And what do you do?

Opinions.  I have come to learn that everybody has plenty of them when it comes to the job hunt.

"Don't worry, it only took me two weeks to find a job.  Craigslist."

"I applied to hundreds of jobs and only got one interview.  Turned out the executive director went to the same college I did."

"You've only applied to twenty jobs?  You should have sent out at least 100-200 applications by now."

"How'd I get an interview?  The normal stuff: my resume, my references...  Also my dad called a guy he knows."

And my response to everything is generally some variation of: "..."

On one hand, it's helpful to get advice from different people, particularly friends of mine who have recently gone through the job search.  It's nice to hear from somebody else how trying the experience can be, that I could potentially hear from an organization weeks or even months after I've applied.  Nonetheless, everybody's experience is different.  Acquiring a job has to do with where you live, what your prior experiences are, what kind of job you're looking for, and a heaping dose of good timing and luck (on top of your personality and how hot you are, but I have absolutely nothing to worry about on either account.  What?  I have a dried up booger on my face?  Let me scrape that off).  I have to remind myself every bit of advice with a grain of salt; I can't predict how long my experience will take based on how long it took others - I can probably only assume that it will suck.

"So what do you do all day?"  This question, a favorite of many, also happens to be one of my favorites.  On opposite day.  "Well, I wake up early, look for jobs and apply for a few hours, then go to the gym, come home and make dinner for my family, and normally do a little more looking after dinner (sprinkled with the occasional cry to my mother and the consumption of mint chocolate chip ice cream in bed)"  "Oh...  Why don't you volunteer while you're looking?"  "I don't... know.  That's a really great idea! (What are you trying to say?  That I'm not doing enough?  Fuck off!)"

And you know what?  It probably is a great idea.  I'm sure it would look much better to be doing something when (...if) I interview and could be a possible "in" to working somewhere.  But I've been applying for just about month now and am only starting to find my way.  This sounds more like a convenient excuse instead of a legitimate reason, but I really didn't know how this process would be.  I thought that with a bachelor's degree from a relatively prestigious school, a good GPA, and two years professional work experience I'd be a viable candidate for a lot of jobs and land one in no time (in spite of what everybody told me).  But getting a job has thus far proven to be as difficult as everybody told me it would be.

"So what are you looking for?" A perfectly legitimate question, but once again, one that I hate answering. "Oh, you know, probably something in the arts.  I'd love to work at a museum or gallery, or especially an arts non-profit, but those jobs are few and far between, you know?"

I would love to work at a museum or gallery.  Though I haven't yet honed in on my exact career aspirations, I know that I'd like to spend the rest of my life making things.  Painting, collaging, taking pictures, or otherwise using my hands to make something that I think looks nice (and that ideally other people like, too) is something that makes me happy in a way that nothing else can.  Do I want to be a professional artist?  I have no clue.  Do I want to be a teacher?  I have no clue.  What would be my ideal job?  I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE, OKAY?   But I figure a museum or gallery wouldn't be a bad place to start.

My story:  After graduating from college in 2010, I worked at two different non-profit immigration law offices in Los Angeles for two years (the first job was through a one year volunteer program that provided me with housing and a minuscule stipend, the second one was a bona fide job).  Both jobs focused heavily on women's issues, immigration issues, and working with a largely Latino immigrant community - all things that I was passionate about.  Nonetheless, when I was offered a promotion after working a year at my second job, I declined.  Shortly after that, I quit.  I had come to hate the office I worked in, everybody I worked with was burnt out from working long hours for crappy pay, and I knew I didn't want to be an attorney.  I didn't want to commit any more time to a career that was ultimately a dead end for me.  So I quit my job, blew all (yes, all) of my savings to live and travel in Europe for ten weeks, and just before Christmas I moved home to Boston to find work.

And here I am.  Trying to find a job that doesn't make me hate myself while also attempting to quell my daily anxieties about being living at home and being unskilled/unprofessional/unqualified/a loser.  Every day I wonder if I should just apply to the slew of administrative positions floating around on the internet.  I am qualified, I could make decent pay, and I could be artistic on the side, I tell myself.  But then I remember how miserable I was doing administrative work in the past.  That I'm not getting any younger.  That I am more innovative than I think.  So I "x" out all the "ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - $45,000+" tabs I've opened in my desperation and apply to one or two jobs that I think I might actually like doing.

If you feel as desperate as I do, or could just use a little motivation, here's a couple of blog entries I read every now and then when I'm feeling deflated: 1 & 2

Now, time to chase my dreams from this drafty corner of Starbucks.  Brrr.

My First First Post

I didn't think it'd be like this.

I've considered starting a blog for years. In college I toyed with the idea of starting a fashion blog since I was convinced that I was the hippest girl at my Jesuit college (false) and that I had the dedication it took to keep up a blog (also false; about all I could afford to dedicate myself to was getting ripshit wasted and making it to class kind of on time).  Since then I've had no lack of ideas. Thrifting for dummies blog! OkCupid dating hijinks blog! Recipes for people who don't really like touching meat blog!

Needless to say, none of those ideas really got off the ground.

Yet now, at 24 years of age, I'm starting my first blog. And to think, all it took was years of thinking about doing it. And being recently unemployed.

The purpose of this blog is to document the goings-on of my life. A diary, essentially (except with more readers than just me and my mom). At its worst, it'll be a jumbled account of my life. At its best, it'll be a jumbled account of my life that you can laugh at and maybe even connect with.

Welcome.