Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming…

By Brittany Davis

It’s crazy to think about the fact that you work your whole life to get to this point. The countless hours you spend studying and finding things to stack your resume to get the
best job. Sports. Community Service. Honors. Awards. You spend four years, but ultimately your entire life, doing whatever it takes to ensure that you will be the best candidate for the job your applying for. You think that because you’ve worked your ass off, it’s going to pay off, and it probably will. The thing is, nobody ever tells you what it feels like to wait. To apply to job after job and see no pay off. Yeah it’s a bad economy, and something crazy like 85% of us are unemployed and living at home with our parents again. You still think that that statistic is just a number; a number that couldn’t possibly include you.

I mean think about it. You got good grades, you mastered the material you were expected to master. You had the internships, you have the drive, but now it’s up to you to make it known that you’re ready. I’ll be honest, it’s a little discouraging. Knowing that you’ve worked so hard, and don’t have a job to show for it. It’s the not knowing that’s tough. The fact that you’ve applied to countless jobs and the only thing you have to show for it is the high number of e-mails in your “sent folder.” I’ve heard some people say that looking for a job, is a full time job. Turns out that it is more than just a clever saying, unfortunately it can also ring true. It’s hard to have faith that somewhere out there is a job for you, maybe not the dream job you’ve been envisioning but a job where you can prove you belong. The chance to prove that you aren’t all talk, and you have something to offer not only the company, but the world.

So next time you’re feeling like the ball isn’t rolling, like you need something to kick start this part of your life, let yourself be the spark. Do whatever it takes, but make sure you stay positive. Don’t just sit back and wait for an opportunity to come your way. Create your own opportunities. Find a hobby that helps you exercise your abilities, that helps you sharpen your skills. Hey, maybe start a blog to document your endeavors! Either way don’t become complacent. Nobody out there owes you anything. The only person who owes anything is you and that’s to yourself. You owe it to yourself to keep trying even when it feels like you’re swimming upstream. The more resumes you send out, the more opportunities you are giving yourself. Right now you may be residing in the realm of the unemployed, but your chance to move is coming. If I’ve learned anything it’s that those who work hard ultimately get rewarded, sometimes it just takes time. So have faith that change is coming, that the e-mail will come, or that the phone will ring, because it will. So right now your head might be down staring at the ground discouraged but I’m telling you right now to pick your head up. Do it. The opportunity to show what you can do and be all you can be is somewhere in the distance, you just have to be able to see it.