I graduated with my Bachelor's in Creative Writing this past November and while the high of graduating and being done forever with term papers and finals, I quickly found myself thinking, "NOW WHAT?"
There are many career resources out there to help aid the search. TheLadders is a great resource that takes pride is being able to assist any demographic with their career- and seem to have pretty upbeat employees. I want to offer you guys some advice if you've just graduated or maybe you're going to graduate in the near future. Graduating can be fun, but the next step can be daunting.
Here are 5 things to remember when facing the task of getting your first "grown up job" after graduating college:
Keep Your Head in the Game
It takes most people a minimum of 6 months to find a good job in the field they want. You'll go around in circles with resumes (update yours after graduating!) and interviews and germ-ridden handshakes before someone like you and your lack of experiences enough to give you a shot.
You Do Not Have to Have Your Shit Together in Your Twenties
No more is the generation married and pregnant by 18 (most of us, anyway) and now we see our generation leaving home later, getting married later, and having kids later. Your twenties are not a race. Take a breath and remember that things will happen for you in their own time. You will find a job even if your best friend got a killer gig and moved out of her parents house two months after graduating while you're still watching Netflix and trying not to eat your feelings while getting rejected by every place you've applied.
Take This Time to Discover New Loves
While your degree may be in something specific and you're applying for jobs in that field, take your job-searching months to also pursue something a little "out there." Maybe you were actually born to be an underwater basket weaving teacher and not a lawyer. How would you know unless you tried a class? Take odd classes, go to new places (traveling after graduation is an amazing idea), experience things you've liked as a kid but never thought it would make any kind of career. Maybe you're the best giraffe feeder the zoo has ever seen and they want to offer you a part-time position. This is the time to question your degree so when you do land that job, you won't have any doubt in your mind that you're in the right field.
Money Isn't Everything and It's Okay to Settle - For Now
If you did find a new love for underwater basket weaving, but it won't pay the bills right now it is perfectly okay to take a job that's okay but not something you love. This will help out financially while you still pursue your passion on the side until that passion can make you enough to live off.
Know That Your First Job Probably Won't Be Your Last
In most fields job security is not promised. Companies go broke, personalities clash, maybe there's no growth in the company and you want more. Don't stress out too much thinking this job has to be it for the rest of your life. It doesn't. You may even have more than one job after graduating just to make ends meet. That's okay. It is perfectly acceptable to bumble-fuck your way through life for a while until you've figured things out.
There, don't you feel better?
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