Tuesday, May 14, 2013

This is what we call a Catch 22

I have discovered over the past several months that certain things in life just aren't any kind of fair, like trying to find a job after graduating college with a Bachelor's Degree in Telecommunications. I have hit a wall in my pre and post graduate search for a career because according to my potential employers I don't have enough experience. My four years in college taking 18 credit hours each semester doesn't seem to count for much. Which is surprising considering all of the different roles I had to play for classes. I've been a reporter, anchor, camera person, director, videographer, producer, editor, sound engineer, newspaper reporter, radio VJ, documentarian along with being a student employee. How much more experience do you want out of one person? 

I know that I should have tried to have more internships but I had to be practical and maintain a job to help pay for college, put gas in my car, have somewhere to live and food so I didn't starve. The only problem is all of that plus the staying up until 4 a.m. editing video for a documentary, or scrambling to set up interviews each week for a student run television program don't fit on the 8x11 piece of paper I send in. The only thing they see are my name, degree, that I've had one professional internship and quite a few, unrelated to my degree, summer jobs; but what else do I need to include that would attract a potential job offer? All of the responses I've received say their only complaint is I don't have enough experience; this is where the wall comes into play. Since I graduated in December I'm not eligible for internships anymore and I can't find a job because I need more experience but no one is willing to hire me so I can get that experience. This is what most people would call a Catch 22. 

So the big question is how do I get out of this Catch 22 I currently find myself in? I'm hoping that an employer will overlook my "lack of experience" and see I can make up for it with determination, a willingness to learn and an unmatched eagerness to begin my career. Fingers crossed everyone.

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