It has been over three years since I have been without a job (I know the term is technically unemployed but I feel like I am totally lacking societal value when I say that word). It’s an interesting feeling not working on a regular basis, especially being a Capricorn-work-a-holic as I am. While most people say that one should enjoy the free time off from being under the thumb of corporate America it’s hard to sit still and not continually earn an income in this day and age.
The funny thing about being a 20 something post college graduate is that when you meet someone and introduce yourself the very next question is almost always “What do you do?” It’s not just a question about what job you hold or how you spend your days but instead it’s a way to evaluate yourself and others. Your response to the question “what do you do” seems to cast off how serious you are about life, how hard you work regularly, what your intelligence level is, and most importantly how much self respect you have. It’s amazing how so many 20 something people are smart and talented but still feel such shame when that question is brought up. The irony of feeling shameful is it’s a well known fact in American culture that people have to work their way up the ladder of industry. You are never the best when you first start a career but yet there is still an air of judgment when one does a job that is on the low end of a totem poll. And worse then judgment is the pity that follows when you say that you are currently “unemployed”.
Even more stressful then simply answering “what do you do” is figuring out what you really want to do in life. It seems today that college degrees are getting more and more specialized for one area of work. This tends to cause a problem when you decided after 4 years of intensive study in one field that the work you’ve been doing doesn’t appeal to you anymore. While everyone says it’s necessary to have a college degree it’s almost useless to have one in a field you are no longer pursuing. And then you dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain to work at Starbucks (yes you may be the best barista in the world but you are a liar if you say you grew up dreaming of working at Starbucks). I’m in this place right now where I can’t seem to figure out what I want to do with my professional life. I have all sorts of interests and a few talents but I can’t seem to mesh them into a career, and the few careers that I feel could be a close match to my interests needs me to have 2+ years of experience. I say to you WHAT THE HELLL???? How is anyone supposed to get 2+ years of experience with an entry-level position? You know what entry means right? They should change the name to “2 years post entry level we’re still going to pay you crap position”.
Being 20 something and a college graduate has become the new time of self exploration and self loathing (If you ever want to feel crappy about yourself and lack of accomplishments just spend a whole day applying to jobs on monster.com). When you start figuring out what you want to do in life it becomes a quest to understand what you want out of your long term life and your day to day life, and who you are and how you feel about the world and blah blah blah. There is a push pull battle to give up everything and do a job working towards human rights/helping people or to do a job that gets you out of debt quickly and allows you to live the American Dream. There is also the competitiveness that makes you want to be the very best at whatever it is you’re doing even if it’s in a field you never liked. There are days I wish life was like the book “The Giver” where a wise old man tells each of us what we are destined to do in life and that is just that.
Currently Boston seems to have a slightly more thriving job market then Chicago, but the feelings of employment and unemployment ring true for both cultures. While there are more jobs here in Boston at the present they still have the same pre-requisites that Chicago jobs have. I have found however the pride that comes with being in the food service industry is much higher in Chicago then in Boston. Maybe because at this point in time Chicago is much better known for the food and chef culture then Boston is. But Boston takes much more pride in the industry of being a student. I have met countless people so far in Boston that when you ask what they do they tell you they are a student. When you ask where they are a student or what they are studying many follow up with “well I’m not in school presently but I did go to (insert your college choice here) and I’m thinking of going back for (insert chosen profession here)”.
While the prospects do seem greater as I search for my career path in Boston I must continue to battle with the soul sucking that comes when you prostitute yourself out to corporate America. It’s amazing to watch all your flaws and opinions fly out the window as you try desperately to convince a mid-level manager why you are the perfect candidate for the position and why they simply cannot continue to do business without you (Because obviously they can’t retrieve their own coffee or photocopies, that may take too much time away from them spending their work hours on facebook). And with all my well spoken and timely answers and smiles it really doesn’t matter what I say if I didn’t do this internship with that company or that unpaid internship with this company. It boils down not even to your resume but to whom you seem to know from your resume; the infamous “Network” that controls the world. All of this to start with a whopping $12-$17 per hour (Yes I can definitely pay down my student loans with that)!
Yet alas I will continue to search for the dream job, or at least the job that leads to the dream job. And I will of course continue to decide what the dream really is, and hopefully Boston will provide me a little more clarity on that subject then Chicago did. Xoxo.
