My Experience Finding a Job After College

It’s been almost one year since I graduated from college, and I’m still looking for a full-time job.

To start, I graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in June of 2023 with degrees in English and anthropology. I thought I wanted to be a teacher.

I was wrong. I had three months of experience teaching Japanese high school students over Zoom for an internship during college. I loved this experience. So, I changed my career goals from journalism to education, believing that every teaching experience would be like those wonderful three months. Yeah, I was wrong.

Immediately after college, I accepted a job offer from KinderCare Learning Centers to be a Pre-K teacher. This was quite an experience. I loved my students but the organizational structure was lacking.

The pros and cons of a job in childcare? I learned the importance of structure and routine, not just for my young students but for myself. Time management has always been an issue for me but this experience enhanced my perception of everyday routine. I also made great connections with my fellow co-teachers and admin. One co-teacher, an older teacher with blue hair and a face tattoo, was particularly inspiring and a downright fantastic educator.

But the cons were so bad, I fully rethought my career path. The lack of organizational structure was felt by all. Every teacher complained every day, and you honestly couldn’t blame them — why are our breaks late or non-existent every other day? Why am I working at least 30 minutes of overtime every day despite working my ass off the entire eight hours that I’m scheduled for? Why am I being paid so little for a job that is utterly vital to our society? Is the education of young children really so unimportant that childcare workers and teachers can’t be paid a livable wage?

Kindercare is a billion-dollar corporation; I guess I should’ve just realized what I signed up for.

After two months of working there, I was promoted to be the center’s lead kindergarten teacher. While I was thrilled, I was not qualified. I tried my best nonetheless, and feel that I did right by those kids (I know this because of their parents’ praise).

I worked there for seven months and as my rent was soon to rise in January, I needed to find a higher-paying gig.

I became a Pre-K teacher at a different company for a little less than two months. The transience of the stint was mostly due to workplace drama, but also because I was in the process of realizing that I was not as passionate about teaching as I thought I was.

Many people can relate to not knowing what they want to do with their lives. Not in my entire 23 years of life on this earth had I ever known this feeling. It’s a horrible type of confusion. Writing this article, I feel like I could’ve viewed this as an opportunity to take some time and broaden my horizons. In reality, I felt pressured because of perpetual living expenses and the idea that everything I had worked for was for nothing. I suppose I’m a pessimist at heart.

I only put in my two weeks once I have a new job lined up. This time, I would be a part-time substitute teacher at a 6–12 charter school much closer to where I live. Hopefully, this job won’t be as stressful as teaching kindergarten-age students.

Wrong again! So, I’m a part-time worker, right? Well, I’ve been called in almost every day since starting this job. I’m not complaining; I like working here and I need the hours. The high school kids are great. But the middle schoolers, my god. I am worried for the future of this country just because of the 6th-8th grade age group.

Part of me believes that it’s just puberty! These middle schoolers are going through one of the most insane times of their lives right now in terms of bodily function and behavior.

However, the pessimist in me really thinks that it was COVID-19. Like the SNL skit said, COVID broke something that we just can’t fix.

I can go on about the absolute necessity of a quality education for each child in this country. All I’ll say though is that I am grateful my parents and teachers ensured I received an above-average education and that COVID hit when I was in college, a time in which I already possessed a directed sense of ambition.

That brings me back to finding a job that I’m actually passionate about.

After substituting and tutoring students at the high/middle school for about a month, I was promoted to help run the charter school’s social media accounts based on my previous experience in journalism and communications. Marketing campaigns came easy, and soon I created their most liked post on their Instagram.

Not the greatest achievement. I mean, I just watched a TikTok about a girl who attended Harvard at 16, fought cancer as a freshman, and now works as a rocket scientist. But I was so proud of this. Prouder of myself than I’ve been in a long time. The post focuses on a man with incredible lore⁠ — he’s a black belt in karate and trained in Japan; his mom was a pioneer of Black, female politicians in Texas; and he currently dedicates his life to the betterment of students’ lives. He was also proud to have his story shared.

Doing more of this kind of work made me miss news writing. So that’s when it clicked. I’m back into journalism and communications. And I’m running with it.

Now, I’m trying to find a full-time gig in writing with about three years’ worth of experience under my belt. But boy am I struggling with finding a job!

I’ve heard that the waiting game is normal after college. And that once I find a full-time job in the field I am passionate about, everything will be easier.

I still have yet to find that opportunity. This blog is supposed to help with that. In the meantime, the only advice I have to give a year out of college is to⁠ — and sorry, this is easier said than done⁠ — TRY to ease your stress. That’s not always possible and I personally have not achieved this. But I really wish I hadn’t spent the last few months letting unnecessary stress overwhelm me.

To be fair, I’m only a year out of college — how worried do I have to be?

No, really though⁠ — should I be worried?