Don’t Lament, Just be Prepared for a Reality Check

By Julia Drewniak

As of May 23, I will officially be a college graduate. While I am glad to be finished with classes, I do have the huge hurdle of finding a job ahead of me. While I’m nervous about this task, I don’t view it as pessimistically as Mr. Queenan, as he describes in his Wall Street Journal article.

Don’t get me wrong. I know I don’t live in Cotton Candy Land where my job (which pays a more-than-comfortable salary) is located under the turquoise lollipop bush. Rather, my job search, particularly in this economy, will more likely equate to Ponce de Leon’s search for the fountain of youth. Though I would rather my job search be a re-enactment of the animated classic The Road to El Dorado, where I, through haphazard effort and sheer luck, land a career. In short, it’s gonna take work to find a job that I enjoy.

I find it utterly silly that our “inability to find work in a field that is even vaguely related to the discipline [we] trained in is only a fleeting setback.” I feel that it has been pounded into our heads that our major isn’t necessarily going to lead to our job [see Kate Vander Wiede's previous TNGG article for proof!]. While most people normally end up in a position in some ways related to their major (since our majors are usually in an area we are supposed to be interested in), this has become less the case.  I won’t end up being a rocket scientist (thankfully!) but I can use the skills I gained as a sociology undergrad, and more importantly through my jobs (both paid & volunteer), to illustrate how I am qualified for the jobs I want.

And as far as Queenan’s statement that “nothing in most middle-class kids’ lives has prepared them emotionally for the world they are about to enter,” I can’t say I entirely agree. True, we’ve grown up in as a generation with lots of choices where we could “have it our way.” But I would hope that we’ve all faced some sort of a failure or let down throughout our lives, whether it occured in our personal, educational, or work lives. Yes, most of us haven’t lived the same rough life as you, Mr. Queenan (see “Closing Time” for details), but if we haven’t been taught to play with the cards we were dealt, then now is the time for us to learn!

Oh, and those “lovely” bosses and co-workers you described? We’ve been handling those people our entire lives. Not only do we know when to put on a good face, but we’ve mastered the art of work relationships. Heck, sometimes we even become comrades in arms with our fellow cubicle-mates. In some sense, portrayals of office life may seem overdone, but the reason those shows and movies succeed is because we can identify with them. We’ve all got our Kevin and Toby, but we also have our Jim (pre-Pam relationship) and Kelly which make work… nay, life worthwhile.

So, Mr. Queenan, I plan on enjoying my time off, but I won’t turn my back on the ever-treacherous job market. I have friends, family, and my University Career Services Center (a boost over last year’s grads!) at my side, ready to help me at any turn. I plan on being optimistic and upbeat, yet realistic, about my chances of finding a job.

In the meantime, I hope my life will mirror the portrayal presented by the talented Gen Y YouTubers, Wong Fu Productions and Kev Jumba in their  upcoming web series: Fun-Employment.

Photo Credit: Travis Hornung