Six months post-graduation, I'm feeling pretty worthless.

[CloudessStrife]

Hello everyone,

 

I graduated with my Bachelor's in Interior Design this past November. I worked very hard and diligently in school and graduated cum laude while working full-time as a retail manager. Up until recently, I was extremely proud of this accomplishment, and believed it would afford me many opportunities.

 

 

I have yet to secure employment in my field of study, and am feeling pretty down on myself. The last two semesters of school, I felt I was going to go places; I was making many connections in the industry during my internship and felt that things would ultimately work out, despite the economy.

 

I am now $56,000 in student loan debt (after interest, it will be close to $80,000) and I cannot even land an interview.

 

I am still employed in my retail job; I wasn't planning on quitting until I had secured employment elsewhere, and I am up for a promotion within the company. Said promotion would probably increase my salary by $5,000/year, but it does not require a college degree (however, if you have one, you can negotiate a higher salary.) So here I am, in debt with nothing to show for it.

 

Were 80-hour weeks for 40 consecutive months worth all this? I feel I made a huge mistake in obtaining an education; even if I do find a job, I'll probably be making the same amount of money I do now.

 

Do any college graduates have these same feelings and circumstances? If so, how do you cope?

[Moontiger]

This is VERY normal. Keep at it. Look for ways to beef up your resume: volunteer work related to your degree, freelance, certification you may want to get. etc.

 

Send me a PM sometime!

[CloudessStrife]

Thanks, Moontiger! ^_^

[Moontiger]

Thanks, Moontiger! ^_^

 

Hey, I graduated years ago and am still trying to figure it all out.

[Snny]

I graduated with a teaching degree, and finding a career took YEARS. I had the same thoughts and feelings too.

 

I see a LOT of positives going for you here than you realize:

1. The only experience you got that will make you marketable is that you have supervisor/management experiences; something that many college graduates don't have. That means you have experience training new employees, monitoring company sales progress, supervise teams, and oversee company goals. I would tap into those resources to sell yourself in your resume.

2. ANY promotion given is a major accomplishment to put on a resume. It shows employers that you are able to rise up to challenges and work your way up. It is a strong marker on your work ethics.

3. the fact that you currently ARE employed also makes a difference in finding a job versus someone who is unemployed. Most employers would fell more inclined to hire someone who is currently employed over someone with an employment gap.

 

If you aren't finding a job in your field, I would go back and look at your cover letter and resume with a professional business writer. Workforce agencies have people like that, so try there. Also go to any offered workshop that does mock interviews to gain some feedback. Anytime you have a day off or come home from look, job hunt and look up job postings; do this everyday. There have been a couple of years where I filled out over 300 applications and only got hired by one business.

 

In every school I've worked in, there seems to be a teacher who moved from Michigan because of the state economy/job market. There are two teachers in my school who came from that state because they could not find jobs where they lived.

[Man with Dog]

If your family/relationship situation allows it, moving state or even country to further your career is worth it. In England there are hundreds of thousands of recent graduates that are still stuck in part-time retail.

 

In my case, I may well have scaled the grades quicker early in my career but I was very much a small time boy and would have had very narrow horizons and would quite possibly never left my home town or even married. I was just too much of a nerd.

 

You do get life experiences at university. For example, I would never have managed a soccer team had I stayed at home.

 

Good luck.

[abitbroken]

What kind of retail job do you have? Do you work for a furniture store or design center? If not, are there high end furniture stores that would be willing to give you a bump in pay to have a "licensed designer on staff." It might help you build clientele OR it would help you meet interior designers that come in and have their own firms and might want to hire you if the place gives a designer discount. Its all about networking.

 

I do think for now you should take the promo in the meantime

[CloudessStrife]

The job market is pretty terrible here; the "Great Recession" (as it is now being called) started right in Detroit.

 

To see all my marketable skills laid out in front of me is quite impressive (thanks for listing them!), and said skills don't even include what I learned in school. Additionally, I have looked for opportunities out-of-state, but landing an interview isn't happening...I'm beginning to wonder if there is a mythology to use when applying to a job that would clearly require the applicant to relocate?

 

I am planning on using your suggestions. This is probably some of the best advice I've received up to this point!

[CloudessStrife]

What kind of retail job do you have? Do you work for a furniture store or design center? If not, are there high end furniture stores that would be willing to give you a bump in pay to have a "licensed designer on staff." It might help you build clientele OR it would help you meet interior designers that come in and have their own firms and might want to hire you if the place gives a designer discount. Its all about networking.

 

I do think for now you should take the promo in the meantime

 

Abitbroken,

 

I work in the general merchandise section of a major grocery chain; if it isn't food, I'm in charge of it. And you are correct; networking is HUGE when trying to find a job. I know people who are willing to hire me and give me recommendations, but the jobs are coming up short. I'll just have to be persistent and patient. Two things I'm lacking in...

[lovingtheextra]

This is pretty normal. I don't mean any offence by saying this but it is even more common for your field of industry. Architecture, design, interior design jobs are hard to come by mostly because there is a huge influx of people with this major.

 

That being said finding a job is not impossible though it may be difficult. When it comes to applying for a job the most important thing IMO is consistency and quantity. After I graduated I applied to 5-10 jobs a days, in total about 200 jobs. Heard back from only 5 of them. And this is the engineering field. So just to give you an idea of how long and excruciating the process is.

 

You may be making more at your retail jobs but there is a big cap when it comes to how much you can advance in the job. Remember an education is for the future and it takes time to get a career, establish it and be successful. College was the easy part now comes life.

 

Protip: When submitting your resume for a job always look for key words used in the job description. Include those key words as much as possible in your resume. Make a footer for your resume and write those key words down a couple of time. As much as you can fit. Change the coloring to white, print as a pdf. This way the pdf will include all those words but will not show it on the resume. The reason for doing this is because no company goes through all the resumes. A software sorts out the resumes based on the key words that I just talked about. This way the software should pick up your resume initially at least.

 

A reference from a current employee at a company will work better than anything. You will almost always get first consideration.

 

Don't feel too down, continue applying as much as possible and you will get something. The biggest challenge after graduation is getting your foot in the door, after that things become easier.