Get With the Program

Alright, after a month of being lazy and sitting on my bum in front of the telly (I've been watching a lot of BBC), I'm officially looking for a job.

Step One (the easiest step of them all) was getting some interview clothes to get the ball rolling. I'm happy to say that I have two bottoms and no tops. Wait, that came out wrong. After a day of shopping and a mere $40 down the drain, I am now the proud owner of slacks that fit (huzzah!) and a kick-ass pencil skirt that makes me look so professional it's ridiculous. Tomorrow's task is clothing the rest of me.

Step Two was reading a book. I know it sounds like a weird step, but hear me out. I got this book for graduation called Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World. Unlike many other books marketed to college grads, this one doesn't start with freshman year, which means I don't have to look back and regret all the things I shoulda coulda woulda done to jumpstart my future career but didn't for whatever reason. I've only done a couple of the suggestions so far, but the author assures me that it's a process (and a very slow one at that).

Step Three is spending more money and investing in a handy dandy notebook for all my job-related notations and random thoughts. As someone who still values the benefits and accessibility of the written word (read: someone who doesn't have an iPhone, Blackberry, or other super-mobile, internet-ready device), it will definitely come in handy to be really organized in this area.

Yeah, that's all I have so far. It's a good game plan though. Right? For starters, at least?

Our generation seems to be the Lost Generation. All of America's hopes and dreams are pinned on today's twenty-somethings, but resources are scarce and opportunities appear to be few and far between. So many of my friends are floundering in this weird purgatory between graduating and getting a job that it's made me really pessimistic about the prospects, but this book presented some stats that made me feel much better about my situation, and I thought I would share.

Did you know?

-- It takes the average college student three to nine months to find a job after graduation.
-- 48% of college grads move back in with their parents, and this number increases during recession years.

Even if those numbers are way off, knowing that my friends and I aren't the only ones having issues is a little ray of sunshine in these dark economic times. I feel very fortunate right now to have a roof over my head, food to eat, and health insurance (since I seem to be a walking incubator for bacteria these days), and I will continue to take full advantage of them for as long as possible. But as my next birthday creeps up, I seem to be jonesing for a change of scenery, or at least something to prove that I won't be spending the next year or two in limbo.

But before I can get with the program, I need to find one that's hiring.