graduated 10 months ago - still jobless

[Jour]

Heyy

I graduated from University of Calgary with a Communications degree last year and also have a Diploma from SAIT. I know how to write and communicate very well and know quite a bit in photography, and videography... I also know how to work lots of computer programs like Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, Social Media monitoring & updates.. etc. Basic web designing & graphic designing... and more

For many months now I have been applying for jobs everyday online.
Have gone to many job fairs & career fairs.. gotten my resume checked from many people, gone to 4 different job agencies, and a few networking events.... i also have linked in...

I have 4 years of experience in my communications, public relations, journalism, marketing field... but it's mostly volunteer and part-time... and not for any big name companies.

Wondering if someone could help me out or had any tips.. etc.

My loans are piling up and I'm financially stressed.

Appreciate any help,
Thank you

[Little Dragon]

What type of job are you interested in doing with your degree?
PM me, I might have a lead (marketing related) for you depending on what you are looking for.

[taemo]

PM me too, I think there will be a marketing position opening soon where I work, and it's an O&G company

[EK69]

i dont think he gives a shit where he works at this point... graduated 10 months ago means student loan payments started 4 months ago i believe

heyyyyyy


what do the staffing agencies say?

[z2two]

you got a crappy degree

[z2two]

Originally posted by Jour
Heyy

I know how to write and communicate very well

Heyy

I hope you didn't use that as a salutation in your cover letters...

[Type_S1]

I do wish you the best of luck, hopefully the beyonders here have legit leads. This seems like a lot of people I know who went to school not understand what or where their degree will get them and are now having a hard time getting employed.

[ga16i]

Have you put together a portfolio or something to show what you can do with social media, photography, videography, etc? Have you gotten interviews with the current resume?

Looking back now at when I first graduated almost 9 years ago, I should have disregarded what the people in the UofC career centre told me about my resume. I had them go through it, and the final result was completely retarded if I looked at it today. I had almost a quarter of the front page dedicated to just my mailing address hahaha. I guess they thought that was important and perfectly fine. It just looked like a big mess and way too wordy about the most useless class projects I had for "experience". Thinking about it now, it should be what I expected from young punks who also didn't have a "real job" haha

If you're financially stressed, perhaps look at retail, shouldn't be too hard to find something. I spent 5 months at The Bay after graduation while looking for a job related to my field of study. While still unemployed, have you tried freelancing just writing articles and such? That's a great way to start building up experience and network. Some income is better than no income.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by z2two
you got a crappy degree

[403Gemini]

Get ready to go into a business/industry where your degree will mean nothing . I found most people who went to school didn't end up doing shit all with their degrees, unless it was directly related to something specialized like law/med, etc.

I think this is one thing the kids at SAIT are somewhat lucky for, there are TONS of trade jobs out there that they can easily get into, but taking finance/communications etc, its a very competitive market.

[revelations]

OP you need to get to first base right now, not hit a home run.

Bein idle for 10 months raises huge flags with a lot of HR people - at least a job of some sort would pay some of the bills and look better on your resume.

Lot of warehouse positions avail, construction an trades as mentioned above. There is no excuse fror not having -A- job in Calgary in this economoy, even though it mightno be in your desired profession.

[Disoblige]

OP, are you at least working part-time while looking for a job? If not, why not?

+1 to revelations' post

[ExtraSlow]

When I graduated from university with an oil and gas engineering degree and relevant internship experience, I didn't have a job lined up. I worked security, I worked nights at a fertilizer factory putting manure into bags, I worked my ass off meeting people and networking. Took me seven months to find a "real" job. I was busy as hell for that entire time.

Simply sending out resumes from your parents basement doesn't mean shit.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by z2two


Heyy

Exactly what I was thinking.

Honestly, OP, I hope you dumb down your spelling and grammar for the lowly people of the internet - because if your posts are truly a representation of your writing skills then you are vastly overrating your own abilities.

[mboldt]

This is an extremely difficult field to get into without knowing people.

Graphic Design, Journalism, Photography, Videography, etc. is a flooded market where everyone thinks they can do it and want to get into it (not saying you can't) but you see a lot of retarded people who think they're amazing at it getting the jobs without any work experience because they just know someone.

For example I got picked up for a position doing social media / marketing / events / brand awareness etc. without going to school or having any prerequisites because someone mentioned my work and personality type to my employer who offered me the job.

It's tough but keep plugging away.. Ask people you know who may know other people.. Take what you can to start off and get some experience.

[403ep3]

I don't get why you didn't start working, any job at all, in the meantime. I'm pretty sure you can get some time off here and there to schedule interviews. My girlfriend is in HR and they don't like seeing a huge gap in your résumé; it definitely does raise some questions and that might be a reason you aren't getting chosen for an interview.

I tried applying a lot for the first month out of university. I had a tough time finding a real job so then I just accepted a job that I could earn money in the meantime.

Good luck to you

[Xtrema]

Gap in resume is bad. Hope you did something in that 10 months. Even internship or volunteering to show some initiative. Being idle for too long (especially the last 10 months, in Calgary of all places) usually tell employer that everyone else is taking a pass on you which means they saw something they didn't like.

And you are currently fighting with another wave of graduates as well and most would already go positions confirmed by this time if they are good.

Go out and do some volunteering and build up references and connections. Hopefully the beyonders leads work out for you.

[bituerbo]

10 months of job searching and still no job? Sounds like you're doing something wrong. Get a job... ANY job for start.

If you're getting an interview, you're probably not interviewing well.
If you're not getting an interview, you're probably overshooting on the jobs you're applying for.

[Myrrinda]

Volunteer work in your field counts as experience, even if you're not getting paid for it. Get a crappy job, volunteer part time, and then use that experience and those references for job applications.

[thrasher22]

Maybe narrow your focus first? It sounds like you have a wide array of skills, but its hard to get a job unless you can put a title on yourself, then chase after specific jobs.