Emotions: Job in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

Looking over websites titled “How to work your career” and “Jump starting your career path” and “Getting the job that is right for you!” Actually makes me feel worse. Because all of them start with “while at work, look for opportunity X” or “it’s easy to make a change, if you have Y.” And… none of it helps. I work a dead end job designed for first year Law Students. There is no Opportunity X. I have a degree in Religion, a Law degree, a license to practice law in Iowa, and 15 years of acting experience… which, history has repeatedly declared, means I’d be perfect for either retail or food service. I knew that as an “adult” it wouldn’t be like someone would just walk up to me and hand me a job… I wasn’t expecting that… but I was expecting to get a break… of some kind… at some point. I graduated from Law School in 2014. At the start of 2016… the closest I’ve come to a job is a second interview for a Collections job.

I’ll admit a deep fear here and hope someone has words of wisdom. Lets say, hypothetically, that I’m willing to give up. Admit that I may not ever get a lawyer job. I’m terrified of the “Where to now?” I’m looking through jobs on aggregate hiring sites and… nothing. I would be devastated to take a job in retail again after getting my JD. But even YMCA Welcome Center Attendant? I can’t. It’s not that I believe I’m “above” any job… but… after all the work I put in during school… I was looking around on help wanted sites and saw that my Dad’s company was hiring a Warehouse Boy. I almost contacted my Dad about it. That’s where I am. Wanting a job, wanting SOMETHING that might have advancement opportunities or potential for growth… something that might turn into a career. Of course, I didn’t contact my dad. Because.... how can I ever go to a job that doesn’t need a college degree after all of the education I’ve had? Again, not saying I’m “above the job.” If my family needed the money bad enough, I would shovel shit for 20 hours a day. But I have a Diploma, Bachelor’s Degree, and a Juris Doctor. I can’t go backwards to pre-college levels. I can’t.