2008 Woodie Awards
What Degree?
Insight into life after graduation
Nicole Dehnert, Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/22/06 Section: Opinion
No one could match my smile on my last day of college. I had talked the talk, walked the walk, and now had my bachelor's degree in Psychology firmly grasped in my typed-out hand. I was all set. My reality floated on a pink sky of fluffy clouds. Then I was introduced to the real world.
I was one of those break the mold students who decided to continue my education in Psychology even though I discovered my burning desire for writing halfway into my career. I was told by my counselor that this new "edge" would help me soar above the mundane journalism majors in my job search.
The only thing the degree ended up doing for me was placing me solidly at square one in the monopoly game of life. I could not pass go, I could not collect $200.00 (or any money, for that matter) until I gained experience. This experience meant internship experience, where one works their butt off and receives the compensation of a smile.
So off I went. And went. And went. I finally secured a nonpaying position with the Pacific Sun, an alternative news weekly paper in Marin. Now I needed money, which meant I spent the majority of my days surfing Craigslist and sending my resume to every single position I thought would be above ten dollars per hour.
I never knew that my well-earned degree would send me into question hell on these interviews. Every single person that interviewed me wanted me to explain the reason why I put "excel in a journalism career" as my objective. This seemed to be a red flag to all companies that I was just using their job as a layover to writing town. Even though this was the case, I couldn't let them know that.
I dressed the part, in my most professional clothes, prepared and retyped my resume and researched every company that granted me a meeting. Each time I had to remind myself that this job was only to pay the bills, in order to stop the nagging feeling that this was just a stalling point in my world of writing.
I came to realize that in my time out of the interview loop, companies decided that in order to hire you, they must have you interview with every single member of their staff.
I was one of those break the mold students who decided to continue my education in Psychology even though I discovered my burning desire for writing halfway into my career. I was told by my counselor that this new "edge" would help me soar above the mundane journalism majors in my job search.
The only thing the degree ended up doing for me was placing me solidly at square one in the monopoly game of life. I could not pass go, I could not collect $200.00 (or any money, for that matter) until I gained experience. This experience meant internship experience, where one works their butt off and receives the compensation of a smile.
So off I went. And went. And went. I finally secured a nonpaying position with the Pacific Sun, an alternative news weekly paper in Marin. Now I needed money, which meant I spent the majority of my days surfing Craigslist and sending my resume to every single position I thought would be above ten dollars per hour.
I never knew that my well-earned degree would send me into question hell on these interviews. Every single person that interviewed me wanted me to explain the reason why I put "excel in a journalism career" as my objective. This seemed to be a red flag to all companies that I was just using their job as a layover to writing town. Even though this was the case, I couldn't let them know that.
I dressed the part, in my most professional clothes, prepared and retyped my resume and researched every company that granted me a meeting. Each time I had to remind myself that this job was only to pay the bills, in order to stop the nagging feeling that this was just a stalling point in my world of writing.
I came to realize that in my time out of the interview loop, companies decided that in order to hire you, they must have you interview with every single member of their staff.