After graduating Fisk University with a degree in English and analyzing the job market in 2009, I knew that it would be near-impossible for me to find a journalism job, so I decided I needed a back-up plan. I wanted more experience and skills that would prepare me for the current media market, so I enrolled at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. My goal was to acquire crucial skills and experience that would help catapult my career into the next level.
A year later, I found myself in a very similar predicament as to when I graduated Fisk. While I try to remain optimistic about my job prospects, I have discovered that finding a job still seems to be a Sisyphean task clouded in fear and doubt.
One of my biggest disappointments while searching for a job happened several weeks ago. The job seemed perfect for me. It wanted recently graduated students to intern for a year. The job would have provided a stipend, benefits and even a place to live for the duration of the internship. While interning, students would be tasked with writing articles, creating multimedia journalism for the web and shadowing more seasoned journalists within the program. I immediately knew that was the program I wanted to join, and I began contacting references and completing the application form.
Sadly, my optimism was shattered only two days later when the director thanked me for my enthusiasm in the position but informed me that the position had already been filled. Later, another potential employer informed me that she had chosen someone else for the position for which I was applying.
Currently, I am anxiously awaiting responses from two potential employers. Both are dream jobs and would encompass writing, entertainment and using multimedia and alternative journalism to best convey a narrative. Until then, I am working to complete my master's at Northwestern. I expect to graduate at the end of August.
While I have experienced disappointments, I am still highly optimistic that I will find work. I know that it takes persistence and dedication on my part, and I am continuing to search for positions that I believe would best complement me as a person.
Jett Wells: WATCH: Young, Educated And UNPAID
You're an able bodied person who should be able to meet all criteria for military service.
It may be that a course in entrepreneurship will work better for you than an Masters in anything. You have knowledge, and that can be sold. The internet is a rich field for people selling knowledge.
My wife, also a great writer, now writes and edits for Trendhunter (Google it). She's paid for being an efficient writer and researcher. Its not great money, but she has developed some street cred (read job experience) not as a writer, but as an expert on her subject (green technology). Soon she'll have a following sufficient to write her own blog, sell articles, and move towards making a living without ever being hired as a traditional writer.
More than one way to skin a cat. Start with the ears, or maybe the tail. Some say always with the front legs,, you get the picture.
Good luck to you. Stop falling back to education. Go grab your life, and put the books away.