WWYD: A Job After Graduation

In this installment of “WWYD,” life after college:

I’m graduating college this May. I know what I want to do when I graduate (well, a few things I think I want to do!) and have been applying to lots of jobs in those fields. I learned that I might have the chance (it is a very, very good chance) to work in a campus office that I have interned with in the past and have worked closely with on other things. It would be a one-year position.

The idea of staying in my college town, working on projects I’ve been working on all four years of college, staying on this campus for a fifth year after I’m done with school — the idea of it makes me really unhappy and when I found out about this possible opportunity I could literally feel the dread rising in my belly. I’ve liked the stuff I’ve done here and loved my time in college, but this is not the sort of work I want to do with my life, and it is not experience that will help me get the types of jobs I want. But at the same time, I feel like it is disgustingly irresponsible to pass up a possible job offer. This whole thing is overwhelming and stressful and I don’t know what to do.

I don’t want to talk to my friends because it seems cruel to rub in this situation (I have a job, maybe, but I don’t want it! Haha!), or my parents because I think they would be really pissed at me for not wanting to take this job. What would you do? (Side notes: I won’t have student loan debt, a fact I am so grateful for every single day, and the field I am trying to work in is one that is, ever so slightly, growing.) — K.

There was a time, when I was looking for a job and in need of some cash when I drove a truck and delivered stacks of newspapers to small businesses instead of writing for a newspaper. There are times — especially in a still-recovering economy — when we take jobs because we can’t say no to an opportunity to earn money, and doing so doesn’t mean you won’t eventually get to do the thing you want to do.

You have not been formally offered this campus position yet, but let’s imagine that this happens. If you are also offered a job in the field you’re pursuing, the obvious answer is to take the job that’s in the field you want to work in. But what if no other job offers come along? What would be the alternative to turning down the campus job? Would it be to move back in with your parents while you continue to apply for jobs in the field that you want? Since you won’t be earning an income during this time, would your parents be okay with supporting you until you find something? Would you be okay with your parents supporting you while you’re doing your post-grad job hunting?

What would I do? If no other opportunities came along, and the campus job was formally offered to me, I’d take the campus job. I’d take the job and live as prudently as possible, saving up every single dollar until my year at the job was up. With money in the bank, and no student debt to worry about, I’d be in a good position to figure out my next move. Need to do some unpaid work for a few months to gain some experience in the field? Making a decision to move to a new city? The money in the bank opens up those possibilities. Think of the campus job as part of a strategy to reach your bigger goals down the line.

The truth is that you are oh-so-young, and still will be after the one-year campus job is over and done with (you will be 22, perhaps 23?). The world will still be your oyster, and more so with money in your pocket and a reference from an employer.

There was a time when I drove a truck and delivered newspapers, and there came a time when I saw my byline in a newspaper. The campus job, whether you decide to take it or not, will one day be that thing you did when you graduated from college. Your future is still ahead of you.

Email me your WWYD experiences to me with “WWYD” in the subject line. See previous installments. Photo: Tulane Public Relations

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