Underemployment

So today marks exactly 6 months since graduation day. I just sent in my first payment for my loans. It is ironic that I have received this college education, that thus far, has me asking people if they want anything to drink. I do not say that because I think I am better than the job I currently have, because I do not. I do know that this position is not what I want to do and as I continue to spend my days reading articles and watching TED videos, I realize how much I enjoy becoming more informed.

I recently looked through my cover letters that I have sent out for about 6 months now. They have definitely improved. There are some that seem more generic and then there are some where I have exaggerated more than I probably should have. Some cover letters have resulted in phone interviews and some have responded in form emails telling that while I have an excellent background or a phenomenal amount of passion, they have found someone with more experience or something of that sort. The problem is that all I have to offer is my passion and willingness to learn.

Six months of apply for jobs and at a very slim estimate of 50 jobs with people I really want to work for, not to mention the random jobs that I find on Craiglist have led me to very little. It is a state of rejection that I have never known before. I have been able to read blogs and talk to friends about how I am not unique. I am competing with people who have graduated this year, last year, and people who are graduating in December at a time where the unemployment rate is higher than it has been in decades. Yet, this information is not always comforting.

Writing a cover letter for a job where the requirements are that I can use a computer, fax machine, and answer phones is challenging. I have to convince people that I am capable of using equipment that I have grown up using. I trying to get people to let me do basic office tasks while making it seem like I will be honored to make them copies and make their travel arrangements. Yet, nothing.

The degree I received in May was worth it. I have friends to commiserate with about being unemployed. I have pictures to fill my room with and I have memories that I will cherish for as long as I live. But as I mark the six month point, I remain underemployed. I am being denied the ability to use my degree and my passion.

I will continue to write the cover letters and send them out. I will contact random people who might be able to help me out. Until I get my chance, I will continue to smile at my customers and tell them how to get water from the Coke machine.

I read a blog recently that mentioned how TV has ruined us! It was quite funny but very true. Shows like Seinfeld and Friends have groups of people who never seem to work and yet live fabulous lives in fabulous apartments. I, too, want to live in New York and go out all the time, live in a beautifully furnished apartment, and never go to work! So if you know how this works, please let me know ASAP! Until then, I will continue to write cover letters.