Graduated last May-still do not have a job!

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>I graduated from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater last may with a bachelor's degree in psychology whilst minoring in mathematics and philosophy. I relocated to L.A. to pursue screenwriting and have finished my first script entitled-"Live the Question." Here is the problem: </p>

<p>There is no overnight success in this industry. Indeed, it's like an unnerving marathon that tests your endurance and patience. Anyways, my income is nonexistent right now. As such, I have been battling on end for even the most remedial of jobs. I need a job immediately since my loans are set to go into repayment come March. I'm around 21,000$ in debt and have around 13,000$ saved up along with $4000 in stocks. If I play my cards right, I will last one year as my funds are depressing each month with living expenses. I need to eliminate my debt and get a decent graduating job, full time. Then I can concentrate the latter part of the day on screenwriting.</p>

<p>The problem is the L.A. job market is utterly saturated. I've never really experienced the competition before since I'm from Illinois and jobs are bountiful. When I say I cannot even get the remedial jobs, I mean like in and out burger, fast food/restaurants, or office jobs. What is going on? I've been on the prowl on craigslist, monster, snagajob, etc. No such luck. I have been offered six months unpaid internship to which my response is "I shall not be complicit in my own exploitation." I cannot afford to undergo a half-year unpaid internship in hopes that someday, someone just might return the favor. That is not reasonable, just pure desperation and stupidity. If someone can give me some sound advice please either reply to this post or pm me. My plan is to get a good decent job for a year and just pay my debt off since I have money already saved up. But the time to do that is critically now!</p>

<p>Daniel B</p>

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<p>LOL LOL. First off, jobs are not ‘bountiful’ in Illinois. IL unemployment rate is an unhealthy 8.7%. If you want plentiful jobs, move to North Dakota (seriously). … Having said that, I know that in a crappy economy, it can be difficult to find grocery / fast food jobs, etc. </p>

<p>I admire you for pursuing your dreams, and for trying to have a stable job while doing so. And you are wise to ignore unpaid internships. </p>

<p>You’ve spent tons of time trying all the job-search websites, and that hasn’t worked (it works for very few people). Most people get jobs based on people they know. Since your current method isn’t working, you HAVE to try something new if you want to improve your chances of getting a job. </p>

<p>I’ve said this in every other thread, but it really is great advice. First off, get a decent resume. Then, immediately, make a good LinkedIn profile. Then, google headhunters / recruiters at staffing agencies in LinkedIn. Connect with them, send them your resumes, call them. They get PAID to get people jobs, so they definitely want to get you a job. I’ll give you a list of names of people to send resumes to, but you literally need to send your resume to hundreds of recruiters on LinkedIn. Make it a goal to have at least 500 recruiting connections in the great Southern California area. I’ll PM you a list of people that you should connect with on LinkedIn / email resumes to, but you need to find hundreds more. </p>

<p>Also, get in touch with all the car rental agencies: Hertz, Enterprise, National, etc. They hire tons of college grads of any major. Crappy pay ($32k) and not fun work, but at least enough to survive on. </p>

<p>Consider working as a substitute teacher / SAT tutor. </p>

<p>I’ll PM you now. Let me know if you have any other questions.</p>

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<p>yes, I can use all the help I can get. Thanks for your interest</p>

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<p>^^^ALL great advice… also consider signing up with a temp agency, lots of those jobs turn permanent. Or you can take short term jobs so you have the flexibility to look for work/interview and also pursue your writing. Substitute teaching can have the same benefit… good luck!</p>

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<p>A six month unpaid internship in your field, where you eventually want to get a job, is not stupidity. It’s often how people get hired for full-time work. If it is a good internship, full of career contacts, and you’re doing the job you want to get paid for down the line, it’s perfect for your career. You can always have one or two jobs at night and on the weekends. I don’t know why you can’t get remedial jobs, delivering pizza, waitress, babysitter, nanny, etc. If you can’t find anything in L.A., you seriously might consider moving elsewhere. Good luck.</p>

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<p>also, jobs are common in illinois for me because i have relatives there. Nepotism ftw!</p>

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<p>You hit the nail on the head when you said jobs were plentiful in illinois because you have relatives there. It is way easier to get hired when you know people. So get out and get to know people in your new location!! If you meet enough people you will find someone who can help you find a job.</p>