Thursday, May 28, 2009

Dream Job vs Settling? Rd. 1

Apparently, Stafford’s column about unemployed college grads was picked up by a few news wire services, and you can find it on multiple sites across the World Wide Web. Now, it appears I am becoming the national poster child for unemployed grads. At any rate, Janese Heavin, from the Columbia Daily Tribune contacted me today to discuss my current “situation.”

As I was talking to Heavin I realized something about the evolution of my current job search:

I have now come to terms with the fact that right out of college, no matter how hard I worked in undergrad, I am not going to land my dream job. At the same time though, I am also not going to settle for a job in which I have no interest. I know that if I don’t care about what I am doing, I will hate my life. I also think that in a cover letter and subsequent interview, no matter how much you sweet talk a future employer, if you don’t care, it will come across.

Although I get the impression that some of my peers share a similar viewpoint on their job search, I do recognize that I am idealistic and many people don’t have the ability to wait a few months to find a job they are interested in. Perhaps though, the current job search is just one more indicator of generational differences. For my parents, not having a job by graduation was not an option. Moving home with mom and dad was out of the question. For my peers (not necessarily me) moving home and continuing the job search after graduation is not only acceptable, but often suggested.

Regardless of how I got here I know that for now (or at least the next few months), I don’t want to settle. Even if I don’t find a job I am initially enthused about, I know that with time I will be able to develop and harness a passion for my job, no matter what it is.

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