Things Fall Apart?

As this semester has progressed the prospect of work for December graduates continued to erode.

At Richmond's career fair in August the booths were bustling with students looking to be hired and professionals, looking to hire. As one of those wide-eyed students, I was pretty excited and felt good about my prospects. As the semester moved on and the Wall Street Journal's economic outlook got darker and darker, the light on my prospects also began to weaken. I came out of the career fair with two solid interviews. However, after an interview I was informed by the companies that they were no longer able to hire new employees due to the economy or that they were revising the roles of the employees they would hire. This was disappointing but if nothing else, I took away plenty of knowledge from the interviews I had - they were somewhat entertaining as well.

Thankfully, I'm not in a position where once I graduate if I don't have a job I don't eat. This knowledge also hasn't helped my job searching as I've been a little less intense than I could have. But, I still worry about those who don't have a buffer they can work from until the economy switches back to hiring mode. More than one person has told me "it's a great time to go to graduate school" and that is what others graduating with me are looking to do. I just don't feel like I would be able to get the most out of grad school yet. I want to experience more before I spend more time in a class room. I want to solve real world problems, I want to work with people. I want to work from 8-5 (or whatever) regularly and see how well I adjust. I've done the academic learning thing for a while - I want to see what else is out there.

Don't fear though, all is not lost for me. Despite my lackadaisical job search I've found and interviewed for a position which I think would be both fascinating, fun, and a great experience and with a company that isn't as subject to the whims of the market as others. Here's hoping that works out!