As a senior, the number one question you get asked is “what are your plans for the future?” Whether you have a job lined up or not, most often the real answer is you have no idea.
The pressure is on for recent graduates. Newsweek estimated 2.8 million university graduates will enter the job market this summer, and even though the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in years, millennials are still not getting the jobs they need.
Millennials still make up 40 percent of the unemployed population in the United States. We are getting paid less compared to the national income than people a decade ago were at this age.
People with master’s degrees are waitressing, and we are all going to have to juggle student loans pretty soon, so landing a job after graduation, which is obviously the goal, still isn’t always stress-free.
We’ve been studying, interning and gaining experience to try to prepare us for our dream jobs, just to find our dream jobs aren’t hiring. No one expects his or her first job out of college to be perfect. We all know we have to pay our dues before we can really feel like we are fulfilling our potential.
The problem is it’s hard to feel satisfied with a stepping-stone job, like entry-level positions, when the job culture is constantly telling you to “follow your heart” and “if you love your job, you will never work a day in your life.”
The reality is very few, if any, of us graduates entering the job market are going to be doing exactly what we’ve always wanted to do come next fall. Most of us will be in starter positions and just hoping to make an impression. Or we will take some time to try and find our real passion.
The important thing to remember is school is over and what comes next has no time limit.
Losing the structure of the education system is scary, I know, but it is also freeing in a way. You don’t have to have a schedule decided months in advance like you do when you pick classes. You don’t have to segment your time by semesters. From now on, it’s just life, and there is no way to know what is going to happen.
So don’t stress too much. Whether you are starting a fellowship or moving back home, nothing is permanent, and everything is going to be OK.
jordrile@indiana.edu
@RiledupIDS
