I have been trying to find an entry-level position for a year with no success. I have tried everything that I can think of:

-Use job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed, SimpleyHired, WeWorkRemotely, FlexJobs, and other job boards.

-Reach out to my network on LinkedIn asking for assistance.

-Reached out to my career center at my university (they seemed more interested in working with current students).

-Worked with recruiting agencies (had some success, was able to get some interviews, but haven’t contacted me about any recent openings).

-Tried reaching out to my local community and see if they are hiring or looking for part-time workers (they either told me to apply online or they didn’t have anything at this time).

-Taken some online courses to beef up my resume

I have a BA in English and I knew it was already going to be difficult to find something, but I never thought it was going to take this long. I don’t know what to do at this point. I feel I tried everything and I have gotten nowhere. If anyone can provide me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated!

  • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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    1 day ago

    Bachelors of Arts degree

    theres a reason this is colloquially referred to as toilet paper

    do you have any real world skills? i know many people in professional careers that do not match their degrees, but they had to start at the literal bottom (cleaning,answering phones, etc) making minimum wage until they proved they were more competent than the people who generally take those jobs.

          • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            1 day ago

            huh, I would guess that the majority of people where I live in the South think this way. It’s repeated dogma from teachers, parents, etc. - there are literally billboards along the roadways talking about how useless university degrees are and advertising for trade schools and certificate programs.

            • ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com
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              1 day ago

              Maybe different state and different environment? I have encountered people like this but rarely. I feel they’re more a loud minority. There are plenty of dumb billboards the more south you go on the interstate but people paying for billboards doesn’t equal majority opinion.

              Are you saying billboards directly saying university is pointless or just advertising trade school?

              • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                1 day ago

                One billboard said:

                Avoid student debt, learn a trade.

                or something like that. It jives with the general opinion. I do live in a very conservative place, so maybe like you’re saying it’s a matter of where in the South you are. I’m sure in a major city like Atlanta that’s not a common attitude, for example.

    • moonlitsky@lemm.eeOP
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      1 day ago

      I have over five years of writing and editing experience and three years of customer service experience. I have taken several AI courses, and I am currently taking some coding courses, mainly because I’m interested in coding, but it also looks good on a resume.

      • Pandemanium@lemm.ee
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        16 hours ago

        Ohhh. As someone who also went through an editing program recently, yeah, I think AI has taken a lot of those jobs. Are you a member of any editing guilds like the EFA (if in the US)? They seem to have more one-off jobs for freelancers, but there was a regional guild I was part of that posted more corporate editing jobs, which maybe sounds more like what you’re looking for. But right after AI got big it quickly became apparent that even the experienced freelancers were having a hard time getting steady work. I wish you luck. At least you have a good chunk of experience. I gave up because I didn’t have any.

        • moonlitsky@lemm.eeOP
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          3 hours ago

          I didn’t know about editing guilds. I’ll take a look at the EFA and other similar guilds and see what I can find. Even if I can’t find steady work, from what I understand, at least I connect with other editors. Thank you for sharing that information!