What's Your Story?

I decided to tell the story of graduating from college and not being able to find a job. I also invite you to tell yours.

Getting Face-to-Face Help When You Have a College Degree and No Job

For some people this information may be obvious, but I'm always surprised by the number of college grads who don't know about the following resources.

 

Try the Career Center of your alma mater, or the Career Services office or whatever they call it there. Sometimes larger schools have career offices just for alumni.

What if I no longer live in that town? Is there a regional campus you can go to that's closer? Just because you didn't graduate from that campus, doesn't mean they won't help you.

What if it's impossible for me to get back to my college? Is there another school nearby? Career Services' offices will often be willing to offer what is called reciprocation, meaning that by helping you, they are guaranteeing that an alum from their college will be helped at your old school. Some schools will also just counsel community members as part of their services. It doesn't hurt to call and ask

Will they charge me anything? Possibly. It really depends on the individual college's policies. If you compare what your school charges alumni to what the hourly cost of a counselor from the private sector, it's likely to be much more reasonable.

 

You can also check Career OneStop for state agencies to go to for help.

 

There are also people that offer distance and face-to-face private career counseling or coaching. Richard N. Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute? Author, devotes a section of the back of his book to how to pick a good career counselor or career coach. The NCDA (National Career Development Association) website also has FAQ's and a search section on choosing a counselor.

 

BTW, What Color is Your Parachute? is a good sort of classic career development book even you feel like there's no point in figuring out the color of your parachute because you can't afford one. Bolles puts together a new version yearly, but you can always check out older versions of it from your local library.

College Degree No Job Today

The reason that I’ve titled my blog “College Degree, No Job” is that in 2004 when I Googled that phrase I didn’t  get any career advice that seemed to apply to me.  When I searched the phrase today I got this “lots of references to the current downturn in our economy, but not much about the value of a bachelors degree in the New Economy.. 

There are a couple of crazy rants I’ve found, by bitter unhappy people that I choose not to share.  I don’t want to entice them to talk to me.  :p  Also, I’m really not interested in championing fighting the system.  To me, ‘the system’ is never the problem.  I’m a grassroots kind of girl.  If individuals choose to act differently then, lives will change.  I want to focus on practical information that can help individuals going through a crisis right now. 

But my question is this, is there even a crisis?  Was it just me and a few angry ranters? I know most people are vastly better off with some college, but maybe I’m missing something.

Thoughts?

 

College Degree No Job

In 2004 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. It took me ten years to get my degree. Ten Years. I was sick, I was concerned with accumulating too much student loan debt and at times I just wasn't mature enough to make school my first priority.
After I got my degree, I was so sure this was it, that I finally could get my first real, grown-up job. All I wanted was some kind of generic office job-9-5, weekends off, health insurance, but instead I ended up back in the same job I worked my way through community college with.
During my job search, I Googled the phrase 'college degree, no job' to see if I could get specific advice for my situation. There was nothing.
Now, through happenstance, I'm a career counselor. And lately, I just haven't been able to get the idea out of my head to start a blog, so that if someone else Googles the same phrase, they'll find some advice.