Marissa’s Keepin’ it Cool

Marissa McNees, 2012 EMU graduates shares her advice about the tough job market and staying positive. She currently works as  a Staff Writer for Pakmode Media and Marketing and is still on the look for her dream job.

When I started my senior year at EMU about a year ago, I pictured my current life after graduation a bit differently. In my mind, I envisioned walking off the stage at graduation and into a fabulous, life-long career that pays well and lets me put my degree to good use. Ok, fine, I wasn’t that naïve, but I sure didn’t expect that five months would pass since graduation and I’d still be at home jobless.

 When I put it in perspective, being jobless for a few months after graduation is not the worst thing, and I’m definitely not the only one experiencing the wrath of a tough job market. It is, however, enough to drive a person crazy searching for jobs all day, every day with virtually no success. So, while I haven’t found a dream job in all this time, I have learned how to keep my cool in the midst of rejection. It’s not easy by any means, but it’s necessary if you want to keep your sanity.

 First things first, perusing the job listings non-stop is the best way to want to pull out your hair. I took this approach for the first few months and I’ve got to tell you, it was not fun. Day after day of rejection doesn’t bode well for a person’s ego. The best way to maintain composure is to set aside two or three days a week for job-hunting. You’ll still be informed of all the latest job postings but you’ll have a few days to regroup before diving back in.

 In all my five months of being jobless, I have to say, the most important thing I’ve learned is to maintain perspective. Every single person I talk to has a story about how it took them one, two, even three years to find a job after they graduated. They’ve told me to relax, take a step back and breathe. One day, hopefully soon, it’s going to fall into place. All you can do is take the steps to make that happen.

But try to keep your cool along the way!

~Taylor Maguire

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