt but try to stay positive and know that things will eventually work out. You need to believe in yourself and know that your worth is not determined by the job you do or do not have. It is easier said than done though of course.


While I Was Unemployed

I felt embarrassed because I thought that people would judge me for not already having a full time job and that being unemployed marked me as being undesirable or incapable. This was not true (but again, we always criticize and think worse of ourselves than others do). I know that I am a good employee yet I felt that being unemployed was like a scarlet letter, it marked me as "abnormal".

Other people did not put pressure on me to find a job asap but I put it on myself. Other people told me they were not worried about me and assured me that I would get a job soon (people that worked with me in the past as well as family and friends were confident in me). I was/am confident in my abilities but I felt that future employers would see me being unemployed as a negative and a mark against me (just my own paranoia here).

I knew that most people go through a period of not working while trying to find work, however I did not think I would be in that situation at that point in my life (being unemployed within a year of graduating and after already working). When I was younger I would have thought that if I were to ever be laid off it would have been the case far down the line when I was older. I felt it was an awkward time for me to be unemployed.

It was not how I  had envisioned my life to be but that is not a negative, that is just how life is. Unexpected things always happen but that does not mean that they are bad things. I think that things happen for a reason and that is why that is what my situation was at that point in my life.

There are so many unrealistic expectations in life due to society and some unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves. I had felt like a failure for being unemployed. But it was just how I felt, not what the truth was ( that I was definitely not a failure).


Other Musings

The whole idea about the timeline of  life stages is annoying, as in being married by a certain age, having a full time job by a certain age, having children by a certain age, etc. those aren't rules. You do not have to abide by them. Do not feel that if your life doesn't follow them that you are doing something wrong, that is not true. People are all on their own paths and journeys and success can come at any age. And being successful and happy mean completely different things to different people so don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle or even their beginning. Comparison truly is the thief of joy. Even if you don't feel joyful in your current situation know that if this is your rock bottom things can only get better.  Know that you can look back and see how much you have already accomplished in your life and see that you are a capable human and can move forward and accomplish more.

This quote really resonates with me and I feel like it is so important.

It was (and still is) weird to be done with college and school for that matter as that was all I knew for the majority of my life up until now. Now I am in the "real world" and am basically a freshman in life. It is always difficult to be in a new situation and start a new chapter and a new way of life.

I also felt that people would judge me for the career path I chose to follow because I went into the business side of fashion. Most of my family members, family friends or people I talk to in public (like my dentist or people at the bank, anyone who asked how I was doing, if I was working or out of school) were not and are not familiar with that industry. It was and still is hard to explain what my major was and what my field is. I also had to explain that I had been working but was temporarily out of a job. I felt that my other family members thought my career choice was dumb.

I, myself also worried that I chose the wrong career path,  that I had more to offer the world and had more potential or could make more of a difference if I had chosen a different path. But I realized I really should not care what other people think of me. I know that I am decently intelligent and I could have gone into a field that is stereotypically more difficult but oh well, I don't need to prove myself to people who can't see my value (as a person) in the first place. Some people only care about people for their status or what they do for a living and if they make a lot of money.

I felt like people would justify the fact that they thought my career choice was bad due to me being unemployed.

Sometimes I still wonder if I should have gone into science or something but I can always make a change later in life if I decide to. And I can still find ways to make a difference in the world whether that be with helping the sustainable fashion movement, spreading awareness about the negative affects of fast fashion, or just by connecting with people through my blog, providing tips, etc.

In the U.S. and other parts of the world we do judge people based on their work status and what their job is i.e. people think lawyers are smart and make a ton of money, and it's sad but a lot of people judge people on the opposite spectrum as well and just assume some people are not very intelligent based on their job position. We should not judge a person's character by what their job title is (unless they're a drug dealer or mobster, etc.) but we should judge people based on their work ethic and who they actually are as a person, especially when they are just being themselves out in the world and not at work.


Final Thoughts

So although it is not usually the end of the world to be unemployed and you do not need to feel immense pressure about getting a job asap it is not bad to be worried about getting a job though. It is normal to be concerned about your future and your finances, etc but just know that so many people have been in a similar situation and have gotten through it. Most people work until they are 65 so you still have your whole life ahead of you and you will be working for many of those years, so don't fret if you're temporarily out of work. No situation is permanent.

I am happy to say that I do have a job and as I have somewhat recently gone through the job search process I wanted to write this post in the hopes that it reassures and encourages others who are unemployed or under employed. I wanted to show that being out of work can happen to anyone at any time (so be smart about having savings, because you never know what could happen). I also wanted to share my thoughts and how I felt in the hopes that it helps someone who reads it and relates.

Good luck if you're searching for a new opportunity! I have a post with tips for phone interview which you can check out here!

Thank you for reading!

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