A Word of Advice... on graduation

By Joshua O'Connell
Posted Monday, March 31, 2003

I still haven't found a job yet and graduation is approaching. Do you have any ideas on what I can do?

--Jobless in June?

Write a cheesy advice column, use a lot of words, and get paid by the inch.

Well, that's what I'd do. In fact, that is what I do. But more generally, don't worry too much. There are a lot of students who have been struggling to find jobs right now, thanks to our economy. While it may be difficult right now, it's not impossible, and even if it's difficult now, as the economy hits its final low and starts turning upwards, numerous jobs will become available.

If you hit June 1 and there's no job for you to start, don't close off the opportunity of another summer-type job. A friend of mine is doing an internship and then working a weekend job on the side. The income provided by both isn't much, but depending on where you are it might not be horrible.

Even mall jobs are reaching $10 an hour or more in certain areas of work, with paid vacation included, the option for benefits, etc. Most suit jobs require you to work above and beyond the 40 hour work week when you begin employment, so working a second job to boost your income and let you squeak by while you're interviewing all over the tri-state area isn't a bad idea. I'm only using $10 an hour as an example here; a friend of mine is making $17 an hour in a mall job. That's half the income a 45-year-old nurse I know is making.

And if all else fails, despite the threats that your parents have probably been making since you were 10, I'm sure if you have to shack with them a bit, they'll understand. After all, there's a good number who have felt the purse strings pinch during one economy slump, and they might have even been laid off. Pay them rent, buy your own food, and hang on while the ride is bumpy. It'll pay off later, as long as you don't throw up when you exit the ride. And be sure to visit monster.com, hotjobs.com, or even the classifieds of the local paper to check out what companies are hiring right now - there might be ones you've missed.

--I don't want to be lonely either

It's so cold and dark in here… two letters, from different people, but the same answer will apply.

The same way you can send questions to the person writing a cheesy advice column is the same way you can communicate: the internet.

So many people talk about the dark and sinister addiction to Instant Messaging. In fact, The Mirror's own Alisha Holland turned in a story today about the subject of IM at work. All you office workers are spending all your time on IM, risking your company's trade secrets on a non-secure program just so you can send j/k and lmao to some friend in California. Priceless.

And that's the point. Computers are in so many places that it's likely that e-mail will always be a double-click away. IM isn't going anywhere, thanks to everyone and their dog having screen names, making newbies choose names longer than a dictionary entry.

Keeping in touch isn't that difficult.

One thing though: be sure to pay those bills on time and try not to change your contact information for awhile. (If they do, contact your friends and let them know.) That way, people know where to reach you. And if you think things might get hectic for awhile, you can always register with classmates.com - so many people have found them with their cheesy, yet effective ads, that a good number of your high school friends have probably already registered, in case you (like me) made the new year's resolution to get in touch with people who haven't talked to since the Reagan presidency. Good luck, and thanks for asking.

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