Monday, September 1, 2008

Greeting and salutations

Hello world.

This is the story of my career. I'm currently unemployed.

First, some background: I graduated from a well-known university last year, with a BA in English. Highly marketable. After graduating, I did a year with Americorps*VISTA, so I am not without professional experience. In fact, I had been told during my year of service that a lot of employers look very favorably upon former VISTAs, and that I wouldn't have trouble finding a job. On top of this, I was president of a student organization for two years in college and am on the board of a small but growing convention.

I moved to a new city in May, 800 miles from home, to live with my boyfriend while he goes to law school. I have post-graduate aspirations of my own, but none of the schools here offer the course of study I want, so that's being put off until 2010.

I have been looking for a job consistently for the past three months. My plan was to stay in the nonprofit field, build off the development experience I gained in Americorps, and start a career as a grantwriter. I was also open to starting a career in publishing. Around late June, I broadened that search to any office position. In August, I broke down and started applying to retail (which I swore I would never do again).

So-- starting on Labor Day, irony of ironies-- I've decided to chronicle my misadventures in job hunting. As it stands, I have no job (i.e. method of earning a steady paycheck) and no career (i.e. occupation that I want to advance in and keep for the long run). Let's see what happens.

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