The Post-College Job Search

Four years ago, I made the decision to attend college. When I made that decision, I never imagined how difficult it would be to near graduation and begin looking for a full-time job. I guess I had always assumed I would go to school for four years, work really hard, maybe get an internship or two, and a job would just fall into my lap upon getting my degree. And while that is how it works for some, not all of us get to be as lucky. For the majority, the post-college job search is almost harder than actually earning the diploma.

I began my job search back in January. Although I still had an entire semester left, I was determined to have a job set in place by time graduation came around in May. I downloaded every job search app--Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, Glassdoor--you name it, it was on my phone. I browsed through jobs all day every day, applying to anything that caught my eye. In the beginning, I was probably applying to three to five jobs a week. 

By the end of March, I had applied to over 30 jobs. Out of those 30+ jobs, I received three interviews.  

The first one was a total bust. The job description was not an accurate representation of what my responsibilities would be, and after the first interview, I was completely uninterested in the company. I kindly declined a second interview.

The second company I interviewed with went really well, but over two weeks went by after my interview without hearing back. I sent follow-up emails, but still heard nothing. They finally got back to me a couple weeks ago to let me know they were looking for someone with a little more experience, but offered me a part-time position doing something else. I weighed my options, and decided it was in my best interest to decline the offer and continue my job search.

And then there was job number three. Job number three was the one. It was new and fresh, it had a downtown office, and it was everything I could have dreamed my first job would be. I fell in love with job number three. I got my hopes up way too high for job number 3. I was three interviews in and feeling pretty good about my odds. I impressed them again and again. Every interview got better than the one before. I had them swooning over my ideas and what I could bring to this company. I thought I had it in the bag. I mean, I walked out of my last interview and they basically told me I did.

Job number three called yesterday to tell me they went with another candidate who ultimately had more experience.

So here I am back at square one--and much more humble this time. I have to admit, I had given up my job search the past couple of weeks because I got myself too invested in the idea of actually having that job. I was devastated when I learned they chose someone else. I gave myself one day--I ate a lot of food, binge-watched a lot of Netflix, and cried it out.

This morning, I woke up and applied to three more jobs. 

I went into this whole job search thing with no idea of how it was going to go. I had a pretty PDF file with my name and some experience on it. That was it. When applying to these jobs, that's all the company is basing their first impression off of. It isn't until you actually get that face-to-face interview when you can prove yourself and basically say, "This is why you should hire me. I know I may not have a lot of on-the-job experience, but I'm willing to learn whatever I need to and I'm willing to grow if you let me try."

As much as the rejection hurts, I have to remember how awesome it's going to feel when I land that first job. This is not the time to give up. If anything, it's only pushing me to try that much harder. Whether I get a job before graduation at this point or not, I am still reminded of how far I've come and how much farther I still get to go. This is only the beginning. My opportunity is out there--I just have to keep looking.

xo, Alex