the myth

yesterday, i attended my cousin's wedding. before the ceremony, i got to talking to an adult relative who i haven't seen in awhile. he asked me what i was doing, about work and etc. i told him that i am working but that it's part-time (actually less than part-time but i didn't say that). the conversation then got to a point where he started to tell me how at my college graduation he just thought that because i had done well in school and now have a college degree, that i would have no problems getting a good job. he told me how he has friends who applied to hundreds of places before they got a job or the other friend who just got a teaching job at a local university, earning $100k. i asked if his friend got a head of department position. he said no. i turned and asked my other cousin's husband standing with us. he replied, "for tenure positions." yeah. no one gets tenure right out of grad school. out of grad school you would be more than fortunate to get an adjunct position. anyhow, he said i should consider going back to school for a better income. when i told him that a lot of the jobs i've been applying to were in retail he was surprised. he had assumed i was applying to "good jobs." sigh.

a few things he said were good advice. yes, going back to school, incurring more debt, debt bigger than i could imagine, would be worth a bigger income. or is it? unfortunately, he believes in the old saying that a college degree gets you a good job. (darn you, society!) sorry, uncle. it is only true if i had gotten a practical degree. even then not everyone with a practical degree is guaranteed a good job. i also don't agree with just applying to hundreds of jobs. this isn't like entering into a raffle and the more you enter, the higher your chances of winning. you really need to be selective so that you can concentrate on putting together a nice resume/application. getting a job is about your work experience-what kind of experience you have and for how long. (yes, i know. it's about networking, too). however, applying to hundreds of jobs won't get you a job if you don't have the experience and you're competing with other people who do. (this craigslist experiment illustrates my point).

seriously. it is a pain talking about finding a job with people who haven't been through unemployment.