Post-college job hunting is terrible! Doing it post-college-vacation is even worse. I mean, who would like to find work after lazing around in the sun for a long time?
Right? I mean no sane human being would prefer being tired, bossed around, and hating Mondays over an endless summer. But let’s be realistic here. No matter how appealing beach life or constant traveling sounds to us, we are not all born rich. Hence, the need for financial stability (and also the realization that we are becoming adults thus encountering terms such as ‘financial stability’ in ordinary conversations.)
You just somehow don’t want to admit that you’re not as special as you think.
But as soon as you start the process-slash-journey or rather, the excursion of finding a job, you realize you’re pretty much just like everyone else.
I know I’ve used this gif a thousand times, but it’s just a true depiction of how most jobless twenty-somethings are when they realize they need to grow up: confused, messed up, and desperate.
But before you begin, you already encounter you first fork in the road, which is the burning question:
What do you actually want to do with your life?
To think four years (or even more) of college has prepared you for this one, but no. Some people change their mind even after all of that. It’s just that, the decision of what job to do is too final, too rest-of-your-life-ish, that you know deep within, that this should be a job that you love, a job you become passionate about; the kind that makes you actually excited to go to work, and not just the to-pay-the-bills kind of thing.
Trust me, I’ve been in a job that I hated, and it’s a real waste of life.
Once you’ve finally made up your mind about the important things (What industry you want to be part of, which companies you want to apply to) you have this certain confidence in yourself. There’s this little person inside your brain telling you:
“Psh, this is nothing, you can handle it! I know you can! How hard can it be?”
And you’re so sure of what you can do. You have a long list of achievements that you’re proud to add to your resume. You believe in the fact that you can be a “huge asset” to the company you’re applying for, and you don’t miss on emphasizing on every single skill you can possibly have.
But lets be honest, half of everything you put in that tiny piece of paper are not true, and the other half are just fancy words used to describe your ordinary skills.
And now, the next step is to wait…
and wait…
and wait…
Then you begin to realize that you still have too much time on your hands.
Which means, none of those you’ve applied for saw anything desirable in you.
Not one of them saw the potential that you see in yourself.
Then you finally get a phone call, then an email, one after another they keep coming, all to let you know that you don’t meet the requirements, or you don’t fit the description of what they needed, or that they already hired someone else. It’s all “Sorry’s” and “Unfortunately’s” which are becoming redundant, and really, a well-deserved blow to your ego.
Now you will start to think of alternatives, lower your standards a little…
But you get another phone call, and an interview, and just like the first ones, they all come at the same time. Things are starting to look up for you.
And then after the interviews, it’s all over. You’ve given everything you have and done all that you could.
And we’re back to waiting…
The waiting game is absolute torture.
And then you get your worst nightmare: REJECTION.
A girl can only take so much rejection…
You can hit a new kind of low with this one.
(BTW, Kat Dennings is my spirit animal)
But you know what? This doesn’t change things. You need to have a positive outlook in these situations, because you don’t need to figure everything out right now. You can keep looking, you can start small, you can even change your direction. You have endless possibilities, just as long as you never give up.
Because, soon they will call. And you WILL get the job that you want and need.
Now all that’s left to do is hope and pray they don’t realize how much of a complete weirdo you are, and take back the job they gave you.
Good luck on the hunt!
xx Gizel
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