My Postgrad Life (So Far),

Up until now, I have been really quiet on what I have been doing since graduating college. The reason is that I feel pressured to tell anyone that I haven’t been successful, which is the sad reality. To be honest though, I graduated during the beginning of a global pandemic which did put a lot of things on hold. Also, if you are someone who hasn’t graduated (or already graduated) from college reading this, I am going to let you know now that the postgrad life is not all that great! I mean, you spent four years living mostly on-campus (that costed thousands in tuition) enjoying the freedom from your parents while spending endless hours of studying, or partying. But once you cross that stage and get the diploma, BAM! You are now in the REAL adult world. From there it is paying bills, student loans, and just trying to survive without any support. For anyone that really wants to know what I have been up to now, here is how my postgrad life is going, and I am NOT sugarcoating this!

After I graduated back in May 2020, I went back home to Hawaii where I had to do a mandatory quarantine and I have been staying home with my parents ever since. I did not have a job lined up prior, and I didn’t plan on pursuing graduate school (even though my dad wanted me to), besides I had no idea what I was going to do after college. In fact, that is actually the norm for many college graduates. Plus, hardly anyone was hiring at the time due to the lockdowns. So, I did my best to apply for any job that matched my skillset, and networking with alums and recruiters. I think ended up applying to 26 jobs, most of them never got back to me, had a few interviews and many rejections. I did turn down one job offer for personal reasons. The tipping point came when I went to a virtual job fair in 2021 and I was talking to one of the marketing managers about how I kept applying to this one company and I never got a follow-up. She agreed to send my resume to one of the bank managers. Soon after, I got an email from that manager inviting me for an interview for one of the positions which was a bank teller. I went to the interview, and it wasn’t too bad overall. A few weeks later, the manager emails me again saying another position has opened up that fits my previous experiences, so I went ahead and said that I was interested. After that, I get a call from the recruiter and she offered me the job. I was actually happy that I finally got a stable job after going through one hell of a year, but what I didn’t know was that my first job was going to take me on a turn for the worst.

In July of 2021, I started my first job and for the first couple of weeks it was mostly virtual training. Then the real work began when I stepped onto the teller line, which turned out to be a real trainwreck. My job wasn’t getting easier especially dealing with rude customers, staffing shortages, and a manager that threatened me. I thought if I kept pushing through, I will be able to stay in this job longer but boy was I wrong! After six months of being in that job, I got terminated in December of that same year. I will explain the reasons why in another post, but I did not anything bad on purpose. Now, it is 2022, and I am back at square one staying at home, and applying to jobs once again. As of now, I applied to 16 jobs (and counting) with a couple of rejections and some that I never heard back from. It sucks, especially during most of the time when I don’t feel motivated at all searching and applying for a job. However, I tried/going to improve some skills that can be important for working via some online courses that come with a certification. For instance, I recently completed a free digital marketing course through Google Digital Garage, in which I received a certificate. And working on this blog is also keeping me occupied as well.

So, that is the reason why I don’t want to talk to anyone about my postgrad life in case I get asked. If someone close to me were to find out, they would be disappointed in me, thinking I wasted a lot of time and money in four years. I feel like I let my whole University down, but I could care less due to recent major issues the school has encountered (I will also talk about this in a future post). It is even more embarrassing that I graduated with a business major and a Japanese minor which should be useful in the job field, but I don't even have one. Even though the pandemic slowed things down a little bit, it looks like COVID-19 is fading away with a lot of the restrictions lifting which sounds great for a lot of people. But for me, I think I liked it better when things slowed down during the stay-at-home order and everybody worked remotely. When I went back to work, I was completely exhausted every day with hardly any days off. I am also trying to apply for remote jobs, but most of the time I never hear back from any recruiters because they have to go through so many applications. Whether I end up working remotely, or in-person I hope that my next job is one that makes me happy and doesn’t make me feel burnt-out. Besides, isn’t that what everyone wants in a job?

If there is anyone who is reading this that is in a similar situation like me, know that you and I are not alone. We will get through this, and know that we are capable of doing anything.