Unemployed After College? My Experience & Advice No One Wants to Tell You

this is not going to be a video that gives you the standard advice like apply to jobs like it's your job stick to a schedule remember to exercise no and I probably spent the first few weeks of I unemployment eating ice cream watching Netflix and acting like everything was okay so I would be a total hypocrite to give that advice however I can't give you the advice that actually did get me out of a slump and really change my mindset when it came to applying to jobs and that's what I'll be sharing with you today as I mentioned in my last video you can download the right path which is a series of writing reflections that I made myself and have used to gain perspective and clarity when it came to my career and just my purpose in life in general you can check that out in the link in the description for the best college and career advice subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new video every single Monday you might be thinking why should I listen to her about this specific issue not only have I had a ton of jobs in my life but I've also been employed right out of college like I mentioned I know exactly what this is like even though of course with kovat and the pandemic right now it's a little bit different in college I had two jobs and three internships altogether and then in the 18 months after college I've had five jobs actually so I am very very painfully aware of the job application process and everything that goes into that and right now I'm gonna be honest it's not looking good um you don't need me to tell you this but in terms of the job market really it has not been worse since the Great Depression even before the pandemic started forty-one percent of recent college grads were working in jobs that didn't require degrees which is underemployment and then now about half of recent college grads are just completely unemployed like they don't have any jobs whatsoever which makes sense considering that the displacement and layoffs caused by the pandemic have really focused in on groups that are making less than 50k or 100k a year and that's why right now this job market is a dumpster fire my first tip is to remember that this is the context that you're dealing with and to adjust your mindset accordingly the American Dream of infinite upward mobility and having a house by the time you're 25 is simply non-existent it's dead and meritocracy is essentially at this point a scam that elites have used to justify their immense amounts of wealth and power lately I've become really interested in this topic so I will link a few podcasts and books that I've checked out related to meritocracy in the description box as well but basically mindset is everything here you are not a failure for being unemployed or for struggling out of college this is the system that you're working within and it has really failed you not the other way around a concrete strategy to help with this is to really cultivate the energy that you let into your life and to maybe unfollow certain people on social media or online who make you feel like you are inferior in any way I know there's been a huge trend lately of people posting things like how I bought my first house at the age of 23 or how I bought XYZ car as a 25 year old but you know stuff like that people sharing their income if that is not the type of energy that you want in your life you don't need it if it inspires you and motivates you of course you should keep that around but that is something that's really helped me personally adjust my mindset and become a little bit easier on myself basically you are enough you've busted your ass through college to get here and the situation that you're in is simply completely out of your control you got to remember that what you're dealing with is now the new normal and there are ways to move forward but guilt tripping and shaming yourself are not two of those ways my second tip for people who are unemployed after college is to not please please please please please do not go to grad school because you can't find a job if it wasn't really in your plan all along to go to grad school and you're struggling to get a job or you're feeling a little bit bored and you miss the structure of schools so you're like oh I might want to go to grad school don't don't do it the especially messed up part of this is that universities know this they know that students once they become accustomed to being in a higher education setting they want a master's degree because they've been trained to do education and so that's why master's degrees have really exploded in recent years as cash cows essentially for universities especially because there are caps on the amounts that you can take out on federal loans for your undergrad but there are no caps for your grad loans as a result they can charge insane amounts of money for these master's degrees even though the return on investment the ROI may or may not even be there if you're really interested in learning a topic there are so many online courses and resources even schools amazing schools like Ivy League's have free classes online for so many topics that you might be interested in so when it comes to enrolling in grad school you really got to do it because it aligns with your career and it's something that's necessary to get you to the next level I have a post on my Instagram that I'll link below that talks a little bit more about why you should go to grad school and how to know if grad school is right for you yeah I could go on and on about this subject because it's just a vicious cycle you can't get a job after the bachelors so you get a masters then people find themselves overqualified with the masters and then they can't get a job so then they go back to the PhD it's just it it's out of control let me move on tip number three is addressing the crux of the issue which is really money if you're unemployed the main thing that is stressing you out other than the fact that maybe your time is a little bit unstructured is the fact that you don't have a consistent stream of income now this tip might be a little bit controversial given how bad the job market right is right now but remember the economy is separate from the job market the job market is terrible people are not hiring they're hiring freezes everywhere but the economy which is where you know GDP is calculated and you see the stock market just going up and up and up the is actually doing really really well people have that $1200 check that they got from the government they're able to you know receive unemployment and when it comes to starting a business it's not like you wouldn't have customers or people who are willing to pay you so really it is a great time to consider starting a business whether it be an online business or something that's in person however here I'm gonna be talking more about online businesses because that's where a lot of people can more easily get their start you don't need as much capital you really just need a laptop and maybe some equipment and if you have just been itching to really do something with your time and feel a sense of accomplishment because you don't really get that from sending out resumes every day and applying for jobs you just feel the rejection you you feel like it's a slog you know you gotta have something that is a project that you're working on and that is really gonna build you up and build your confidence up as well and maybe even your wealth now especially if you're a young person you might be thinking okay I that sounds cool and all but I really don't have an interest in starting a business I'm not an entrepreneur it always just seemed like it'd be too stressful and inconsistent income is not something that I really want well first of all at this point if you're unemployed and you're not receiving benefits especially any income is better than none right but also starting a business is just so empowering because what you put into it is really what you get of course we all have worked for other people and experienced the sense of working your ass off and not being compensated in return or you're working your ass off and sort of praying or hoping that the higher ups you have more power than you we'll give you a raise or a promotion or something whereas when you are your own business owner your own boss you really have so much control about how you spend your time what you do with the money that you get what causes to support what other business owners to collaborate with it's just so liberating and freeing and as a new business owner I started out in my entrepreneurship journey when I was freshly unemployed back in November and I was simply selling old clothes on Poshmark I was able to make a couple of hundred dollars really nothing crazy it basically allowed me to buy groceries and stop me from just completely depleting my savings during that time but it really taught me that if I wanted to you know some more clothes and turn higher profit I would just have to put in more work whereas you can put in a ton and ton and ton of work to your job applications and your job search and it may or may not pay off right now given the climate that we're in now this is not to discourage you and to say that you shouldn't be applying for jobs of course not absolutely apply for jobs go on in your job search if that's something that you feel like you are capable of energetically however you need something to sustain you creatively financially and also just spiritually in a sense like having that higher sense of purpose in your life and I feel like entrepreneurship in its many forms can offer that to so many people and the beauty of this is is that you have so many different options based on what fits you and your personality best you can go the reselling route like I did and try to sell some stuff through Macari Poshmark eBay or other web sites like Craigslist you can start a YouTube channel which of course won't bring in revenue right away but it's a great way to gather publicity and an audience for maybe other offers that you have in the future you can do an Etsy shop I know a lot of you have heard of Etsy especially if you're crafty or interested in fan communities and things like that there is online tutoring for K through 12 students and also kids all around the world there are parents everywhere especially not with the pandemic who are doing the homeschooling thing we really want a college student or somebody with more experience to tutor their kids as well you have so many options investing my boyfriend has really taken off right now with doing research into investments and creating money that way literally any type of person you are whatever type of interest you have you can turn it into a business comment below if you're interested in starting your own business or entrepreneurship in general I hope you found these tips helpful and lately I've been getting really active on Instagram where I share a lot more college and career advice in a little bit more of a informal or personal setting so if you want to learn more about me and potentially chat with me in the DMS on there you can definitely follow me at Stacy Jean Lee on Instagram all right thank you so much for watching next week's video is going to be all about professional emails both inside of your job search and in the workplace so make sure to subscribe if you are interested in that topic and I really appreciate everyone support with these videos I really look forward to making them so it really means the world to me I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Stacy Jene

Views: 114,163

Keywords: unemployed after college, unemployed after college advice no one wants to tell you, what to do after college, post grad, after college, life after graduation, life after college, what to do after graduation, advice for college graduates, post grad life, what to do after graduating, post grad depression, graduating college, unemployment, unemployment self employed, unemployed, after college plans, after college depression, after college no job, after college motivation

Id: WMdznNQ8bQk

Length: 11min 47sec (707 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 15 2020