You made it!
You just graduated college. After all the years, money, stress, and tears, you finally graduated and now you have a degree to your name. Now what?
Well now comes the next hurdle: securing your career.
For some people, there's a job lined up for them right out of college; that's a blessing because unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. Also, there are some graduates who don't even end up using their degree (after all of the time and money put into it) and lastly, they're others stuck in a temp cycle.
Just like myself.
As soon as I graduated in 2018, I got offered a temporary chemist job the following year and worked there for a year. I fought hard to make it more concrete but it didn't work out. I am still a temp to this day, actually; as I have been a temp for two years now. However, just like some people aren't guaranteed a job straight out of college, staying in the temp cycle is also something to be wary of.
There have been plenty of times where I've expressed my discontent over this and people have told me that I shouldn't worry so much because some people don't get to work in their field at all. I've also been told that it takes some people a while to find work and that I should be lucky that I'm at least a temp. However, being stuck in a temp cycle is also a problem as well and I personally don't think it should be taken any less seriously.
I strongly feel like these are all things that should be talked about in college and taken into consideration when choosing a major. I really wish that my advisor told me that it could take years to find work. I find it wild how we spend so much money on college and there are companies out there that promote temp work so much that it is hard to find permanent work; that's completely ridiculous to me.
I wonder if anyone ever considered that this could be a reason why graduates don't get to use their degrees and/or this is why it takes years to find work.
Nevertheless, for anyone that is considering going to college, make sure to do your research so that you aren't another stat.
And so that you can have things slightly easier after you graduate.
We all fought so hard to graduate and it shouldn't be a fight to secure a career we majored in to better ourselves. If I would have known that Chemistry was notorious for this, I would have not majored in it. While I loved the subject, I don't want to be scrambling for work and benefits I'm in debt over.
All in all, I encourage everyone to choose their major wisely. As for how to do this, 1) look into how relevant your major could be. For instance, there is a high demand for people in the medical field and there is a high demand for work on cars. Additionally, there are a lot of people that have animals, so working as a veterinarian is something that could also be worth looking into.
2) Check out the location you're in, maybe there are not that many car shops around, or maybe there are not that many hospitals; therefore, the competition to get in would be a lot harder. You may have to consider moving.
Lastly, you could communicate with former graduates who chose the same career path as you; this could save you a lot of time, and maybe if you form a connection with them, that connection could end up landing you a job in the same area. That's all for now. Let me know if you have any concerns or questions; I'd be happy to help!