You may be doing all the right things in your first post-graduate job search: customizing your resume for each job ad you answer, networking every day, refining and rehearsing your answers to interview questions. But in spite of all that, you need to be prepared for the possibility that it could take months before you land that full-time job.
Yes, the economy appears to be improving, but that rings hollow with you as long as you're not where you want to be: employed.
You may have known all along it wouldn't be easy. Yet if you're discouraged, look at this 5-minute video from CNNMoney.com that profiles a 2009 college graduate who's "underemployed." His name is Stephen Augustyn. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University. He's living at home with his parents and says he's not alone. "Of all my closest friends," he says in the video, "no one has moved out."
He hasn't been able to find a full-time job, even though he's answered more than 200 job postings. He's managed to land only part-time work, including a temp job that pays just $9 an hour.
Yet he's still upbeat, knowing things will turn around.
That may be the most valuable lesson if you've just graduated from college and you're running into dead ends in your job search.
If you've just graduated from college and are still looking for a job, are you frustrated? Or do you take comfort in the thought that it won't last forever and you'll land that job if you keep forging ahead? Share your thoughts in a comment below.
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