As I am preparing to graduate, I knew that finding a job now would be difficult. Actually, I knew it would be almost impossible. One of my obstacles is the fact that I still have no idea what I want to do after I graduate. I know there are those people who would scoff at that and ask what the point of an education is, if not to find some direction in life. The thing is that I, like many other college students, know that an education is necessary, but I haven’t given much thought as to what I want from my education. I have been an English major for four years and have never thought about changing to another major. I’ve thought about becoming a double major, but it seemed as if it would take up too much of my time. Now I feel like I should have taken the time to do this.
The economy is tough. People are losing jobs faster than the stock market is recovering. There aren’t enough jobs to satisfy the demand for them. All around me I hear about people looking for work, and being told that it’s better to stay in school. There’s no reason to start working in this economy. That’s all well and good for those people who can afford not to work while in school, but what about those who pay for their education themselves, or who are about to graduate? What can be done for them?
Looking at entry-level jobs, I realized that there’s very little I’m qualified to do. Not only in terms of experience, but also in the technical knowledge required for a position. If I wanted to continue working for a newspaper or another form of media, I would need to be familiar with the tools of the trade, such as computer software that I barely know about.
There aren’t any classes offered here at NEIU that would actually teach me how to use such software. If it weren’t for the fact that I work at a newspaper and have expressed an interest in the computer software we use here, I would not even know the names of the software that the industry uses. The same goes for many other types of jobs. Looking for a job as a secretary would require knowledge of Microsoft Office tools that are not used very often by college students.
Another problem that I’ve encountered is, with the job situation being so bad, more and more scams are popping up everyday. I found two within weeks of each other that seemed to be the real thing, yet they turned out to be false. Even here at school, this kind of things can show up.
Weeks ago, my friend applied for a job at Vector, a sales company that had a table set up in Village Square. She went in for an interview the next day, and found the whole experience aggravating. It turns out that while they showed a professional front at school, they were anything but professional. They were promoting a pyramid scheme to sell cookware to people.
They encouraged their sales people to sell cookware to their friends and family, thereby giving them a client database of personal information that would remain with them after you decide to leave the company. Meaning that they would continue to bother your friends and family even if you no longer work for them. My friend reported Vector to the Career Services office, which said that they also had their doubts about Vector. That might be well and good, but less than three weeks later Vector had another table set up recruiting more people for their kind of work.
The most important thing I can advise to jobseekers is to be prepared. I don’t mean just to have your resume and references in order, although that is also very important. Do research before and after you apply for a job, and know exactly what it is that you are applying for. I mean that you should know exactly what you want from the company you are applying to, and know what it is that you can bring to that company. Know what you want and go after it, but be sensible. Chances are slim that you will find something that is absolutely perfect right away. You have to flexible and adapt to anything, but in the end your compromises will probably be well rewarded with a good, fulfilling job.