I recently graduated college with a bachelors degree in communications. I remember graduating high school then getting ready to head off to college. I remember thinking, "this isn't going to be easy but it will help me get a job and it will be a great experience." So I stuck it out. I had good times and bad times. I made great friends who I will never forget. Also, I earned a degree. This was a great accomplishment to me. So now what? This is a common question among my fellow graduates from the class of 2010. With our economy still struggling this is one of the worst times to graduate and expect to find a decent job (let alone one that involves your major).
There are tips that can be found all over the internet on how to find a job and how to market yourself. I have used many of these tips. One tip is networking. I have reached out to neighbors, friends, and family members who have well established careers. All of them have told me, "it's all about who you know." Well I KNOW ALL OF YOU! (lol). I'm starting to get the feeling that nowadays it is less about who you know and more about how you market yourself. It is looked down upon in today's society to be hired because a relative works at a certain company. This is understandable (family disputes, business needs and wants may conflict, lack of professionalism, etc) but this is a big change in how one should go about finding a job. Many fresh graduates are under the impression that this is the best way to get a job but that is not the case anymore. I have much less of a chance to get a job this way than I did ten years ago.
Another tip was to get my resume on job sites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com. I have been on these sites day in and day out. I apply left and right for anything I see interesting, or even anything that I feel qualified for (some that I am unqualified for just to see what happens). I personally believe that simply posting a resume online and submitting applications electronically is not enough. The whole process is too easy and usually unrewarding. There is almost an empty feeling after posting for a job online. I often sit at my computer after I send in an application and wonder, "that's it? now what?". There are other things to do. You can call the company and ask to speak to a hiring manager or someone in HR about your resume. You can schedule a tour of the company. There are many things you can do aside from posting a resume online, it's just a matter of doing them.
With all of the jobs I've applied for online, there seems to be a pattern for the ones that actually call back. It seems that the only companies that call people back in reference to their online applications are those involved in scams. I use the term scam loosely as to not make any bold statements about any companies in particular. But when I say scam, I am referring to the multilevel marketing firms (MLM for short) who appear to be complex so it becomes hard to tell if their business practices are legal or not. I have gotten 4 calls in the past month from different companies who found my resume online and were interested in me. All four of these had reports written against them claiming that they were running scams. I will not name any names publicly but if you would like to find out, just email me.
It becomes very disheartening when you are granted the opportunity of an interview (in office or over the phone) and you later find out they (the company) are not who they say they are. I know, from personal experience, that there are many fresh college graduates who are still unemployed and are looking for jobs and are duped by these scams. This is why MLM scams can prosper. They prey on fresh graduates who most likely still live at home by promising a ridiculous salary with no glass ceiling and freedom that other jobs can provide. This is how I learned a lesson the hard way (somewhat. could have been worse).
I learned the lesson that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. I came across an add on Monster.com that promised all of these great things mentioned above and I was naive. I was naive because I was excited to finally get my first interview, and also because the job sounded great. I went through the interviewing process and I thought it went incredibly. I came out of that office feeling on top of the world, I OWNED THAT INTERVIEW! Then I got home and received a phone call. It was the office informing me they liked me and wanted me to come for a secondary interview. This is when I began my extensive research on the company. Not that I had doubts, but because I wanted to know what I was getting myself into. This is the moment that I felt my world being smashed to the ground. I typed the companies name into a search engine and immediately the autofill choices ended in the word scam. *Companies Name* scam, *Companies Name**Town* scam, you get the picture. I didn't stop at there however. I was so naive that I was hoping to find out that there were just two companies with the same name in the same town and I was offered a job at the legitimate one...wishful thinking one could say. I read through the links and read stories upon stories that began exactly as my recent experience (all the way down to the phone call after the interview and the secondary interview offer).All of these stories had endings of disappointment. This was more than a low blow. Not only was I back to square one, I almost fell victim to a MLM scam and was completely embarrassed. It is quite embarrassing telling everyone how excited you are about a job interview then finding out the job is a scam and you have to relay that information to everyone who is waiting eagerly to hear about it.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ever since that experience I have come across 3 more MLM scams and have made sure not to let them get anything out of me. If I could give any advice about looking for a job it would be DO YOUR RESEARCH. A company may say they are one thing on their website but don't stop there. Look for customer reviews or former/current employee ratings. Even check out the Better Business Bureau (BBB). If a company is not on the BBB then dig deeper because that is red flag number 1.
As I continue my hunt for a place of business where I can plant my roots and flourish, I still try to expand my network. Just because they might not be able to get you a job personally, they can always inform you of openings that they hear of which is very beneficial. I also improve/alter my resume whenever I feel the need. I continue to search job postings on the internet. But most of all I continue living life. As disheartening and depressing it can be looking for a job after college, you have to keep on keepin' on. Don't let it get to you because the big break is coming. I will eventually catch my break and anyone else who is seriously dedicated to finding a job will eventually get theirs. This is, after all, yet another day in search of a job.
