Results tagged “Boucher” from Hawk Talk - Christian

I heard that this is the worst time to graduate... thanks to the faltering economy.

Before I entered the spring semester of my senior year, a growing sense of worry filled my head.  Watching the news, reading newspapers, and visiting info websites about the economy and the job market did not help at all.  I thought in my head... "Will I find a job after graduation?  Will it be tough finding one?"  Luckily for many of my friends, they already had a job lined up from practicums, clinicals, or connections.  I, on the other hand, did not have anything lined up, even when I applied for a few jobs well in advanced.

So as of June 22, 2009, I did not find a job yet and I'm discouraged.  I do like to say that there are a good number of opportunities out there, but what throws me off is this:  "We are looking for someone who already has 3+ years of experience" of something, such as exercise testing, personal training, etc.  Now here is my question.  How can a college graduate get experience for a certain thing if no one will give him/her a shot? 

Ideally, I want to work at a cardiac pulmonary rehabilitation clinic, but the places that I applied to have no responded at all.  The same goes to personal training.  I applied, passed in my transcripts, and waited.  No response.  I plan to call them as soon as I get this blog done to know the status of my application and to see if I should just give up hope on that location.  I hope they are still considering me.

Most people have told me that I'm pretty lucky to still have my retail, blogging, and physical therapy aide jobs, even if their hours are somewhat slim.  There are a bunch of graduates who don't have a job prior to graduating, or had one that sustained the 4 years of college.  One person (who is very famous and known by all in the Boston area) said that we all have to start at the bottom of something, like the bottom rung of a ladder.  We need to grab it and climb it to reach the very top.  It's all up to me to grab on to it and hold it tight, hoping I can climb the ladder.  The whole "ladder climbing" metaphor reminded me of my recent college career.  I was a freshmen at the bottom of the ladder.  I pushed myself hard to climb that ladder.  Now, I'm a UMass Lowell alumni. 

I just need to take that approach and hold on to what I have right now, because one day I will get a shot to climb the ladder.  Like I tell my baseball players, "We need to keep our heads in the game.  Focus and have fun.  It will take you somewhere."

... Dang I need to listen to myself more often (Ha Ha).

- Christian