I finally decided I needed a blog to let out my frustrations about how a young, dynamic, capable person cannot find a good job that can support a decent life. I'm not blaming any one person, but I don't feel as if my current troubles are my fault.
I am 22 years old, and I recently graduated from a small, private, liberal arts college. I have a bachelor's degree of science in kinesiology and I minored in chemistry. There are no specific jobs calling for this degree, but I will never regret dedicating those 4 years of my life to studying health and wellness. Kinesiology is sometimes called "exercise science". I use that term to describe it to people who don't understand, but I'd rather call it Kines. because exercise science makes me think of a personal trainer. That IS NOT what I am. I'm much more than that.
In my college classes, in high school as a student athletic trainer, and through my own personal studying, I now consider myself a "Health and Wellness Professional" and if I ever get around to making business cards before I get a job, that is going to be my tag line. I have a HUGE amount of knowledge and know-how in almost every realm of health and wellness: REHABILITATION, FITNESS, NUTRITION, ANATOMY, HUMAN AND EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY, MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION OF SPORT AND HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH, ATHLETIC TRAINING, FIRST AID, PREVENTION OF INJURY (ATHLETIC AND OTHERWISE), SPORT/HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, BIOMECHANICS, INORGANIC, ORGANIC, AND BIOCHEMISTRY, and the unique ability to adapt and think outside the box....so I know that there is no better candidate for ANY career in health and wellness than me.
I'm hard working, strong, independent, great at taking instruction and constructive criticism, punctual, and most of all: WILLING to throw myself at full force into a career where I will hopefully make people's lives happier and healthier.
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There is another side to this story as well: I hope that I get the privilege of staying in the greater Lake Cumberland, KY area. 100% of my family is here. I've been dating a man for 4.5 years whom I want to marry and settle with. We might already be married, except who can afford to get married when neither party has a full time job? He is in the same boat as me. Same degree, basically the same experience, only he's been searching for a year longer than me because he graduated in 2008.
Aside from my personal desire to stay close to home...who can afford to move to a higher-living expense area? I make slightly over minimum wage working part-time (10 hours per week, if I'm lucky) at a retail store. I live with my parents because I can't afford anything else. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR COMPLAINING! I thank God every single day for the fact that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and my parents do give me plenty of freedom. BUT, I am 22 years old...I'm ready for my own space, and that's all I really have to say about that.
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So far, I've sent out (what seems like) millions of resumes and applications to places, whether they are hiring at the moment or not, with no results so far. At the moment, I don't think I'll name individual companies. I'll say that jobs are either NK (no kinesiology required) or Kines. jobs to distinguish between what is up my alley, or just a job that I can do that uses skills other than what I learned in college. Here are some of my favorite experiences so far:
A) a NK job, and my first resume sent out since graduation. I was going on a trip as soon as I left school and I was planning on starting my job search after I got back, but I found one job which sounded like so much fun and I would be doing something I was very knowledgeable about and that I could really see myself excelling in. I decided to go ahead and send my resume because there was a DEADLINE of May 20.
I go on my vacation (approx. may 18-22), and when I get back I call this company and speak directly to the person in charge of hiring someone for this position. No word yet. Ok, I'll call back next week. 2.5 weeks total after the deadline for receiving resumes, I'm talking to this woman and she tells me, "Honey, We are still receiving resumes so a decision on interviews hasn't been made yet". Excuse me? What? You had a STRICT, EMPHASIZED deadline that I scrambled to meet before leaving the state and you are still receiving LATE resumes 2.5 weeks later? OK...makes sense, haha. Not encouraging. I keep calling approximately once a week and finally after weeks of nothing, I hear "Sweetie, We'll be making our decision for interviews tomorrow so if you don't hear anything by the end of the week, you obviously aren't in the running".
There is so much wrong with that statement, in my opinion!
a) Calling an applicant "honey" and "sweetie" isn't professional and makes me feel as if I'm not being seen as a professional. It makes me wonder if I should take the graduation dates off my resume because it wouldn't take and idiot to deduce the fact that I'm 22 because I graduated high school in 2005 and college 4 years later.
b) I already talked about the fact that they are not paying attention to their own set deadlines, which is highly unprofessional and unorganized. I'm just thinking out loud here, but it makes me think someone promised the job to someone and they just had to accept applications as a technicality and they were just waiting on that person's application. If you want to know why I think that, it's because I know that has happened in the past.
c) The tone of this woman's voice was so bitchy and conceited. I still want this job because I think that I would be a perfect fit for this position, but after speaking to this woman on the phone several times, I have to wonder what it's like to work next to her everyday.
2) Another job I want to discuss is a receptionist position. Some background info: I loathe receptionists. I'm sorry if a reader is a receptionist and you are not like this, but this is probably 90% of receptionists in the world. I will not apply for reception jobs because I do not like dealing with them when I call an office. They are unfriendly, way to smart elic, and act as if they rule the world. But, I applied for one receptionist job because it was in a rather large company in the area that I've always wanted to work for, that I could move up the ranks in. I CAN DO A RECPTIONIST JOB, ITS NOT HARD. I applied and called approximately once a week to check up on it. There was a name and number to call, but everytime, no matter the day or the hour, I was told this woman was "in a meeting". After hearing that several times, I finally figured out that she just didn't want to talk to me. No one is in meetings that much! If you don't wish to accept calls, DON'T GIVE YOUR NAME AND NUMBER, DUH! You are the head of a department probably making good money, and a jobless college grad knows that. What's up with that?
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I fully understand that from a different perspective, that these jobs probably have reasons for doing the things that they do, but hey...this is my blog and my venting about I don't like the way I'm being treated. I have many other stories to tell about applying and conversations with people, but thats all I have to share now. My life is never boring and I have a one-of-a-kind people-drawing quality that my friends and family will attest to: You'll never believe the things that people say to me. I never lie...its uncanny the conversations and the secrets, lies, and truths that people tell me that they don't want anyone else to know.
Enjoy reading my blog...it helps me to let it out so that I can remain the composed professional I am without exploding on some of the people in the community.
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