Are you currently employed? define employed...

Okay so according to dictionary.com (oh blessed tool that you are) employment is defined as "an act or instance of employing someone or something". Great, so according to dictionary.com I am employed. I do things. I go to class. I volunteer. I take entirely too much joy in watching Regis and Kelly every morning. Sadly, dictionary.com is not the standard to which employment is measured.

Which got me thinking, exactly how does one measure employment? I think if I'm going to be successful in achieving something this year, I need to know what I'm working towards. So the ultimate goal is gainful employment. As in it doesn't cost me money to work.

Because the thing is, there are tons of employment opportunities out there. A personal favorite is one I ran across this summer. A human right's lobbyist group in DC was seeking an intern for an unpaid position. Qualifications included a bachelor's degree. So what I'm hearing from this human right's group is that they want slave labor in their office, but no where else...

I'm not saying that unpaid internships don't have their place. I certainly did my fair share of them and benefitted enormously. But post- college internships should at least come with pending job offer. Honestly, I've heard of more unpaid internships for college graduates, its shocking. The whole idea behind college, so I've been told, is that its supposed to open up these jobs that have higher earning potential.

Does anyone else feel like some businesses are taking advantage of this situation a little bit when it comes to internships? I mean, I understand that businesses are in trouble and have had to cut back. But is relying on unpaid labor the solution? I see a slippery slope...

My Game Plan

When the glorious day of graduation had arrived and a job had not, it became imminently important that I come up with some sort of plan in order to fill my time (productively?) after graduation. Up until that point, when asked "so what are you doing next year?" it was socially acceptable to have some sort of vague, avant-garde response about how the economy had derailed your plans and that you were gonna "see what happens".

I miss avant-garde because it essentially meant you got to ignore reality and plow right through under any sort of circumstance you may dream up. Of course the down side is that you end of making decisions based on those circumstance you dreamed up, and now you are what the rest of the world (operating under circumstance of reality) call dillusional.

And I miss vague. For some reason or other, I can't remember right now. You know? Of course you do.

Since my subscription to vague and avant-garde have both run out, I am left with a very serious and specific problem. Despite our education, experience, and facebook expertise, I and many of my fellow class of 2009-ers, seem to be unemployable. At least for the time being. (Hence the blog, duh)

My plan is to start fresh, in a field more known for its stable employment opportunities: health care. (Lets just hope that the new healthcare plan plays to my favor, because if not I'm gonna feel really stupid.)

So after 4 years of studying advertising, I spent my first summer out of college... in college. I took classes all summer and just this week I have returned to Chapel Hill in order to continue on with the prerequisites. So hopefully in a year, probably two, I can be ready to apply to PA school. God and stock market willing...

Tomorrow's topic: defining 'employed' or eggs in two baskets

Matriculation

Calling on all the unemployed of the college class of 2009. I know you're out there. And I know you've got the time to read blogs like this one. Welcome to the company for which your misery has been longing. It is the beginning of a year long journey I'll be attempting to navigate here.

So, I just graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication in the Advertising sequence. I also minored in English. So I guess a blog is an obvious move for me. Although, that seems to mean precious little today. I'm 3 months out from graduation and I am yet to experience the miracle of gainful employment.

But I'm not alone. There is plenty of company for my misery. And so that is what you can hope to find here. How are all of us, the unemployed college class of 2009, handling the unbelievably inconvenient and poorly timed recession?

I'm excited about this for a few reasons.

1. It will give me something to do everyday, which is kinda like a job right? Sans the pay check.

2. I'm already impressed with the game plans that my fellow class of 2009-ers have come up with to get through this mess. Some are brilliant, some are just entertaining...

3. I'm optimistic that should this blog fall in the way of the correct government officials there could soon be a bail out plan for recent college graduates. When some fellow class of 2009-ers and I were discussing this last night we though that a Cash for Drunkards program would be an appropriate follow-up to the success of the Cash for Clunkers program.... thoughts anyone? Call your Congressman.

tomorrow's topic: what am I doing?