Watch Out World!

The magnificnet playwright, Shakespeare, once penned the line, “the world is your oyster.” And countless orators at college graduations nationwide have cited this familiar phrase to boost the eagerness of their young audience as they embark upon the “real world.” 

The speakers that refer to this phrase in their commencement addresses are attempting to inspire new graduates. They want their disciples to comprehend that they can achieve anything they wish in life as they work hard, remain focused and persevere during difficult challenges.

After listening in the hot summer sun to these esteemed individuals,you proudly move your tassel from the right to the left on your bright gold motar board cap.  You greet your family with shreaks of delight (and relief) and take the obligatory photos as you prepare to attack the job market.

You tackle the mission of securing employment with gusto and enthusiasm. You are comforted recognizing that your four (or five?) years of living in the library will finally pay off. After all, the average starting salary for a bachelor's degree candidate is over $40,000, which should benefit the payment of your student loan bills.

Although over a million other undergraduate scholars also earned a bachelor's degree last year, you are confident that your advanced skills and “can-do” attitude will certainly land you at the top of the resume pile.

But then something unnerving befalls you during this mission of exploring a post-graduate profession.

Could it be that after submitting over 50 resumes to potential employers, only one single response for an interview has come your way? (And as it turned out, this advertisement for a “community marketing assistant with exceptional listening skills” was actually for a bartender on the night-shift).

Perhaps, your 35-year-old unemployed cousin Kevin was not the best resource to engage as your primary consultant when composing your resume. In fact, now that you review it with a critical eye, you note that this vital document is abundantly lacking information on your impressive qualifications.

You refuse to be discouraged.  As Oprah declared during her recent graudation speech at Harvard, "There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”

You hop onto your social media platforms with renewed momentum to observe how your fellow alumni are executing their own searches for a quality professional occupation.

Hmmm. Interesting…you spot that a gaggle of your classmates have used Monster.com to their advantage in creating an impactful resume and generating multitudes of carrer leads that pinpoint their exact interests. 

Brilliant and so simple!  How is it feasible that you overlooked such a significant resource in the world of job seeking?  You commit to immediately revising your curriculum vitae and securing the precise job alerts to capture your aspirational position.

You are now confident that employment in your field of expertise is close at hand.