Graduating in May and jobless. Why is everyone telling me to chill out and go travel?

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>I'm actually freaking out here. I'm only 21, and a LOT of people I know have solid jobs lined up after graduation. High-paying, bank or consulting or engineering jobs. Boring, but solid jobs. My degree is in engineering and I still don't have a job lined up. Should I be worried about this? I think so. But I've asked my advisors, my peers, my parents, my TAs, my professors, my academic design project clients, family friends and EVERYONE has the same response: "This is the only time in your life when you're free. Relax for a year! Go travel somewhere. If you get into a job, you'd be deadlocked into one forever and hoping for vacation days. When you get married, you'll have a family and responsibilities. You're young and free now. Enjoy yourself. Chill out and stop worrying so much. You'll find one eventually."</p>

<p>My only reaction to this advice is "w-t-f." The longer I go unemployed, the more of a gap there is in my resume for future employers to question. Plus, it's not like I'm sitting on boatloads of cash here to to blow it all on a cross-country trip across Europe. That, and student loans aren't gonna pay themselves. The longer I delay them, the more interest they accumulate. I think the fact that I have an engineering degree is giving people a false sense of security that I'll be able to find a job pretty easily whenever I want to. I've been hardcore applying through my school's career fairs, LinkedIn, and any other recruitment opportunities I find. I've had a few interviews, but turned down for all of them. Had a few more this week, but not sure how it's gonna turn out. </p>

<p>But more importantly, why is it that I'm the only one that thinks that the "Chill and go travel" advice is total nonsense and people are just saying that because they regret not having done it when they had the chance? Is this for real or am I missing something huge here?</p>

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<p>You’re completely right.</p>

<p>I’m five years out of college. I agree with you that that advice is primarily B/S.</p>

<p>The majority of college students have very little money when they graduate, and loans. And yet old people think ‘go travel’ is wise advice? </p>

<p>You might be happy if you go spend a year teaching English somewhere cool … but then what? It doesn’t seem like it would be easy to me to then jump into the corporate life after that. </p>

<p>Next time someone tells you to go travel, say: “I sure as hell don’t have the money to pay for that, or to avoid my student loans. So do you want to pay for those things?” </p>

<p>Also, companies want really motivated, ambitious people. If you spent a year ‘travelling’ right when many of your peers are starting to make grounds in the real world, what exactly does that say about your ‘ambition’ (in the way that the corporate world defines ‘ambition’).</p>

<p>So, my advice to you would be this: continue grinding. I graduated right as the financial crisis was starting in 2008, with an economics degree and an itnernship at an investment fund, so yeah, pretty big odds against me. I grinded all summer (and it really sucked, and I was broke and stressed-out), but I eventually got a great job in September. … And yeah, hypothetically if, upon graduation, I had the money to travel, and a guarantee of a good job following that, I would’ve definitely traveled. But very few people have that luxury. A lot of the people giving you that advice only have good memories of their youth, and don’t remember the stress of finding a job or being broke. </p>

<p>And finally, most importantly: send your resume to EVERY RECRUITER in your area, or in an area that you want to work. These people are DESPERATE to find talent, IT/Technology are really hot right now. Stop worrying so much about applying to jobs posted. Scores of companies never post job openings, and instead rely on staffing agencies to fill them. Get connected to hundreds of recruiters on LinkedIn. Make a goal to ‘connect’ with at least 10 relevant people a day on LinkedIn. Call them, email them your resume, etc. If enough headhunters / staffers / recruiters have your resume, eventually you’ll get a good job. </p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions.</p>

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<p>I agree with everything Cobra said, and he’s been a very good advocate on this board.</p>

<p>The so called advice you keep hearing is non-sense. People kept telling me the same thing when I graduated and I was very cynical of it. How can you have fun and take a year off when you have no money and owe student loans? It’s best to hit the ground running and be on the outlook. The job hunt is a serious process, especially considering how many recent grads are unemployed or underemployed.</p>

<p>Don’t fret just yet though. I was like you literally a year ago. During the 2nd half of my senior year, I began to panic because all of my friends started getting job offers at big firms or grad school acceptances for prestigious programs. I was feeling left out and my plans for law school had crumbled since I bombed the LSAT. Right away, I started going to recruiting events on campus and sending out dozens of resumes. I made it my part time job to send out a few job applications a day (I would have made it my full time job, but I was still a student). As a History major, I arguably had it rougher than anyone, and my only work experience was working for a law firm and a nonprofit. Eventually though, recruiters at events took notice of my proactiveness and I started getting interviews. Like Cobra mentioned, I even got an interview for an IT Analyst position, even though I didn’t major or know much about IT. Fast forward a few months later, I ended up getting 2 job offers a week before my graduation. 1 was a dull, low pay office assistant job, and the other was an average salary analyst job at a major corporation. I took the latter and ran.</p>

<p>It looks like you have the right mentality and goals, but now you just gotta do it.</p>

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<p>Many people just keep on believing the way it was for them. Everyday posters talk about how surprised they are that college cost have risen so high. Many people want to romanticize your twenties as a time for fun and self-discovery. Studies are now showing that there are important milestones for the twenties that will make the rest of your life more meaningful and easier. The book The Defining Decade: Why your Twenties Matter–And how to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay is very helpful. You sound like a very smart and practical person with good common sense. Keep being persistent in your job search. Take all the advantage of any interview, resume, networking help while you are still in college. Even if you done previous mock interviews, do more and keep seeking advice. Best of luck to you. I really hope you find a position soon.</p>

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<p>Agree that you SHOULD be looking for a job now. Ignore those who say you shouldn’t… but also ignore all those people in your class who already have jobs. :slight_smile: That will just make you feel bad. Focus on your own job search and just keep plugging away at it. If you know any older students who graduated ahead of you that have jobs, contact them to see if their firms are hiring. Other than that, your list of activities sound like the right things to do. You are getting interviews, and that is good.</p>

<p>If you don’t get anything out of your current round of interviews, you might go to your school’s career counseling office and ask them to (1) review your resume with you for any improvements you could make, and (2) if they have mock interviews, give that a try to make sure you are on target in appearance, tone, answers to common questions, etc.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Perhaps the people saying that are from wealthy families who will support them if they are unemployed at graduation, or will use connections to get them good jobs afterward?</p>

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<p>To AxeBack : You are absolutely right in your assessment about the priorities before you. Stay focused and try to use the alumni network of your college for an entry into the job market. In the current scenario,in my opinion, you may not get the job or career you desire, however, let that not deter you from accepting an offer which is sub-par. Since I have seen the difficult days, my opinion, is little more practical, i assume!</p>

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<p>Yes, keep focused on finding a job for after graduation.</p>

<p>However, once you get an offer, if you still want to travel or whatever after graduation, you may want to ask if a slightly later starting date would be ok.</p>

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<p>well, keep focusing on your job search.</p>

<p>that said, I went backpacking through Europe (for a month) and it was amazing. Possibly the best experience of my life.</p>

<p>if you are ever going to do the poor/traveling thing, right after college is probably the best time to do it.</p>

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<p>UCB makes a great point. Right now, your focus should be on securing gainful employment once you graduate. If you are fortunate enough to receive an offer before graduating, and if you have the means to support some travel between finishing school and starting work, you should go nuts! There’s no real advantage to starting work on June 1 as opposed to August 1. A couple of my friends did just that: they negotiated a start date in August or September, and they spent time over the summer basically backpacking through Europe - the biggest expense they incurred was the plane fare to and from Europe; they found cheap hostels and food once they were there. </p>

<p>That said, if you graduate without a job to start, then traveling is not a wise choice.</p>

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<p>It doesn’t seem like the OP is in great financial shape (neither are most college grads, or most 20somethings). Why waste the likely savings OP has on a trip?</p>

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<p>Keep searching and take a look at funded grad programs. A friend’s son was in the same position and applied for a funded grad program and is in the program now.</p>

<p>BTW, I left school after one year and went into the working world. I worked 50-70 hours for several years because I absolutely loved the work that I was doing. It didn’t feel like work. Not every job (or maybe even most) is like that but the right job can make you feel great mentally.</p>

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<p>Just remember there are opportunity costs if you travel or go back to grad school. No income = no savings.</p>

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<p>If you can’t find a job, you don’t have income or savings. With a funded grad program, you do have some income and you may run into very good industry contacts in your research work.</p>

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<p>I’m obviously not suggesting that he spend his entire savings on a trip. I am saying that IF he has a decent amount of money in the bank (say… $3-4k-ish), and IF he secures a job that pays decently, and IF he does not have immediate responsibilities, then there is a case to be made that taking a trip (should he desire to do so) would be fun. A three week trip to Europe could be made for around $1,500 if you do it right, and there is very little opportunity for most people to do such a trip between the start of full time employment and retirement.</p>

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<p>As I told my kids, it is a numbers game. If you apply to enough places, something will come through for you. I am in sales and the top sales people get way more rejections than they get sales - but they are top because they ask more people. You are selling yourself in this application process. Not everyone will want or need your skillset but if you talk to enough people and apply to enough places you will find a job.</p>

<p>My son was getting very discouraged when applying to over 50 places for a summer internship and getting rejection after rejection when finally something popped for him. It will for you, too, but you can’t get discouraged. Just keep plugging away at making the contacts and putting in the applications and you will find a job.</p>

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<p>^^ Agreed with above post. Great post. </p>

<p>To Original Poster, are you active on LinkedIn?</p>

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<p>I think you’re riight to be concerned. A newly minted degree is like fruit on the shelf. It starts to go bad after too long. Also there’s a whole new crop of degrees being grown year after year, futher pressuring the job market. </p>

<p>I’d go to the placement office and ask them what more can be done. Hopefully, its just a simple matter of better interviewing techniques. You must learn to sell yourself. Walking in with a degree and a nice suit just isn’t enough.</p>

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<p>My son ran into this too when he graduated (he was a semester early) and went to grad school while still aggressively looking for work. He found a great job through a classmate that had graduated the previous year. This classmate was really into networking. A friend’s son graduated from a near-top-engineering school and didn’t have a job at graduation. He searched for about 5 months and then started applying to grad schools and he is now in a funded Phd program - he has to work a lot of hours and the pay isn’t great but his adviser has a ton of industry connections so finding a job when he is done shouldn’t be a problem. Another friend’s son is graduating from an Ivy with an engineering degree this spring and he doesn’t have a job lined up (he has tried) and he has applied for grad school looking for a funded program.</p>

<p>It is tough out there but you have to keep trying.</p>

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<p>“what more can be done” is connect with hundreds of recruiters / staffing agency people / headhunters. that is the single most effective way to job-search. period.</p>