The Catch Up Post - First Job and Really Good State School

Contributor: Paralith

Woah, I'm behind. Sorry about that guys. I completely missed the whole first job topic. Let me try to make it up.

The First Job ... Will be Harder to Get Than You Think It Will.

The last year and a half of college, I worked as a research assistant in two genetics labs (sequentially, not simultaneously). I was proud of myself for having done so, and after graduation I received so many congratulations and pats on the back and sentiments of confidence that I was sure I would have little difficulty finding a job when I moved out to a big city with my boyfriend (who was moving there for a job he had already procured).

*wrong answer buzzer noise*

Partly, my overconfidence did me in. I applied to some places, and then sat back and relaxed, figuring that any time now, I'd get the call for the interview and shortly after that be offered a job. Partly, my exultation at being DONE with school did me in. I was out! I was free! After 16+ straight years of educational responsibilities, I figured I deserved to spend a few months without having to do SHIT.

The hammer of reality came down on my head when finally, after waiting for nearly a month to hear back from the last place I had interviewed at, I was officially turned down. I didn't have what it took. In desperation to get off my butt and do SOMETHING, I turned to temping, which had the generally nightmarish results that most people report. Don't get me wrong, I met some nice people. And it was probably good for me to get my nose rubbed into the grindstone of menial and irritating labor to really motivate me to get a job in my field. But damn I never want to go back there again.

At that point, I was finally ready to really WORK on finding a job. To search and scrounge and apply everywhere to everything and use every interviewing trick in the book. That's what it takes. And it worked out for me, granted in a way that was kind of a fluke, as I've mentioned before.

In the process of sending my application to about five different postings in a row one day, I missed the fine print of one posting that stated the position was for a postdoc. Oops. After realizing that, I figured I'd just never hear from them. Fortunately for me, shortly after the postdoc position opened, a research assistant position opened at the same place, and my current boss just considered my application for that position. And called me, and hired me. But it's a damn good thing I never saw that postdoc note, or I would never have applied.

I really enjoy my job. I'm doing active research, I'm learning a LOT, the experience will be invaluable for my future, and for the most part, the people I'm working with are really great too (and even if they aren't, their quirks make for greatly amusing stories for me to tell my friends). I do have some complaints, which would be more serious if I was planning on spending several years here - but as an intermediate step between undergrad and grad school, it's been great. (And I've had money and benefits and that's IMPOSSIBLE to complain about.)

Really Good State School (Or, Regularly Scheduled Program Interruption Continued Yet Again)

Is it just me, or does it seem to be a really small-town mentality to assume that if there's a good school in your home neighborhood, and some of your friends and family went there, you're in some way destined to go, and it's a strange and unexpected twist of fate if you don't? I dislike small-town mentalities. The world is not a small town. Shit don't always work that way.

I did go to Really Good State School, but I had my reasons for wanting to stay close to my family at the time. As I was starting college, my father was starting chemotherapy. In such a situation, it's convenient to have a good school in your home town. Plus, I was kind of a wimp at the time and the idea of moving out of state really did scare me (and I have great respect for Speak Coffee and City Girl for not being scared of it!). Either way, every person's needs and desires are different, and yes, I would be kind of insulted if someone implied that it was downright strange that my needs and desires happened to be different than what that person thought they should be.

My first job...and my first real job

First of all, let me apologize for being scarce. Come to think of it, we've all been pretty scarce. I know we've all be dealing with a lot lately, but I think we should get back on track with this blog.

I'll start.

So my first job when I graduated college was working at a convenience store. Yes, no lie. The only job qualifications were that you had to be able to count from 1-10 and understand basic English. Basic. English. I can't really tell you why I did it other than that I wanted to make some extra cash while I was acting over the summer.

Maybe I should consider those two acting gigs to be my first job? I did get paid for it...

Well anyway, I've had lots of craptastic jobs. While I was in college I was a telemarketer and an office assisant for a nearby college. Then there was convenience store hell. After I moved to the city I worked for six months for a high-end department store that shall remain nameless. It kind of made me want to slit my wrists and I still have nights when I wake up in a cold sweat from dreams that I still work there. After that I worked as a temp for six months which was good, bad, and inconsistent.

Then I decided I didn't want to be an actress anymore because not having a steady, 9-5, salaried job in a big city is bull shit. I have great admiration for the true artistic souls out there that can survive on ramen noodles and live in a cardboard box while they work on their craft. I am not one of them. I need some consistancy in my life. I also need shoes.

So now, I am happy to announce that I am, for the first time, officially employed. Beginning April 14th I will be a publicist for a Broadway and off-Broadway PR office. This is where I was interning, and I was not expecting them to make me a job offer. But they did. And I took it. And I'm freaking psyched.

So what was my first paying job after graduating college? As far as I'm concerned, this is it.

And the heavenly choirs of angels rejoiced.

My First Paycheck

I worked through college and kept that job the summer after I graduated, thinking I wouldn't be able to get a gig otherwise with them knowing I was about to leave again for more school ... then plans changed.

My first post-school paying gig was coffee shop barista. I made more than minimum wage until the state decided that a "living wage" was higher than $5.15 and in fact, higher than what I was being paid. Which was true.

The tips were shitty but I was excited just to be making my own money. It meant being on my feet six hours straight, dealing with snotty and strange customers and co-workers that didn't shower. Some that started conversations with me about all of their tattoos and related stories of how when she moved into her grandmother's house grandma left grandpa in the closet. (His ashes were bagged, sealed and stashed on the top shelf.)

The owner was psycho. He was about 5'4" and a body builder. Yep. He didn't much like coffee shops, his wife hated them, but he was an "entrepreneur" which meant he was going to put up with the pain, bitch at us and end up fat and rich. Which might have happened if he hadn't laid off the manager (too expensive) and told the senior barista on duty to do the books whenever they were on. That's when I quit. I didn't sign on to be your manager and I was most certainly not going to get yelled at when your books got screwed up because you had eight different people doing them at once! (I'm serious, there were eight of us editing one spreadsheet.)

While the manager was still there I had a good time. He was easy going and had a similar sense of humor. And in general was a good guy. The kind of person who you actually wanted to work for because he understood that life happens and he didn't take it out on us. Oh, and unlike the owner-boss-guy, he didn't state the good/bad in terms of male/female genitalia. Yeah.

I can still make pretty awesome espressos, cappuccinos and lattes though. And I'm an expert in what coffee grind to use given your machine and filter. Oh and if you ever find coffee that is Tanzanian Peaberry - buy some! I think it's better than anything that starbucks brews (too dark and often too bitter if you're not careful) and even better than Kona coffee. Other than the fact that Kona is the only US grown coffee (yea Hawai'i!) I don't see what the big deal about the Kona coffee is.

Just now do I finally have a job that allows me to buy into a health care program, and that's being a sub-teacher/sub-secretary for a public school. I also have a 401(k) for some of my measly earnings to roll into. The coffee shop sure as hell didn't offer any of that. You had to work 40 hours consistently in order to qualify with that coffee company (Starbucks at least has a better corporate ethic and lets anyone buy in). And, lo and behold, no one was allowed to work seven days straight, therefore, at most you could work six six-hour shifts ... and clock out right under the moment when they had to offer you benefits. Bravo, bravo, dirtbags.

A Job? What's that?

Oh, the first job after college. Then there's the notion that there are jobs, and "real" jobs. There's pay the rent jobs and why am I here jobs and this is soooo not worth it jobs. But all of them come with the feeling of cash falling into your hot little hands.

And how on earth does one find and obtain that "real" job in the Real World without experience and without a relevant degree. You can always be an Enterprise Rent-A-Car manager, they hire right out of colleges and I have a girlfriend that does just that. However for many of us the term "business manager" never appealed. So we went after other jobs.

Tell me about the first place you worked after college. Tell me about the job searching. And why you're no longer at that first place you worked after college.