What to Do while Waiting for Employment

Hey ya'll,

     So I know I've dropped a lot of negativity/realism/whatever you want to call it in my last 2 posts. Clearly the struggle is very real. For this post I have decided to turn it around and lay on some real positive stuff here like I said I would. We'll get the yin and the yang going on.
   
     To begin with a great thing to do while you have the time is CLEAN OUT YOUR LIFE. I did this towards the beginning of this rough road. I had my best friend come over and we tackled the disaster area which I called my room. You see once you graduate college you are kind of an adult, even though it may not feel like it cause you are still living at home with parents. However, here's what you do, you go into whatever your space is and clean that bad boy up. I'm talking dust, vacuum/sweep, going through clothes, going through artifacts, getting the space under the dresser, and getting the semi-science experiments out from under your bed. I'm talking a real thorough clean.
     If you have trouble with getting rid of unnecessary items think to yourself, 'does this fit into my adult life?' 'do I want to carry this with me when I move?' 'Could someone else benefit from this?'. Now I won't lie, I had a hard time with that and those are the questions my best friend had the ask me and it worked for the most part (I just could not part with my Captain America shield and Iron Man mask). Also, be aware that I am not saying get rid of everything you own because sentimental stuff or once in a lifetime stuff, like a wooden airplane you and your great-grandfather built together will always fit into your adult life.
      In my opinion the hardest part is going through clothes. If you are anything like me you have clothes from your freshman year of high school (and maybe you don't) if you do, you need to go through them. Clean out your dressers, your closet, and ask yourself 'when was the last time I wore this?' If the answer is over 3 months ago get rid of it. If you try to convince yourself otherwise have your cleaning buddy tell you to put the shirt in the bag (meant for Salvation Army/Goodwill/thrift store) or else you get the hose again. Like I said before, don't get rid of your once in a lifetime stuff. If you have a prom dress over $200 keep it. It's beautiful, you put a lot of money into it, and it may hold precious memories.
       The best tip I can give you for cleaning out you life is make sure someone is with you. They may have better judgement on whether or not that cup you bought at a theme park-that one time-with that friend fits into your adult life. They will also keep you company and keep you focused, if you're really feeling crazy crank up some 90's jams.

       The second thing to do is get some kind of exercise regime going. Just like self-esteem and the job market go hand-in-hand, mental and physical health go hand-in-hand. I will say that I just started to do this, I started my regime Sunday and so far it's been pretty good. Now for me, my best friend and I decided we need something that will really get the job done exercise wise. She suggested Insanity, have I regretted doing that? Only once. I am the kind of person who holds very high expectations for myself and I get upset if I don't meet my standards. On the same token, I am the kind of person that wants to sweat during a work out and be sore after otherwise I don't feel like I did anything. If you are that person Insanity is for you, if you are not that person just try walking a mile everyday, or swimming laps, or something low-key that is beneficial and doesn't make you dread having to do it. No matter what you do, the endorphins, those feel-good chemicals, that your body releases give you a healthy high and clear up you head that has been fill with the stress of being unemployed.
     
     The third thing to do is simply take care of yourself. If you are feeling down because you can't find a job talk to someone, write about it, take a walk to clear your head, or even do community service. Helping other people gives you instant gratification and such a healthy high it can become an addiction (in a good way). Practice those random acts of kindness, help others and feel better about yourself. For me I love veterans so I help with VFW events, I bring my dog into the Veterans' home, I help someone else's day become brighter which in-turn makes my day brighter. You simply cannot go wrong with that.
     I would also suggest being in nature. Nature has the power to heal, you just need to let it. Go to the beach, listen to the waves, bask in the sun. Take a hike, challenge your body, climb to the top of the world and look at the views around you. Take it all in because you are on this Earth, you  are breathing, you are alive!

     I hope this post has been helpful and enjoyable! If you have any other suggestions leave a comment! Or if you want to just say something feel free to leave a comment! I always welcome the opinions of others :)
   

   

The Job Market and Self-Esteem

Hello all!

Man, it has been a while since my last post. I've been so busy and I don't even know what has made me busy. Anyway, so my blog today is about the job market and self-esteem. I've come to realize they go pretty much hand in hand. To begin, I was so lucky to be offered a job as a camp nurse. I have 10 more days left of this temporary job. It's been a blast for sure! However, I know this job is coming to an end and I will be unemployed....again.

As most of my friends and family know I have strictly been applying to VA hospital jobs. I want to work with veterans in the worst way. This issue is I am up against so many other nurses. Those nurses who have more experience, had a better GPA, went to a "better school", or whatever. The fact is I feel like I get overlooked because I am not as good on paper as I am in person. If these people could see me in the work environment I like to think they would think "Man, that is a good worker, I'm glad we gave her an opportunity." What a perfect dream that is.

The reality is they look at my resume (and probably don't read it) and maybe they look at the other documents I send in, but chances are, they don't.

I usually don't get this upset about the whole job thing but today was just the icing on the cake. I had an application sitting in a hospital for a month without any word as to what happened with it. It took me emailing the nurse recruiter for her to tell me "All the spots have been filled. Sorry."

Really? REALLY? You didn't have the decency to let me know ahead of time to say something like "We've reviewed your application and we are sorry but we have filled the positions." Like seriously, what happened to common decency? Maybe I am old-fashioned but I feel like if I was an employer I would let everyone who applied but didn't get the job know. It does not take that long to send out a mass email. It is pretty unprofessional if you ask me.

Also, don't people understand that by not getting back to someone about not getting a job is like saying "you're not even good enough for a rejection letter". BOOM Self-esteem gone. Which already gets destroyed by job posts that say 2 years experience required, 3 years experience required, NO NEW GRADS, the list goes on and on. It's getting old plain and simple.

So there you have it. A vent session about the way new graduates are treated, from one person's perspective. If anyone else has had similar experiences feel free to share! And I will try and make my next post a little more upbeat :)

***Disclaimer the image below has foul language.

The Reality

    This post is going to talk about real life. Now as I, and most of you, went through college we had the idea that we would be marketable, wanted, and have people asking if we wanted a job. I think most of us were under the delusion that having a degree was going to put us ahead of the game. This is still somewhat true. There have been studies that have shown the positive correlation between a person with a higher degree, better socioeconomic status, and better health. However, that is a long term study. Even though me and my classmates hold degrees we are facing unemployment. According to an article in the Huffington Post, college graduates unemployment rate is nearly 11%, doubling what is has in the past. Not to mention, 60% of us are working jobs that don't require a degree. What is up with that? I mean really? Here you have us 20-somethings, some of us have debt out the yin yang and we aren't able to find a job in the place we trained to be; the field we studied for, struggled for, and spent thousands of dollars on. So what are we left with? We're left with a minimum wage service job, living with our parents, making just enough to pay Sally Mae. It is simply ridiculous.

     We were told growing up that we had to go to college because without that degree we wouldn't find a job. Funny how things turn around, huh? Instead we apply to as many jobs as we can that require our degree only to be shut-down because we don't have any experience. No we don't have experience, because we've been giving up our time and our money to make ourselves better for you! No one wants to hire a new graduate because we don't have experience but we have the most up to date knowledge, we have learned to manage our time, and we are full of new ideas that could change the outcome of the business for the better. However, that's not good enough. The question is how do we get experience without someone willing to take a risk on us and allow us to prove ourselves as an asset to the business.

     Even as a recent graduate with a bachelor's in nursing it is difficult to find a job willing to hire me. I don't have the 1-2 years of experience. I don't have my license yet because I had to wait to be authorized to take the NCLEX and I have to pass, but I can assure it will be done. It's so strange to me that a hospital would rather have a nursing shortage than put the time and money into orienting a new graduate because we cost too much money, we make mistakes, we can't provide excellent care. FYI people, we're new nurses shoved into a world that we only scratched the surface of. It's really a downer. But maybe, for me, I have too high of goals. I want to work with a very specific population and that population alone. I want to work in the VA hospitals and I want it so bad the idea of working in a non-VA hospital seems ridiculous. In my situation, I am applying for jobs that are going to take a very long time to be processed, and that is just something I will probably have to accept.

    Lastly, the general population really should stop calling us millennials lazy. Most of us are not lazy. I mean there are a few, but there are a few in the older generation who are far more lazy than we are. We just happened to exist in a time where it is difficult for us to find good jobs and work in a specific field. However, we also, happen to exist in a time where we had to get a better education. We may be "lazy" but we are far more educated than the youth of the past. And I don't mean that in a negative way, I am simply stating a fact that past youth didn't require further education to develop a solid career.

    In a nutshell, I am just saying, Wake up employers of America! You have thousands of fresh new workers who can make your business flourish! Just take a chance on us and we won't let you down.  

***Disclaimer: I understand that this is not the case 100% of the time. It is just a general trend. I know that some people were actually offered jobs before they graduated :)

      

Introduction

Hello all and Welcome!
     To get started let me introduce myself. My name is Mariah, and I just graduated college (no surprise there). I graduated from the University of Maine in Orono with my bachelors of science in nursing, and I am currently waiting to take my NCLEX. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, it is the national exam that I have to take to receive my license. It more or less ensures that I won't kill anyone. Up until I take and pass that exam, I will be working as a nursing assistant so I can have money over my period of unemployment. I become unemployed after I pass my NCLEX because I will be overqualified to work as a nursing assistant, and it will take forever and a day for a job I applied for to get back to me. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.
     On a happier note, let me share with you some fun facts about myself, maybe lighten the mood.
          1) I live in the middle of the woods in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains up here in Maine.
          2) I have a one eyed pug named Maggie, and a old man bachelor cat named Rascals.
          3) I share my birthday with my brother who is 7 years younger than me.
          4) I recently developed a taste for gardening, only flowers so far.
          5) I got engaged under the fireworks, in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World (Which is my favorite place ever.)
          6) I've been to Belgium, Costa Rica, and Amsterdam
          7) I've traveled a lot within the US (if you haven't guessed, I love traveling)
          8) I consider myself a "Bro" I have friends, then I have Bros.
          9) I am a superhero fanatic, and I adore Captain America (maybe just Chris Evans's bod? Not really sure).
        10) I love elderly people, they crack me up and they are very wise if you just give them a chance to talk to you.

     Alrighty so there are 10 fun facts. I'm not really sure what else to add in this first post, since I have never blogged before and honestly I'm not really sure about what I'm doing. I'll just wing it! If anyone who reads this has anything they'd like to share or have any suggestions, just leave a comment!

To end this post here is an image of a pug in a princess hat.