Tasha
Now that I have applied for graduation and can tell my family the definitive date that I will be a Master of Public Health, I am now starting to feel the pressure to become a productive member of society. I must join the workforce of America.
But that is not as simple as our forefathers made it seem. With an increasing number of people with degrees and the state of the economy, the reality of landing a dream job today is not the reality of our college educated parents. Many of my peers and I have come to many stark revelations about our first job and the search there of:
- The six-figure dream salary is not the mean starter. It is somewhere at the tip of the curve.
- Just because you graduate on Friday does not mean that you will start working on Monday. If fact, several Mondays may go by if you are picky (which you have the right to be).
- The exact position you desire or were trained to do may not be the first job you are offered or take or enjoy.
- It’s not just about who you know, it is about who they know and if they are hiring.
- It is a job to find a job. It does take effort and persistence.
In all fairness, there are employers looking for employees. As a graduate student at UM SPH, they actually do knock on our door. Half the struggle of finding a job is finding the right job for you. It is not enough to be a prospective employee of an organization, but the organization must also be a prospective employer of yours.
That being said, I am going to suit up in my MPH armor from the University of Michigan School of Public Health (one of the finest ateliers of job market couture) and forge my way to the land of employment. Though the scape has changed, the reality of adulthood, self-actualization, and student loans has not.
