Insecurely confident: Job search frustrations

First of all I want to thank you for stopping by and checking out my very first blog entry! Welcome. Basically, I wanted to speak on my job search frustrations and how I feel somewhat stuck in a never ending labyrinth that just leads to dead-end upon dead-end, more frustration and my certain urges to eat something sweet. It could always be worse… right? I imagine trying to complete the labyrinth while being harassed by David Bowie who played the Goblin King in the movie Labyrinth (he totally freaked me out), his hideous wardrobe, and his goblins and let’s not forget the singing. Oh the horror, what normal person could function and stay focused under those circumstances?

Focus. Now back to the topic at hand. Some of you may be wondering why I titled it insecurely confident, well let me explain.

Since I was a little girl I was encouraged by my parents to excel in my studies and to go to college because with an education the sky is the limit. Does that saying ring a bell to any of you? I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s heard it but I did exactly that and  I listened to my parents, was on the A-B honor roll, got a full ride academic/soccer scholarship and off to college I went. Four years passed, I’m standing in my cap and gown with degree in hand and super excited I’m ready to take the world by storm. At that very moment if you were to ask me if I felt insecure I’d say Absolutely not if ask if I were confident, well yes indeed… this degree was going to give me the upper hand, I’m of value and I’m going to get my DREAM job A.S.A.P.

Man oh man I was soooooo naïve of the real world and once I got a taste of REALITY I quickly realized everything isn’t smooth sailing. I started to work but it was nothing in relation to my field of study but I had independence and felt like an adult. One thing I wasn’t too excited about was this thing called BILLS and another doozie ….drum roll please… and RENT…ugh who invented these monsters anyway?

Back to the journey of finding me… the days turned to weeks and weeks to months and months to years and so on and so on and I realized one thing. I’m not happy. I promised myself I would not be an individual working a job just to get the bills paid. I want to actually obtain a job that doesn’t feel like work, ultimately land my dream job (media or fashion related). Then one day I made a career change and started a new job and just months into adjusting to my new environment disaster hit and I like many other people around the world was LAID OFF due to pay cuts. Who would’ve thought this would happen, I’ve never been laid off before…what do I do? I start to diligently job search daily, making accounts for careerbuilder.com, monster.com, employFlorida.com and the list goes on. Typing in keys words such as news stations, media, on-air talent, search for the next VJ (hey why not), journalism, production assistant anything that I figured that would get my foot in the door. I even tried internships but even with that I was at a disadvantage. I’m a college graduate. Do you know how many times I got sick of seeing this “must be currently enrolled in an accredited university, receive college credit in exchange for hours worked and blah  blah blah?” Am I not worthy of getting the opportunity to obtain more knowledge in areas that I’m opened to gaining more experience? I am opened to internships and I’m opened to starting somewhere other than the top. I’m willing to put in the hard work and progressively climb upward until I feel I’ve reached a place where I can say I feel accomplished. It doesn’t stop there because I’m always striving to be better and learning is one thing I’d never retire from. There is always room to learn.

This is where insecurity sinks in when I apply job after job after job, when I feel confident that this one is THE ONE and no calls or I get those cute little cards back from the local stations saying we have received your application and it’s under review and then what…..absolutely nothing. If once you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again. Hence, the title insecurely confident because I am human and doubts will enter one’s mind when things take longer than we expect. The beauty of it all is that I know who I am and IF given the chance, picking me as the top candidate will not be a decision to regret. Am I perfect? By all means no, but I can tell you this, I’m passionate, hardworking, creative and most of all a team player.

Job searching is frustrating because I feel that some employers are not looking at the fact that my degree should counts for SOMETHING. I feel like those contestants that audition on American Idol…employers look at me I have the golden ticket, send me to Hollywood!

 I also feel that my lack of experience to them by not having 5-10yrs experience under my belt employers may view me as a liability. Or in some cases I feel they don’t have the time or money to go toward training an individual that may be in my shoes. Life is about taking risk…so why not see me as a risk worth taking?  I may not have the experience but I did study mass communications and all the components it takes to air a successful television/radio show, photography and produce a great paper to be published for four years.  I’m full of creative ideas and just for the record even the candidates that possess the desired years of experience are not all knowing and they too are exposed to new things. That’s just some food for thought.

Whew….glad I got that off my chest it’s time for a break so I’m just going to sit here and refrain from eating something sweet. Instead I’ll opt to daydream of all the endless possibilities as I drift away and hear the every so encouraging words of my parents resound in my ears and say “never stop dreaming, keep your eyes on the prize and lastly the sky is the limit!”

Thanks for paying attention and the journey goes on….next stop according to my GPS as that all so familiar voice states “recalculating make a U-turn"and get ready to do it all over again…job searching here I come!!!