At my Penn State commencement ceremony last May, they left out a line after, “Congratulations to the College of Communications graduating class of 2008.” They should have followed with, “… on spending $140,000 on an education that will provide little help to finding you steady employment in the next year.”
Not to say that it is Penn State’s fault that the economy is in the toilet, most companies are on hiring freezes (or firing sprees), and large corporations cutting their budgets start with public relations and advertising. I just wasn’t prepared for the seemingly unachievable task of launching my career.
With my public relations degree and a pair of useless minors under my belt, I thought finding a job would be a cinch. My 3.71 GPA was impressive even to me, and my internship working in the press box of one of the NCAA’s most prestigious football programs provided me with experience, published clips, and the ability to say I met Joe Paterno.
Finding an entry-level job in athletic communications that pays well is a daunting task, even in a thriving economy, because there are a limited amount of positions being sought after by so many people, several of whom are willing to work for less than the other guy (or girl). So I broadened my job search from public relations jobs in sports, to public relations jobs in general, to communications jobs in general, to non-communications jobs that could get my foot in the door and offer me a salary with benefits!
No such luck. My limited experience is overmatched by the guy (or girl) with five-ten years worth of experience who was just laid off and willing to take a step backward in his (or her) career so that they don’t remain unemployed.
That means I often get to read the words: “We’ve decided to move forward with a candidate whose experience greater fits our needs.”
That’s if I am lucky enough to get an email back, or an interview in the first place. Normally, after spending the $50 plus to interview in New York City (parking is expensive, not to mention it costs eight dollars to cross the George Washington Bridge), I won’t hear from a potential employer for weeks, and my follow-up emails will go unanswered, as will my phone calls.
In a society and time where the demand for jobs is high and the supply is very low, employers can afford to save time, effort and money by forgoing the common courtesy of sending a “rejected” email. Could you imagine if, during the college application process, you never heard back from some schools to let you know if you have been accepted or rejected? It’s just unprofessional and ill mannered.
I once went to a NYC company twice to interview because they happened to schedule my interview on the day of the boss’s wife’s baby shower and the associate couldn’t spare fifteen minutes to question me. Then, after wasting my time and money, and not getting back to me for weeks, I found out that they decided not to fill the position at all!
I’ve even applied for internships, but most companies don’t want to pay interns so they offer college credits in lieu of money. Even if I wanted to work for free, labor laws prevent such actions. So once again, I am out of luck.
Such is the post-collegiate world we are stuck in today.
Aside from Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, there are other ways of going about the job search – networking, creating an e-portfolio, headhunters, temp agencies, etc. The sobering fact is that these are great ways to lead jobseekers to open doors, but what to do if all the doors are closed?
For the time being, we can only keep treading water and try to keep from sinking.
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