Why Your Degree Won't Get You Hired: A Life Lesson

Job Hunt 102: Why Your Degree Won’t Get You Hired

            It’s been our understanding these days, that in order to get a good job and be successful in life we need to go to college. So we go to college, study (and party) for four (or five) years, and finally, after countless sleepless nights of cramming, a handful of BS’d essays and, ungodly stress levels we graduate. We then wait with baited breath to receive the most expensive piece of paper we will ever own; and that piece of paper tells us that we know enough to secure a future doing whatever it was we studied.

Or so we think.

            Three months later, you still have not secured a career type job, though you’ve applied for more than you’d care to admit. You’ve maybe had a handful of interviews, but the rejection emails have become commonplace. You almost expect them at this point, and if you’re anything like me you’ve even got the rejection template memorized.

“Thank you for your interest in employment with (insert company here). At this time we have decided to move forward with a candidate whose experience best fits our needs at this time. We will keep your resume on file…blah blah blah…”

            At this juncture you are feeling nothing but frustration, disappointment and most of all, confusion.

“I thought this fancy piece of paper meant I was going to get a job.”

            Well friends, I’m here to tell you, we’ve been duped. Make no mistake, I am not here to detract from getting an education. College provides us with invaluable life lessons and boundless opportunity, but don’t be fooled into thinking your degree is going to secure your future. Education without experience is virtually useless in today’s job market.

Think about it just for a second. We are trying to get jobs in the worst economy this country has seen since the Great Depression. While unemployment rates are looking better than they have the past few years, everyone and their mom is applying for the same job you are, and guess what else? Everyone and their mom also has a college degree. Back when our parents were looking for jobs in the 70’s-80’s one fifth of young adults ages 25-29 had attainted a bachelor’s degree. As of 2012 ONE THIRD of young adults has achieved that feat. At one point in time a having a degree set you apart from the crowd. Now, it makes you look like everyone else. The people getting the jobs are people with relevant work experience, whether they’ve got a degree or not.

Doesn’t seem to make sense right? Well let me paint a little picture for you. Your car breaks down. You’ve got a friend who just graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering that offers to fix your car. He can tell you everything about how that car works, but he’s never worked on a car before. Or you can take your car down to Joe’s Auto Repair. Joe barely graduated high school, but he’s been working on cars for so long he’s basically got permanent motor oil stains on his hands. I don’t know about you but I’m taking my car to Joe. Now, apply that same scenario to the hiring managers at whatever job you’re applying for. Your knowledge is useless to them unless you can prove that you’ve used it in a real-life setting. 

I can already hear the complaints.

“But how do I get experience if no one will hire me. Why did I even go to school then?”

            Yah it’s definitely a catch 22, and no, it’s not really fair; but it’s the world we live in god help us all, and if you are anything like me post-grad you need all the help you can get. Here’s a few things to keep in mind and/or do if you find yourself at this juncture.

Now that you know your degree doesn’t make you special, it’s time to change your mindset, and there’s one point I really want to drive home here. NOTHING (almost) IS BELOW YOU (at this point). Cut yourself a large piece of humble pie and savor the shit out of it, because you’ll be dining on it for a while. If you need experience then you need to take whatever you can get. If that means taking an unpaid internship as a college grad, do it. If that means working as a secretary, do it. If that means working two jobs for a bit to supplement your income, do it. It may also behoove you to try to use the network you have available to you. You know the old adage “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” well, it’s cliché but it’s damn true. Talk to your parents friends, your old teachers, old bosses, friends’ friends, whoever you can. More often than not they’d be willing to give you some sort of opportunity.

Now, are any of these tips glamorous? Hell to the no. Are some of them sort of embarrassing? Hell, yes. Should most of this stuff have been done while you were in college? Absolutely. But the fact of the matter is you didn’t, so you’re a little behind, but you’re not hopeless. So, take that internship and bust your ass at it. Be the best secretary the company has ever seen! No it’s not your dream job, and yes it might suck, but it’s getting your foot in the door and building your resume. And guess what happens when you put your foot in the door? It won’t slam in your face.

Up, Up and Away

I find it funny, 
How when everything seems hopeless 
One simple change is made 
A positive change

And it seems to start a chain reaction

Maybe only a week or so after my last post, 
I moved out of 666 Rock Bottom. 
While that statement was mostly for dramatic effect, 
It ended up really sticking with me and pushed me to find a way out. 
(Which I did promise I would do)

What I thought was going to be a long and arduous process actually happened in what felt like the blink of an eye. 

I woke up one morning a defeated, unemployed, disenchanted 20something. Two hours later I was employed at an amazing company, and learning that maybe life's not so bad after all.  

So, friends I begin my ascension. 
Today was my first day at the Dicks + Nanton Celebrity Branding Agency, 
And I gotta say, I feel like this is the start of something amazing.  
I know this is something I can not only do, but excel with. 

So here's to the rise. 
Here's to new opportunities. 
Here's to new adventures. 

And dammit here's to ME! 

I'm pretty proud of myself right now. 
And I haven't felt that in a while. 

Losing, not Lost

I write this post from what I find to be the most difficult sort of existence. 
Stuck in a never ending suspension of success over failure. 

I'm not scared to fail. 
Failure and I have actually become pretty good friends. 
And I've learned a lot from him. 

Except maybe, how to succeed. 
I've really only learned newer and more innovative ways to fail it seems. 

This is the point in life where nothing seems to go right. 
Rejection has become my other close friend 
And to be honest I don't think I remember what an open door looks like. 

As I threw myself at pity party at my new residence, 666 Rock Bottom, 
A friend imparted some wisdom that resinated with me. 

"What you're going through right now may seem rough, but it's only temporary. You'll find your way out, and one day you're going to look back at this and laugh. You'll laugh because you thought at this moment your problems couldn't be any worse, but you'll be dealing with far worse things. Only you won't just be dealing with them, you'll be conquering them." 

Though these words interrupted my party, 
I found it was what I needed to be reminded of. 

Whatever life situation I find myself in, 
Can be as permanent or temporary as I decide. 

So please excuse the lack of decor here at 666 Rock Bottom. 
I don't plan on staying here too long. 

Just Happy in the Shoes You're Wearing

I've found myself at times,
wondering if my life should be different.

I know it COULD be.
Things could always be one way or another,
this way or that.

If maybe I had just done this differently.
Or maybe if I said this instead of that.

Our lives are an amalgamation of decisions that lead us to wherever we are today.

I'd be lying to say,
that I haven't at times questioned those decisions,
and wondered how my life would have panned out,
if I had done things differently.
It drives me nuts.

And all it brings is feelings of confusion and regret.

As silly as I may feel quoting this,
in his song "Red Rag Top" Tim McGraw caught my attention with a rather insightful line.

"Well you do what you do and you pay for your sins, and there's no such thing as what might've been that's a waste of time; drive you outta your mind."

Whether it's true or not I've found that line reminds me to stand by my choices,
own up to thing's I've done, and move forward without looking back.

Your past is important, yes,
but you exist in the present and live for the future.
Don't let notion of "What if?" keep you from being happy.

You are right where you need to be.

Dollar Dollar Bill

There's a bathroom tag where I work. 

"Pizza rules everything around me" 

If you didn't know I work at a pizza place. 

But most of you know that. 

While I often feel that quote, as is, is very true...

I'm frequently finding myself wanting to change it. 

"Money rules everything around me" 

A saying, I believe, more people are familiar with. 

Or maybe something along those lines. 

I also wonder if it's true. 

Because I don't want it to be. 

I worry a lot about money. 

Not making enough...

Not being able to pay for this or that...

While I believe these worries are completely normal...

(Unless you are part of that fortunate 1%) 

I don't like it. 

No one likes to worry 

But it will happen and it's necessary to some extent.

But I don't want my thoughts to be consumed with money. 

So maybe it would do me some good 

To make money a worry...

But a small one. 

There are greater things in the world to worry about. 

The Beginning

Now, let's get one thing straight here...don't let the title of this blog fool you. My life is not adventurous, nor does it merit tale-telling. 

 I'm not on some back-packing trip across Europe. 

As a matter of fact, I haven't left the continental US in four years. 

I am not on a soul-searching journey in San Francisco or New York City. 

I've never lived anywhere other than Florida, where I still reside. 

I am not jaded, angry, sad or burnt out. 

I accept my place and lot in life. 

And I make the most of it. 

These are my day-to-day stories, trials, struggles, triumphs, tribulations, ups and downs. 

This is the life of a Tallahassee twenty-something.