<p>Well, of course you are brilliant. You chose Dartmouth! (Ok, I am biased). But do “reframe” your thinking about connecting with people you know as part of the job hunt. You see this as 1)being a pain to them or 2)being embarrassing to you. </p>
<p>Reframe! Think how delighted you are when someone pleasant and smart calls you up and says “hey, I’m just getting going on moving to Boston and I’d love your advice on . . .”. People LOVE to give advice. </p>
<p>So, you don’t say “Hi. Remember me from French 203? I am massively desperate for any kind of employment. Do you have a floor for me to sweep?” (UGH). Instead you say “Hey, I’m a '10 that was in your French class and now I’m in Boston and I’m really interested in (insert your passion here) and I was wondering if you had any advice on who’s hiring for that.” Trust me, they will rack their brains – and ask for your email because they want to get back to you after they’ve made some calls because they want so badly to be the Successful Advisor.</p>
<p>And, next year, when an '11 or '12 calls you, you will be most happy to pass on what tips and goodwill you can. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I know a whole bunch of kids who have graduated from top colleges who are not making a living wage from their jobs. Some live right in this neighborhood. A lot of the fancy titled jobs do not have big paychecks to go with them. Several kids I know currently have jobs that sound ever so impressive but some of them are not even paid. </p>
<p>Sometimes you have to start at a levels that are not where you expected. My son just got a former classmate a receptionist job at his company–she had gotten several internships and other nice jobs without the pay until she finally decided she needed money, and worked for some auto shop as a cashier/ receptionist for a year. The job she just got is still not what she wants but if anything opens up at the company, she’ll be in a good position to get it. And it pays a living wage.</p>
<p>Regarding how to use LinkedIn, I have found the most effective method is to do 2 things:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Post where you can “share an update” that you are looking for a job in Boston, and would appreciate any leads.</p></li>
<li><p>Going through LinkedIn, send messages to all your contacts individually and let them know that you are looking for an entry level job. They may not all see your status update, not everyone pays attention to that. If you get another 8 weeks or so down the road and still don’t have a job, send them a message again saying you are still looking.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Have your resume ready to send, and something to say if they ask what you are looking for. Even if nothing is happening now, ask them to keep an eye out for you. Tell them to feel free to route your resume, too. I use this technique all the time (every 2-3 years) to find a new consulting client.</p>
<p>I personally think you should really try to take your meds as your are supposed to; that is one thing maybe you could ask your parents to help pay for while you job search, even though they are not here in the states. You could offer to pay them back eventually. But you need to be focused and at your best for this process.</p>
<p>Agree with those who say don’t duck the jobs asking for GPA, you went to Dartmouth, after all.</p>
<p>I think the advice of re-framing your thought process is sound. You are young, graduated a top school and have alot of latitude to shift perspective from a career and relationships standpoint should you choose.</p>
<p>By contrast, I was a “corner office” Sr. VP Marketing at an internationally known company who has been working 2 part-time retail jobs for the past 4 years. I believe my age and past earning is working against me in interviews. I have a mortgage, utilities, 2 high school age kids. Wife is a school teacher so we have med insurance, but everything else is out of pocket. I’m looking at what’s ahead in the changing world that needs attention and spending the other part of my time learning how to do it - health care, green energy, etc.</p>
<p>So, rather than whine about how tough life is, put a different lens to it. Don’t use the ADD as an excuse - it’s a disability to be overcome.</p>
<p>I’ve heard no mention of Dartmouth’s career services office. Is that deliberate? At both of my kids’ schools (but especially at American), they went totally overboard - resume writing, practice interviews, phone manner, (even one class - hands on - on how to eat in an interview over lunch), dress codes, follow-up, LinkedIn, the whole business, and they are available after you graduate as well.</p>
<p>Indeed. My niece (BA English, MA American Studies) lasted about two months as a receptionist before she was offered a management job. The fact that she had a master’s played a huge role, in spite of the fact that there’s zero correlation between what she studied in college and what she does on the job. Successful companies want bright, accomplished people, even <shudder> humanities grads. </shudder></p>
<p>seems like you are interested in urban planning? I’m guessing that a master’s degree is key to opening up opportunities in this area. Even then, you’ll likely get paid less than your peers who are analysts on Wall St. </p>
<p>If you can’t afford grad school now, rather than getting an admin asst job (unless it is directly in your area of interest) spend some time volunteering with local nonprofits and if you need to pay the bills you can just work to get some extra $$ doing something like server in a restaurant, bartender, babysitter, or tutor.</p>