I don't know what to do

I'm graduating this spring and I don't know what I'm going to do. There's only really one job I want to do and maybe a couple others I'd be fine with, my only problem is that there's either no positions available and even if there were I wouldn't be qualified. And the job I really want to do, you can't make money with it unless you're really really lucky.

I don't want to say exactly what it is, because frankly I'm embarrassed. But it's in the fine arts. I was going to try to start a website to increase my meager odds of success but I don't really know what to put on it...everything I think of to say sounds stupid and I'm afraid other people will think my design is stupid too. I don't know anything about designing a website and now I'm thinking I should have hired someone to do it for me, but I think it's too late.

I don't know what to do as a temporary job to make money either. I keep thinking that I should be able to get something better than minimum wage since I have three degrees, but maybe not. Anything I can think of, it's either impossible to get the job or there's some sort of physical reason why I can't do it (i.e. I have food allergies so I can't work in a restaurant or coffee shop. There's something wrong with my joints—arthritis? The doctors don't know—so I can't do anything too terribly physically demanding.)

I feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel when I graduate and that the last seven years may have just been a waste. I get so depressed just thinking about it.

????????

An education is never a waste, and you know that there are factors to getting your dream job that you can't control. However, there are books that an help you expand your job choices. Since you have an education you must have general skills an employment agency would love. That is how I started out when I graduated. It took a little while to find a job that related to my major (the Arts) but all the little jobs I took before it gave me the references that helped me land a good job I wanted eventually.

Hang in there!

I think you are getting ahead of yourself? You seem quite knowledgeable about whether there are jobs or not when you haven't been out in the job market yet? Even if you get a minimum wage job to make ends meet, one doesn't "become" or go to work at the top of one's field right away; there's usually a lot of years of working in/around the field, getting contacts, promotions, learning all aspects of it before one gets to a level where one is comfortable.

I would see if I could volunteer as a docent in a museum/theater/wherever, relative to your fine art and/or get a job in a gift shop or store that relates to it; work in the accounting/ticket office or membership/promotion departments. No one does a fine art in a vacuum, just that and no other part of life! You have to keep your life as balanced as possible to succeed in your art; work on other aspects as you work on improving your skill, craft, and genius. Get the other things in place so you can then shift to more time for your work. It doesn't happen magically, right out of the box.

an Arts degree congradulations i got my Associates degreein Arts several years ago i like your choich!!! i love the Arts and sooner or later someone will see your talent

Literally, every time I read a job description, it's out of my league. I know they want the perfect person for the job, but there's no way anyone can meet all of their expectations/requirements for the job. Is it a good idea to apply for a job without meeting every single requirement? Is it even possible to meet every single requirement or am I just not good enough for anything?

You'd think that by me getting more that one degree, I'd have basic skills, but I don't really have that many. I guess I have the book-smart skills like writing and math (though it's been a while), but I'm not very good at public speaking (despite all the experience that I have) and I'm not sure I really have social skills. I don't really have friends or know how to get them/keep them for one thing.

The social skills required in the work place are not the same for real relationships. You just need to know how to get along, small talk and some common courtesy. A good sense of humor and positive (even fake it) go a long way.

I know how you feel about having no real skills after finishing university. I'm the same way and work in a field entirely unrelated but, I don't mind. Definitely apply to anything you feel like you could do even if you don't meet all the requirements on the posting. You will need to meet some but use your judgement and be ready to learn the skills you don't have yet.

I mean really, what's the risk? They toss out your resume and move on to the next guy.

what you need to do is just go for it. you'll never know if you don't apply.

my first job, i was 19 already and thought, nobody wants to hire some 19yo who hasn't had a job yet! but i threw my resume in with everything, which surprised them because it was just a simple shoe store, so they hired me. i worked there for a year and a half before having my daughter in 2011 and then again for another 8 months before having my son this past July. and now, they want me back, and i'm going back as soon as we get the papers sorted out.

all you need is your foot in the door. make them notice you. and bug the **** out of them, too.

as for the public speaking and social skills, they will come to you when you put yourself out there. at least at work. i have no idea about friends, because i'm in the same boat there - can't seem to keep them interested for long. but it's worth a try.

just apply and see what happens.

Ok, good. I can do that pretty easily.

I don't really deal well with rejection...do they straight up tell you that they don't want you or do you just not hear back from them?

I'm 24 and have never had a real job...I've been paid on commission for things and played in a band professionally (didn't get paid much, but still got paid). My parents didn't let me get a job when I was in high school and after that since they kept paying for everything and mostly discouraging me from even looking for a job, I haven't had one. Not a "real" one anyway. I'm not sure how to explain my lack of job experience on a résumé or a cover letter. And I really don't know what to do if I'm put on the spot and interrogated in an interview.

ill be 27 next week. i never had a real job either at 19 i got my first job working in grocery retail which i hated. had a 2nd job doing telemarketing lasted a week hated it but quit for another reason and after that i was just a student until i graduated in 2010.

my grades in hs were not good enough for me to hold a job and go to school. i talked about this with my therapist how i didnt have life skills growing up and had severe issues dealing with pressure/jobs/people/etc and was basically hiding from getting any job.

my parents didnt feel i needed to work in my life especially my loser mother. her work history only accummulates to 2 yrs of exp in the 70s-80s and refused to work since then for dumb reasons cuz of my dad. my parents dont feel i dont need a job cuz it will make me make friends, meet ppl, they will have no authority over me once i have a job, an excuse to leave the house, and be told lies by the coworkers as if they dont lie to me!

i did volunteer twice in nov 08 and mar 09 thru my club at the animal shelter for one day thats about it. dont tell a whole sad story about ur parents not letting u work or feel they dont want u to work to an employer they dont care. if u have a degree like me, i have told employers what i have done in college working with classmates since it is training u for the work place anyway.

if u got some volunteering that may relate to the position ur applying for, explain that to the employer and explain why you havent worked use other good reasons and only tell them what u think they need to know. if u have a workforce connection/employment services in ur area, go to them and see if they can help u on the right path. trust me, they tell u to volunteer to add the gaps in ur work history they have told me that too many times i just want a paycheck can volunteer later.

i feel like a failure because of not having enough work history behind me doesnt help if ur parents dont care about u needing a job as an adult. my mom still tells me **** is paid for for me which is not true not like they r helping. i have to beg and plead for their help as i shouldnt have to do that at all. forget pulling teeth with them, its torture! pulling out an eyeball, cutting off a limb, take the heart out, etc with them!

ladytiger.....[my parents didnt feel i needed to work in my life especially my loser mother]

stuff what your parents think, you are an adult and have the right to think for yourself,!

[i feel like a failure because of not having enough work history behind me doesnt help if ur parents dont care about u needing a job as an adult]

your parents are the failure not you, you can not be expected to have the necessary skils or know what is needed to hold down a job if you were never helped or shown this by your parents. it sounds to me that you know all the right things to try, volunteering does fill in the gaps and does make you more employable in a prospective employers eyes, so no matter how wrong/pointless it feels it is worth doing and could actually develop into a paid job there.
keep applying for every job you hear about, keep bugging the employment people in your area, he who shouts loudest gets heard or in your case noticed!

"stuff what your parents think, you are an adult and have the right to think for yourself,!"

not telling me anything different. all i was saying is they FELT i didnt need a job thats all. i was sympathizing with the poster since it was similar to me as well.

my therapist said the samething u said when ur not shown by your parents its not easy. true, i was never shown these things. i dont wanna volunteer period end of sentence free work will not help me get my own place. anyway, i have many times on here and elsewhere why i will not volunteer. as my social worker has told me that is not plausible for you to do right now we need to work on getting you a paid job somewhere then we can work on volunteering later.

she (social worker) made more sense than most ppl i have spoken to on this unemployment issue. so, yep, i am always shouting but they r putting earplugs in their ears and no one has hired me yet. i did have a job interview a week ago but never heard from them after i sent the manager a nice thank you email. so, since i havent heard anything, i am moving on.

so yea, i have gaps in my employment history. i made my decision a long time ago i need money to pay my debts off that is the direction i am going some where i can get income. income is the most important to me and that is the main goal for me.

If you ever got paid for something, that counts as a job. I was commissioned to do a bunch of paintings for a coffee shop near my high school. I also sold some hand-made items. I put in my resume that I was an entrepreneur, and explained that I sold my art. If you played professionally in a band, you probably made more than I did, haha. My parents wouldn't let me work in high school either and didn't want me working while I was in college. But I moved out of the house at 18 when I left for college, and that next summer I got my first job. I just explained on my application that I hadn't had a job before because I'd been putting all my focus on my studies. They generally see that as being responsible and employers do like educated people.

It is very unlikely that you'll be "interrogated" the second you submit your application and resume. However, if you really want a job, then you will have to expect to be put on the spot at some point unless you want to work in a warehouse or factory.

What helped me (because i can't stand talking to people or being put on the spot either) was I pretended I was someone else and put on my "business" mode, haha. It worked perfectly until I got more comfortable with the people. The business side of me is very cold and calculated but I do what needs to be done. I just have to shove my anxiety and self-confidence issues to the back of my mind. This is just what worked for me. Not saying it would work for everyone, or that it even still works for me. I can't even call my own grandmother on the phone anymore. But anyway...

i do agree i told employers i didnt have many jobs because i put my energy into my studies. not many of them like that and i had an employer tell me one time in an interview that many students work and go to school, why couldn't i do that? i just looked at him and said im not other students i am me. he just looked at me and shut up i knew i didnt get the job.

anyway, other employers said that it was good that i put my interest in my studies even though saying all of that didnt land me a job after i graduated from college. they said u dont have enough experience for us congradulations on obtaining the degree, but we want someone who has work history. my mouth dropped hearing not in the office but outside of the office.

if i had to weigh it out who liked me putting my studies first vs those who didnt, id had more who didnt like it in job interviews.

Can I offer some advice I've found helpful? Don't hype up the idea of your "dream job". Until/If you do that job, you don't know it's your dream job. You're only seeing the glitter, not the big picture. Every job has good and bad aspects. EVERY JOB. Your dream job could be oiling up models for photo shoots, but that's not what you do 8 hours a day. You have to buy the oil, clean up after, and submit expense reports for getting drycleaning to get oil off of the velvet pillows. You have days oiling up Victoria Secret models, and you have days oiling up WWE wrestlers & shaved monkeys. Maybe your oiling up gig is only part of the day, and the rest is spent mixing oil mixtrures for other clients. Maybe you work in the oiling industry for a year, and move into oil sales. You don't k now what you're going to want in a job until you're in it. Don't get caught up in the idea of one thing only can make you happy. It can't & it won't. Get your foot in the door somehow, ask questions, keep learning, and if you see someone doing a job you think you may like, ask them to teach you. Volunteer. Join committees. Write for the work newsletter. Take chances. Don't turn something down or refuse to apply because it's not your dream job. You don't know what that is.