Hire me.

I never thought that my job search would be so frustrating. You think, gee, I went to college, got my degree, this shouldn't be so bad. Ha, yeah right. I applied for a few jobs last week but haven't heard anything back yet but I'll be shocked if I do.

I had the "interview" from the church newsletter job a couple weeks ago and got a rejection email last week. Awesome. Then I had the interview where I went to college and really thought I had a good chance at getting the job but alas, no such luck.

Anyone have any tips on finding a job? I look online, in the newspaper and try to make connections (though I don't have much) but still nothing. I wish I knew more people, I'm finding that who you know really has an effect on finding a job.

Interview? What interview?

Well that interview I had yesterday turned out to not be an interview. I knew that I would have to do a mock-up newsletter but I thought there would be more to it than just that but that was all it was. I came in, filled out an application & then was put in front of a computer & told there were five articles they wanted me to include in the newsletter & I could do it using whatever software I wanted (I chose Word since I wasn't familiar with the others) & then they left me there to do my thing & told me I had forty minutes to finish (pressure much?).
 Well, it took me about five minutes just to find the files & then I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take the articles & rewrite them or just copy & paste them, so I started writing my own things but quickly realized that would take too much time so I just started copying & pasting & changing things here & there. Doing it in Word didn't allow me to make the newsletter very fancy & I was only able to change the font & add clip art so I'm sure it wasn't as fantastic as they were hoping. As I was finishing up the lady popped her head in & said I had five minutes left (crap) so I hurried to get it all done & then printed it off. Once that was done, the lady took it from me & that was it. That was it? You never even asked me any questions!! So I guess they'll go through all the mock-ups people did & pick who they want to interview from that. I will be really shocked if I hear back.

I guess I can look at it as experience but, yikes.

On to the next one.

Interview tomorrow :/

My interview for the Publications Secretary is tomorrow & I'm getting a little nervous. What makes me nervous is that I have to do a mock-up newsletter tomorrow & I'm not that familiar with desktop publishing software. Because I'm not that familiar with the software I decided to watch some tutorials online today & look up what information I could find. I didn't get a ton of information so I'm still a little nervous but hopefully it's not too bad tomorrow. I did use some publishing software when I worked on my high school's yearbook but that's been seven years & I haven't done anything like that since so I'm hoping a little of it comes back to me tomorrow.

I also ordered a book online a few weeks ago entitled, "I'm An English Major, Now What?" & it's definitely a great book for someone in my position. I just started reading it & I feel like I'm back in school again, highlighter & pen in hand, I tackled the first few chapters today & it's actually really interesting.

Wish me luck for my interview!! Fingers crossed it goes well!

I got an interview!

Got home today & had a call from someone wanting to interview me! Yay! The job is for a Publications Secretary position at a local church so it's not a huge, high-profile job or anything like that but still, it's a job & it has to do with my degree. The job consists of some writing, editing and proofreading which is right up my alley & I would be helping to write the church newsletter so that might be fun. The interview includes having to do a mock-up newsletter so I'm a little nervous about that but hopefully it won't be too bad.

And the best part about getting the call? I had just gotten off the phone with my dad & he was telling me that I'm probably not going to find a job in my dream field, especially not editing. Ha. Proved him wrong on that one, didn't I?

Wish me luck!

Lack of experience-what a hurdle

I've come to find in my six months of looking for a job that my lack of experience is what's getting in the way of me finding a job. I've had several interviews but it never makes it past that stage because I keep hearing the same thing, "not enough experience." Ok, I get it, I don't have enough experience but how am I supposed to get it if no one is willing to hire me & allow me to gain some? It's just a vicious circle & it's driving me crazy!

Has anyone else found that lack of experience is getting in the way of finding a job? I just spent six years in college gaining experience in my field of choice, how is that not enough? Unfortunately, school related experience doesn't transfer over to work experience. I actually applied for the same position (editor/proofreader) at the same place twice in a matter of about three months & though they hadn't filled the position, they still wouldn't take a chance on me because of my lack of experience. It's incredibly frustrating. I just feel like shaking these people & saying, "I know what I'm doing, just give me a chance!"

I've always wanted to work at my local library & I've applied there more times than I care to count but they're never hiring so nothing ever comes off it. A few weeks ago however, they were hiring & I applied as fast as I could & sent a great cover letter, my resume & two letters of recommendation & hoped to at least get an interview. After a few days however, I received a little note in the mail saying the same old thing that I've been hearing from everyone, they would be going with someone a little more experienced, but thanks for applying! You're welcome, now give me a job! So I decided that if they weren't going to hire me, I was going to volunteer & get my foot in the door & that's exactly what I've been doing all week. Every morning this week I've gone in & inputted book barcodes into their database. All in all, I inputted about 3,000 books! Crazy, I know. Every day I got a little more done & by the last day I had gotten about 700 books done (in one day)! Surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed the work & the people I was working with were very impressed at how much I had gotten done & how well I had been doing & that was exactly my goal. Show them how well I can work & hopefully when they have an open position I'll be the first person they look to! It stinks that I didn't get paid for any of that work but it got me experience & that's all I can ask for right now! I will be continuing my volunteer work next week so fingers crossed it leads to something!!

Six months out

So I just realized that it has already been six months since I graduated! Can't believe it, where did the time go?

What I'm most shocked about however is that I don't have a job in my desired field yet! I'm not sure how long I thought it would take but I definitely thought I would have found something by now. Anyone else feel this way?

Back in August I started working as a Nanny & did that the whole school year. My last day was a week ago & I already miss it. I worked for an awesome family & watched two little girls that became my little buddies. I spent every day with them; picking them up from school, helping with homework, taking them to movies, the park & of course, for ice cream & now I don't have a job so it's quite the change. Obviously it isn't my life goal to be a Nanny but it was a great job to have while I was working my way through school.

I'm curious what the average time is to find a job right out of college? Am I behind? Right where I should be?

I graduated...now what?

So I guess I'll start off with a little about myself:

• My name is Lauren

• I'm 24 (soon to be 25) years old

• I graduated from college in December of 2012

• I have my Bachelor's Degree in English & my minor in Sociology

• I am a diehard Detroit Tigers fan

• Referring back to the previous post, my favorite sport is baseball

• I've had two kidney transplants; the first when I was six & the second when I was 20

• Because of having a life-changing illness & two major surgeries, I grew up rather quickly & kind of bypassed the whole going out & partying phase of my life

• I'm a 60 year old in a 24 year old's body

• I'm a huge Fleetwood Mac fan

• I love Hydrangeas & Peonies

• I love to read

• I'm usually reading at least two books at once

• My parents are incredibly supportive of everything I do

• I have a 12 year old brother & he's pretty great

• I would love to find a job working in a library or something in the editing/publishing field

• I graduated six months ago & I've been looking for a job ever since

• Looking for a job is incredibly difficult & extremely stressful

Basically, this blog is about my adventures (or, lack thereof) in making the transition from a student to a college graduate looking for a job in the real world! Hopefully you can identify!