THERE IS NO CRYING IN JOB HUNTING!

One of the biggest misconceptions that I had during my job search was that there was a job for everyone, especially a bright guy like me. Wrong wrong wrong. While I was lucky enough to eventually find a good paying job in another state that is challenging it turns out that I am one of the few that found decent pay after college. Take, for example my friend Jake. Jake is a microbiology major with excellent grades and some relevant work experience. He graduate in May and has been living at home with Mom and Dad ever since then. He has been on numerous interviews with dozens of companies but either nobody wants to relocate him or the job description doesn't match his skill set. Is this five years down the drain or is he doing something fundamentally wrong?

After having discussed his job search techniques with him during my bachelor party (yes I do have a passion for this stuff) I found that Jake is missing one essential concept. He has been trying to put a square peg into a round hole using nothing more than the social lubricant of charm and charisma. The one fundamental error I found in Jake's thinking was that his grades and personality would get him by. He wasn't doing any background work on any of the companies outside of the basic what it is they do type of research and he wasn't outlining any responses to the biggest kinds of questions that interviewers ask. More or less he was hoping and praying to hit the moving job target without really taking aim.

So I helped him to revise his attack at gainful employment. I helped him outline a list of responses to common situation, behavior, and outcome questions. Then I moved onto his actual list of skills. He has worked for his father for his entire life as a sign maker so he has extensive knowledge in how to run a business and accounting practices, something you wouldn't imagine a biology major would have but heck, if he can market himself with it then why not? Then I had a "come to Jesus meeting" with him. Living with your parents at the age of 23 is great... if you really don't like women or having them over. My hope is that the promise of being able to do whatever he wants whenever he wants is enough of a motivator to get out and actually put some effort into his job search but we'll see. But at least the sense of entitlement has been wiped from his mentality and soon he'll be gainfully employed and paying back his exorbitant student loans.