Gang, if you just graduated this past spring, it is WAY too early to give up hope.
I started looking for "gainful employment" as a grad-school-dropout in 1991. The same comments got thrown around: the economy is bad. Blame the big bad 'ole government. Someone else has better connections and it's their mission in life to screw you out of a job.
But the fact is, the first job is always the hardest because of the universal Catch-22: you need experience to get a job, you need a job to get experience.
For a while, most people have to do two jobs at once: one that pays the bills and one that gets you in the field you love and worked for. THIS IS NORMAL! AND IT CAN TAKE YEARS!!
I didn't walk out of grad school and down the street to a plush (???) office at MDACC. After dropping out of school I bounced around from contract lab work (karyotypes for a genetic diagnostics firm) to secretarial work to - gag - phone surveys for the Gallup Poll. This went on for a year before I got my foot in the door at Anderson. Even then, I started at the bottom of the lab rats (tech assistants) and worked for TEN YEARS to get the all-but-tenured coordinator position I have now.
So to make a long story short (too late...) it's OK if you're struggling for a while. It's normal. Everyone goes through it, regardless of their time and place. You guys are doing fine and it's OK to take a "transitional" job until you settle in to the one you love.
Positive job vibes coming everyone's way! I've been where you are and it does get better!!!
Adrienne
