attempting to live in real world, late capitalist u.s. edition

sorry if that's now what you had in mind i'm sure things'll work out etc.

xpost

If you want to go to college for knowledge and that crap, go ahead. Anyone looking for a job afterward though is in for a big surprise.

yes, temp agencies.. good suggestion.

john.

also look on the bright side ABSOLUTE BEST CASE scnerario for me = i will be working as a part-time janitor in springfield IL

xpost

Another way to make connections is to join a professional organization and attend their meetings. (I don't know which ones exist for the industries you're looking at, but I'm sure they're out there.)

You got a liberal arts degree = you can write, can't you? Very few people can. Do you have any writing experience? Even including work on college paper/articles for web publications etc.? Put that first. Also, computer skills are important, put those too - it might seem like a no brainer but not everybody knows basic office software & how to do research online and whatnot. Also, if you majored in film does that mean you have production/editing skills?

And not much ever makes its way to the want ads in publications.. it is networking, but also you could try temp agencies specializing in publications work if there are any where you live. (What part of the country?)

And cheer up. All my friends have liberal arts degrees and they all found good jobs - project management, law, nonprofit work, arts organizations, publishing.

apologies if that makes no sense.

seriously my last job was at a trade paper and it kicked my ass (and I graduated back in '98 and have a lot of real world experience).

that was mainly me, and mainly because i'm quite bitter about it after years of fruitless job hunting. i probably shouldn't have posted that. i'll try and think of some constructive advice.

Um, what you think happens to be wrong.

hstencil, dude, what kind of a job? c'mon, it's not impossible. Now, I don't have a job, but I did and could perfectly well get another one if I weren't depressed as fuck and counting the days til my lease is up and I can get out of fucking New England..

Back pats to the O.P. I got the same deal. I worked my ass off for a similar situation. I even spent a year plus, after graduating, of really hard work to complete and get some festival time for a film project. End result, no job, nothing, it fucking sucks. I feel stabbed in the back, too because with a little more help from my parents, and I mean a little, not much more than the cost of a PC and some months to work on it, I could have got set up with a home studio and freelance work. Got offered some, but no equipment. Don't laugh, it takes a hell of a lot of thankless sweat and dedication, it's not asking for a free ride, that is how everyone I know who got a job in the business got it. Instead I got told the degree was the end of help, then I ended up broke and even homeless for a small stretch. Now I'm doing self-employed ebay type stuff. It's way, way better than any gas station job. So add that to the list of good suggestions above. Try self-employ. You can ditch it with no commitment if you want, it's very liberating. Although the downside is it can drag you away from your other life's plans with film and creative endeavors, it takes a long time to build and then you have all the momentum of keeping it going- but yeah, building a house full of stuff to sell on ebay is a pretty good way to be self employed.

(I'm assuming you live somewhere with a film industry here)

just realize that you need to shoot for as high as possible as soon as possible

I can't see how this can be good advice.

Everyone else I knew from college who didn't go immediately to grad school was in the exact same job situation for a year after graduation also. You work in retail, you work in a restaurant, whatever, there's nothing wrong with doing that to earn money while you're looking for something in your field. I think that kind of work is much harder than an office-type job anyway, and you seem to be looking down on it a little in your inital post. Employers want to see gaps in your resume accounted for, and you can describe any menial jobs using terms of transferable skills.

When I worked for a large chain bookstore, I was working with a whole spectrum of people, from those who barely graduated high school, those who had taken bookstore jobs after college and still didn't know what other career to go for, people who'd worked in retail for years and were used to it or good at it, to people with master's degrees who simply couldn't find any other kind of job in our area at the time.

I have to say though, if you have no student loan debt, I have much less sympathy for your situation. Count yourself lucky you got your BA for free and you don't have to worry about the day your grace period ends and you're still making minimum wage and living with family and paying health insurance costs.

This is just an example I can think of off the top of my head of what I'd do if I was in your position, similar to the one I was in in 1999 but not as bad since you actually have a degree. I wound up enlisting in the USAF and that was the second best decision I've ever made.

The bottom line, though, is that if you expect to get decent employment resting on your laurels you're fucked, fucked, fucked. If you are not in a job that is expanding your skill set, you should be learning new things in your off time, as above - if you are LOOKING for a job you should not be looking for just any old office shit that can get you paid but for opportunities to build your repertoire and learn, learn, learn.

The only reason I'm putting up with my current employer's idiotic HR system and working in this shithole city at this point is because they offer full tuition reimbursement and they basically pick up and learn whatever the fuck I want while I work. I get to play with ridiculously expensive shit and fool around with anything I want as long as I can remotely justify it - by the time I leave here I'm going to be overqualified for my own job. That's what you should be shooting for right now, at least IMHO, I mean I could get back to you in a few years and tell you how it all turned out but every boss I've had so far seems to think I'm on the right track.

And Daria, thanks a lot for the boost. I lose track of my qualifications when I'm not sure how to apply them, so your suggestions are suggestions + a reminder. BTW, you mentioned that DC's still looking fairly OK jobwise... what other cities are OK-ish or at least better than dismal ones in everyone's estimation? (I'm not totally counting out a relocation.)

Depending on your grad-school plans there is also, at worst, the possibility of jobs that don't pertain to what you'd like to do: the fact remains that there will always be plenty of employment like this. My first post-college job search included, at one point, nearly going to an interview for some generalized functionary desk job at the phone company: it paid a salary and had benefits, if nothing else. (I think I also half-declined to move to central Illinois and possibly work for State Farm.) If you can afford to take low or no pay to get a foothold in something you care about, then by all means go for it. But don't worry too much that you'll starve to death for lack of anything: there tend to be decently-paid utilitarian things you can do for a year or two while you try try try and wait wait wait to find the right opening in your area.

you stop working and start collecting seasonal unemployment!!!

I have two bachelors degrees (and one is in theatre). I've had jobs related to both of my degrees. I've hated some and loved others (and hate and love weren't related to which area of expertise the job was in... both had their ups and downs).

And yes, my second bachelors is in Computer Engineering, which I realize is more marketable, but either way I have only ever had the liberal arts degree work in a positive way. It's totally possible to write a cover letter that spins your background however you want to spin it. I'm not an amazingly good programmer, but I've always been able to get employed because I can spin my background to sound like my "people skills" and "communication skills" are way above average. (I've no idea how good they really are compared to the average.)

YOU MAJORED IN LIBERAL ARTS; YOU'RE GAY!
-- LSD ARISTOCAT

Ragging on liberal arts degrees is kinda his schtick.

I'm martin m. Who are you?

I don't think it's necessary to discourage perfectly well-rounded and enthusiastic people from applying for a lot of different jobs. Going to interviews is essential life experience, even if you don't get the job. If you view it that way you're in much better shape in the long run.