Best way for a recent Grad to get a job? Don't mention you have a degree

So while I'm working on this film I am working full time at a call center and spending any free time I have researching potential careers in my field.  Amongst the various job posting sites out there I find Employment Times to be one of the most reputable and reliable sources out there as far as employment opportunities in greater New England. Not only is Employment Times a great source for that entry level career you college graduates are so desperately seeking, their staff also makes sure to cover and research jobs for those with several years of experience looking for a change, the single mother looking for some part time income, and the highschool student looking for a start up job to buy that first car they want so badly. Along with being a great source for job browsing the Employment times often features an informative article giving tips on how to snag an interview, boost up your resume, and get yourself noticed, just to name a few things.


The most recent issue of the Employment times featured an article entitled "Should I Leave My Degree off my Resume?" written by Jessica M. Holbrook.  In this article Holbrook describes a situation that most graduates are all to familiar with; applying for jobs in which they are Overqualified for such as an administrative position, only to find themselves being passed over on a job that they undoubtably need, but are more then capable of performing. In the article (found here) Holbrook writes "Many Companies assume that someone with a degree (or two) will quickly grow bored performing an administrative job. Therefore, employers sometimes sort obviously overqualified employees immediately into the discard pile." (Holbrook, Employment times Vol. 13 Iss. 2)  An experience I myself am all to familiar with.  While looking for a part time job to help keep the bill collectors at bay I had applied for a PT position at a gas station/deli just a few miles down the road from my house. It was close, convient, and had a great staff. I was always taught that if you want a job go after it and let the employeer know that you are serious and would be a worth while hire. So I went after this postion with the same tenacity as I would any other job. After speaking with a assistant manager several times, then setting my sights on the hiring manager, calling weekly to express my interest and try to schedule an interview I finally got my answer;  "We don't want to hire you, take the hint, stop harassing us." Now that isn't a direct quote but I was flat out told that they were looking interested in hiring highschool students with little work experience who would be easy to train and would work for significantly less then what I was asking for.


If you found this little blurb interesting then I suggest you check out the entire article and pass a tweet, im, facebook message, whatever to your friends about this blog. I promise there will be more issues to come!  Thanks for reading!

Contributors

Special thanks to Cassidy Shannon, Tom Poulin, Meagaan Irish, and Jonathan Fuller!

Thanks in part of your special contributions I was able to purchase a Sima wireless microphone for better sound quality and future projects!

Thanks again! 

Dan Sprogis Art

I wanted to share a link to another creative blog. Dan was a few years a head of me in the New Media program at the University of Maine and quite the talented fellow. I must say Dan's talent took me by surprise, see when I first met Dan I got the impression that he was more of we college fokes would call a "bro" basically someone who is mostly interested in short skirts, late nights, and keg stands.  That old expression don't judge a book by it's cover? Well man did that ring true for me in this situation, as I got to know Dan not only did he prove himself to be insightful but also one of the most talented artist I have known.  Today day Dan attends Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning where he studies film and animation, don't be surprised if you see his name in the credits of your next favorite animated feature.

Check out this Blog here: http://dansprogis.blogspot.com/

Parents Say the Darndest things

This is an article I found to be very reflective of my own situation. The more I research these kind of topics the more I'm seeing that it is a pretty common trend. Though I'm not sure if I'm suppose to feel hopeful or just depressed. On one hand my lack of being able to find a steady, full time, salary job isn't because I have no marketable skills or because I wasn't the top of my class, clearly there are others in the same situation and that it is indeed the result of a poor economy with little opportunities for even some of the most talented college graduates but it still just reaffirms the fact that I shouldn't plan on getting a career anytime soon. Living in a opportunity challenged area like Lewiston Maine where the only dependable jobs are retail and call centers doesn't make thing look any more hopeful either.  I'm not money driven but I do need money. There are some people out there who are content with a job they dislike because it allows them to sustain outside interests. But what if you despise your job so much that it makes you literally physically ill or causes panic attacks which in turn make you unable to perform that job that you so desperately need.  

This article certainly has sparked some contrasting thoughts in my own mind. I suggest you read it for yourselves  Here

And you think YOU'RE upset about your college situation

Frustrated with your college loans?  Take an example from our neighbors across the pond.

Relevant Article from the New York Times

You were told go to college if you want a good job. You spent four years studying, taking tests, working part time jobs, getting cultured, getting experience, and getting mentally prepared to get that hot new job and hit the ground running. It was hard work, sure but with that degree means big bucks right? Now you find yourself in the last place you want to be. Living back with your parents, in your old room, everything the same like it was flash freezed the day you left. 

Well at least take solace in the fact that it's not just you and this is a culturally recognized phenomenon .  Robin Marantz Henig, journalist at the New York Times puts things in perspective in his article entitled What is it About 20-Somethings?