A Lackluster Kind of Last Week

Last week was a hard week professionally speaking. I recently put in a lot of job applications, and there was one in particular I felt really good about. I mean, I thought I had this thing in the bag. When I got the no last Tuesday I was absolutely flummoxed. Flummoxed.

I have no idea how I could have possibly been any more qualified for a position than I was for this one. This, along with a string of nos from other positions I had applied for, left me with a lot of doubt and a little bit of despair. I took a step back, tried to review my qualifications as objectively as I possibly could, and I am still a little stumped. I have worked with PR firms, nonprofits, lobbying firms, elementary schools, newspapers, external relations offices, alumni relations offices, and summer school programs. I have spent over 4 months in Africa doing development projects and research.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to brag on myself here. The point of this is that I am still not even qualified for assistant positions in companies. I am not actually getting rejected from jobs because they found someone better, I am not even being considered for positions because I don't have the right qualifications. This makes me look back at my nearly two years of graduate education and over $20,000 spent, and wonder  about what it was all for. From what I have seen so far, no one will hire you without at least 3-5 years of experience in exactly the same area you are applying for.

So here's my question to all the hiring officials at all the organizations who have received applications from me thus far:

How in the world do you expect to hire people with experience when no one will hire anyone without already having the experience?

What do you want? It is like this awful vicious circle. It seems like companies prefer someone who has spent the last 5 years working in a minimum wage, paper pushing office position over someone who has a graduate degree in management. This is extremely frustrating for me. I am worried that I may end up forced to accept a low-paying position that I am over qualified for because no one else will even consider me. However, despite all the set-backs, I have not given up quite yet. I am still applying to tons of jobs and looking for new possibilities. I know if I just keep trying something will work out for us.

Here is a little bit of inspiration for the day if anyone is interested. This definitely made me feel better about things after reading it. And not to be a total downer I will say that I have a pretty great life. I might not find a job next year, but I have a great husband, a great family, and great friends. I know everything will work out like it is supposed to, I just need to have the patience for everything to sort itself out.

Here are two picture from Blickenstaff's (i.e. the best toy store every):

 And yes, I now own this lunch box!

And here are some pictures from Halloween (we won a couples costume award!). Sorry the pictures are not any better, but I do what I can. Sadly enough, all my red lip stick had worn off by this time and most of my pouf had flattened as well.