As a soon to be college grad, its that time. Time to find the job that will take me beyond the college years...............blah blah blah.

Finding that first job sucks. I had it locked up with the internship I have now, but the entire corporation was put on a hiring freeze by the CEO, so they're unable to make me a full time employee as expected. At best, they can keep me on in my 25 hour a week internship role until I find something else. And the best part is, no one is hiring in the field I want to go into. You either need to have 5-10 years of experience or you're screwed. If I end up back in tech support somewhere to pay the bills, there will be blood.

Just needed to vent really quick.

Are you stuck in your own town? If not, your chances of finding a job will go way up.

I haven't been keeping up on it, but places like Nashville, some cities in Florida, some places in CA, were thriving. Atlanta was hot for a while.

If you have a degree and want to build your resume, do it while you are young and don't have kids, get some good work experience and pay under your belt while seeing the country, then settle down where you want to live later.

The market for my job sucked in Michigan so I moved to the 3rd largest market for it, Denver (after D.C. and southern California).

I had a decent job at the time, but they were also on a hiring freeze and there was no potential growth option.

You must not have two degrees from one of the most prestigious schools in the country, because if you did you could just make a comfortable living chopping wood and reading elitest magazines.

Sell me drugs (no rasual).

Damn Herm, that memory of yours is a weapon.

Nope, not 2 degrees from the prestige of MSU. Just a BBA in eCommerce from the University of Toledo. I'm not tied down to my town at all. I've been applying for dozens of jobs all over the US. Once I get some experience in SEM/SEO, everything will open right up. Its just getting that first job that's a hassle.

Zekyl:

You also may have to take a job that doesn't totally revolve around your degree. Heck, theys a lot of people runnin around with degrees that don't work in that field at first. Or, you git a job in a company that has the work you want, it just might not be there at first, then you "post" for the job you want. Open your eyes and get out of the botx that tells you young dudes you got to get a job based on your degree.

And I agree with Tahoe: Git the fuck out of the rust belt, especially before you (if I recall, you are kind of the I NEED PUSSY kind of guy, very much to your detriment) have any ties to a bimbo and get her knocked up. In other words, your life isn't a living hell just yet, so get out and explore the world before you enslave yourself to a job and a family.

I recall the first job out of college in a shit economy (70's)... what worked for me was becomming friends with a mentor (contract IT guy at the school)... he told me getting the right experience is 10X more important than your first salary... he hooked me up with a job making 10K per in the shittiest part of Detroit... within 6 months I had the experience needed to quickly move to good paying jobs.
In otherwords you're better off working part time in a position that will align your career path (I dissagree with Zip on this)... even if you have to flip burgs on the side to make the bills.
Don't fall in love with your company... you can get much larger raises by shopping for better careers than waiting for chump change annual increases... this will also diversify your resume.

My brother in-law is an IT headhunter... his advise has always served me well... "don't try to overimpress them with your limited skills... instead make a friend".. likability will serve you better... will this guy work well in a team environment?

Nope, not 2 degrees from the prestige of MSU. Just a BBA in eCommerce from the University of Toledo. I'm not tied down to my town at all. I've been applying for dozens of jobs all over the US. Once I get some experience in SEM/SEO, everything will open right up. Its just getting that first job that's a hassle.
Many of the SEO jobs I've seen come across as a bit of a joke... folks looking for what amounts to 7-10 years experience in a field that hasn't really existed that long. To my way of thinking, what businesses want are folks that add real value to their online presence, and that often involves a mesh of general principles, business-specific insights, and exuberant ambivalence (or maybe it's ambivalent exuberance?) amongst key decision makers. At one point, I mused that folks in the SEO field would get more traction if they simply billed themselves as professional con artists. (Don't take that in a denigrating way -- not my intent. I like con artists when they're working for me. ;) )

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/google_trends.png

Zekyl:

You also may have to take a job that doesn't totally revolve around your degree. Heck, theys a lot of people runnin around with degrees that don't work in that field at first. Or, you git a job in a company that has the work you want, it just might not be there at first, then you "post" for the job you want. Open your eyes and get out of the botx that tells you young dudes you got to get a job based on your degree.

And I agree with Tahoe: Git the fuck out of the rust belt, especially before you (if I recall, you are kind of the I NEED PUSSY kind of guy, very much to your detriment) have any ties to a bimbo and get her knocked up. In other words, your life isn't a living hell just yet, so get out and explore the world before you enslave yourself to a job and a family.
Apparently Zip is suggesting, from experience and with some arrogance, that homosexuality is a desirable attribute when conducting a job search.

Mxy, I don't take that in a degrading way at all. It's essentially true. They're trying to trick people into thinking that their website is the best that there is and that no other website matters. Finagle their way to the top of the google charts for business even though they have no real relevance to the search at hand. Those sort of things happen all the time in that field.

Apparently Zip is suggesting, from experience and with some arrogance, that homosexuality is a desirable attribute when conducting a job search.

Remember here, I am thinking Zekyl is tha guy who is always mired in completely dysfunctional relationships (and that means it will be just a short time before he is married, because dysfunctionals always see that as the way to cure the problem. That and a couple of kids)--i.e.--he needs a woman no matter what. He is also from Toledo, and is probably finding all his womenz within a six block radius of his house or apartment or where he grew up. His choices are limited, so he tries to make the best of the trash he finds in Toledo. That's what the vast majority of us do--and soon he'll have some broad who likes to scratch his eyes out and fuck all of his freinds knocked up, he'll be married, and he'll end up being the assistant manager or maybe the comptroller for Motel Six on Main Street, Toldeo, U.S.A.

So if homosexuality is the alternative to that kind of lifestyle, then he'd be better off being gay. And YES, there is a whole lot of arrogance that goes into that statement, and a culture where more than 50% of marriages ends up in divorce, and babies born out of wedlock are at about 33%, and most of the marriages that survive entail two people who are miserable but just don't want to be single (because they are dysfunctional and co-dependent--another of Zekyl's traits) backs me up.

Besides, gays make better decorators, have better taste in clothing and shoes, drink wine, and generally don't participate in the Idiocracy that is America by having four kids who are as useless as they are.

Zekyl I can completely sympathize with you man. I graduated from MSU in December with a B.S. in Kinesiology-Exercise Science. I'm by no means tied to Michigan. I'm currently working for minimum wage at Target, and I hate it more than any job I have ever had. But I don't even know where to look for jobs. Like you said everyone wants experience but no one offers to give you it. I'm at the point where I don't even know what to do anymore. I put out 10 apps per week for crap I don't even really want and have yet to get even one interview. We just picked a crappy time to be born. I wish you luck because it is a hell of a hard time to be looking for a job. Monster and Careerbuilder a terrible because 1000s of people apply to the jobs people like us apply for giving us extremely low odds that our applications are even being looked at. I know a few people who have decided to put off the search a couple years by going to grad school. I'm not sure what your gpa was like but it could be an option. I sucks though if you're like me with a 2.49 gpa in undergrad because no one wants anyone with less than a 3.0

Yeah I like to ramble on.

You are just like zillions of college grads before you, and there will be zillions after you, RG. You are just a bit disillusioned. It will happen for you; you just have to be patient. Man, many, if not most, college grads don't work in their degree field, especially at first. Just because you go to college, don't expect the world to fall down at your knees. You got to go out and prove yourself in a big way--just like it's ALWAYS been.

And fuck yeah--go to grad school, if that's what it takes! Get an MBA to back up your degree, or a master's in a related field. Learn a second language--make yourself marketable, man. Or, apply what credits you can to a second degree--like Phys Ed teaching, and strike out into the world looking for a job as a gym teacher. The economy will turn around, it always does--you were born in a great time and in a great place. Don't give in to the Whiny American Syndrome. You aren't living in Bangladesh or Bolivia, so get off yer arse and do what it takes to make it--people have always had to do that and they always will.

Zip with multiple cogents lately.

My GPA is actually very respectable: 3.88, and eventually I plan to go to grad school. I was just hoping to get some experience first. You're far more likely to get that great job with an MBA if you hvae some real world experience to go with it.

I've been debating that "going back to school" thing a bit. I could add my BBA in HR with one extra semester of school. If I can't get anything in the next year or so, I'd have no problem going back for a semester to add to the skillset/resume.

Stay in school as long as you can afford to. The real world is no picnic.

Stay in school as long as you can afford to. The real world is no picnic.


Spending 6 years getting my degrees was the best thing I ever did. I'd go back and get more, but my mortgage would call me a fag.

I saw that "s" there, Herm.

Does your bong smell of rich mahogany?

I saw that "s" there, Herm.

Does your bong smell of rich mahogany?


I have 3. BBA/Marketing, BAEnglish, CE Chef. I smoke ground lion testes.

I'm a functional illiterate. I have no worries.

What's the third magazine you subscribe to Herm?

Zip with multiple cogents lately.

My GPA is actually very respectable: 3.88, and eventually I plan to go to grad school. I was just hoping to get some experience first. You're far more likely to get that great job with an MBA if you hvae some real world experience to go with it.

I've been debating that "going back to school" thing a bit. I could add my BBA in HR with one extra semester of school. If I can't get anything in the next year or so, I'd have no problem going back for a semester to add to the skillset/resume.

Good advice all around.

The economy WILL turn around. Also, learning a secondary skill which correlates to your degree (i.e., Industrial Design Major, learning Japanese or Chinese) would make you more marketable, as Zip noted.

Personally, I'd go to some trade school and learn something you've always wanted to do. In many cases, the government will subsidize the training, what percentage I'm not certain. That way, if your job goes south, you'd have a fallback.

Take me for example. I was recently laid off from my job as a Service Manager at a motorsports dealership. 3 years in, $20/hr, doing five jobs within my department, and new ownership found me to be "expendable". They consolidated my title into that of "general manager", then gave the role to somebody else. Right now, the way the vehicle market is shaking out, that particular job title is quite impacted.

But, I saved my money, and I'm receiving the max amount with my Unemployment claim. But I see that as less as "unemployment" and more of an indirect "government grant". As you probably know, I dabble a little in art, and I've been itching to break off and start my own business. Great thing is, during my employment I acquired all the necessary equipment for apparel screening (a.k.a. T-Shirt printing). Four color screen press, heat press, emulsion, tools, screen prep training, etc. I have it down pretty solid, and I'm using these first few week sans job to work up some solid designs.

There's always another way.

during my employment I acquired all the necessary equipment for apparel screening

It sounds like your dismissal might have been warranted...

What's the third magazine you subscribe to Herm?

Modern Drunkard.

It sounds like your dismissal might have been warranted...

Sure, Fool... I've learned how to screen a shirt using a Pirelli SL36 120/70-10 tire and a Fuel Tap.

I don't know what that means.

I don't know what that means.

And I heat press with a LeoVince SBK silencer using and Ohlins front set to apply the needed downforce.

I was implying that you were stealing their shit. Are you playing off of that? If so, LOL! If not MAKE SENSE!

I was implying that you were stealing their shit. Are you playing off of that? If so, LOL! If not MAKE SENSE!

Ain't no screen printing equipment in a motorcycle service department. I had disposable income, and used it on equipment for a future career.

So, LOL then. Yeah?

Modern Drunkard.

Not sure if you're joking but do they still make that magazine?? One of the original publishers, at least as he claimed, used to come in to the bar all the time...

Not sure if you're joking but do they still make that magazine?? One of the original publishers, at least as he claimed, used to come in to the bar all the time...


Not kidding, I am a subscriber, much of the content is available online. I'm thinking it's based out of Denver.

Not kidding, I am a subscriber, much of the content is available online. I'm thinking it's based out of Denver.

Yeah, Denver, the guy was in Chicago for a summer, I think trying to expand circulation. There's some pretty funny shit in there.

YOU'RE NOT HELPING VINNY'S RECOVERY HERM!

Vinny's still recovering from this...

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3221/photowb1il7.jpg

Job hunting < MILF hunting

the alligator is eating MILFs

Denny, is that gay pron on the TV?

Denny, is that gay pron on the TV?

I think it's a frame made of pure Vermont marble.