I've been very busy this summer trying to find a job. Fortunately, I've managed to find meaningful and beneficial employment. Unfortunately, I won't be getting paid for it.
I have found it next to impossible to find a job so much as serving hotdogs at a convenience store. While my dad doubts my devotion to this endeavor (I certainly don't go out job hunting with a gleeful hop to my step), I'm not the only student having a hard time finding enough work to pay the bills. Several recent graduates I know spent the summer months trying to find a job -- any job -- just so they didn't have to move back in with their parents, but to no avail. Most of them chose an increasingly popular option in this tough economy and went on to grad school. By doing this, they hold off on having to start their career or pay off their student loans, but they will also be piling on their debt. Hopefully the economy won't be so abysmal that they'll have to hang their Master's degree in their old bedroom in their parents' house later on.
As tempting as I find grad school, I am hesitant to continue building my debt. Besides that, I'm tired of living on Ramen noodles and would like to start my career and earn some money. I'd be happy with $20,000 a year if I could find it in the field I want, but right now the field I want to be in is offering $0 a year.
Part of my problem is that I want a government or nonprofit job. With the economy the way it is, these are the first jobs to suffer from major budget cuts. But, at least with nonprofits, because of the critically important role these companies often play in their communities, they are desperate to get whatever help they can find to fill in the gaps made by lay-offs.
Since I couldn't find a paying job, I started sending my resume out to places I might like to volunteer with, if only for the chance it might get my foot in the door for permanent employment later. I managed to find several opportunities, first leading writing workshops at the Central Florida Boys Town through the Literary Arts Partnership at UCF, then teaching financial responsibility classes at The BETA Center. But I go into this knowing it's a gamble.
I'm betting on coming out of this semester with a diploma in one hand and a shiny resume in the other, and getting gobbled up by the first employer I approach. But if the economy doesn't pick up steam by December, I might just be another one of those new graduates going home to mommy and wondering how to pay off all my loans. I know there are plenty of openings in the field, since there were so many lay-offs. It's just a matter of the economy picking up enough that these nonprofits are able to fill those gaps again.
Right now, the way they're filling those gaps is with unpaid labor. I can't blame nonprofits for doing this. While the ethics of using unpaid labor to do what should be paid work is questionable, to hold this against nonprofits is like filing copyright lawsuits against the library. At least at the BETA Center, many of their employees work on a voluntary basis anyway, so an unpaid internship there is pretty much the same thing, except more valuable experience (i.e.: I won't be working the front desk).
I'm milking this internship for all it's worth. I'm only teaching for about 3 hours a week, so there will be plenty of time to find other opportunities to contribute to the organization. For example, many of their art programs had to be cut, so I'm working on setting up a couple of those free writing workshops provided by the Literary Arts Partnership at UCF. I am fully prepared to do everything in my power to contribute to this cause; first because it's a good cause, and second because it never hurts to sell yourself as invaluable.
I can even add "Devotion" to my list of skills on that shiny new resume in a couple of months.
