life in purgatory/unintended vacation

ah, purgatory. stuck in the house all day, doing nothing but chores, wasting away the day watching TV/reading/on the computer, and pretending to give a crap about my future, and maybe applying for some jobs. when I do get my hopes up for a job app, however, there's a lot of waiting and anticipation (less, now) for word on whether they consider you worthy enough of their time and consideration to send you an email to bring over for an interview. and until that happens, I keep doing the above.

so. much. waiting.

if this was any summer in the past, this would have been a good vacation: lazy days of doing absolutely nothing, "office space" style, except I'm playing video games and not brazenly asking out the cute waitress at the local Tchotchke's.

but no, it isn't just any old summer that I just waste away while waiting for school to start again, for a few good reasons:

-school ISN'T starting up again (at least not for a while) (implication: I'm NOT going back to RPI for school for a while. and even if I do by some freak anomaly of luck, it will never be the same.)

-student loans will have to start getting to be repaid, aka I must now have to pay for my iniquitous American college lifestyle. which means bills. and the needing of money. LOTS of money. more money than I have ever seen in my life so far will have to magically come out of my hands like diamonds coming out of the hand of the Old Spice guy.

-needing money means getting a job. and, like, soon. obtaining a simple job at the local mom-n-pop-owned multinational franchise establishment or Sears is a little harder than I thought, much less a job that I'd actually like and enjoy because it requires special skills that I actually have (but can't really prove very easily). the reasons for this are similar to the ones from the previous post: a mix of overqualification (too skilled for an entry-level job that they know I don't want anyway and will quit for a better job at a zeptosecond's notice) and underqualification ("do you have any retail experience? no? how about customer service experience? no? lol, FOAD. NEXT"), which averages out to a whole lotta nothing, unless I try to channel my inner con man and talk them into hiring me. (is that gonna happen? not a chance, unfortunately.)

-getting a job means having experience. getting experience means having a job. getting a job means having experience. and so on, ad nauseam; thus goes the paradox that I'm in. gah, I wish I didn't have to get my foot in the door of success, in favor of just kicking the damn door down. it'll take a lot of work and testicular fortitude, but it may be worth it. now, if I wasn't such a wuss...

okay, back to work/whatever...

hello world!

this is it. I'm officially out of school. but it's been two months after graduation, and I haven't found a job yet. (and it doesn't help that I've kinda been slacking on the whole job hunt thing.)

I've applied to a few jobs so far, with no success. I seem to be missing a year or so of real-world experience for a lot of these jobs I'm applying to, and I'm obviously overqualified (and too temporary) for local retail jobs (i.e., the local supermarket, chain sandwich shop, anything at the mall &c.). There was this one tech recruiter who I interviewed with and got me to apply for this night-shift network technician job, but that led nowhere ("the unsent FOAD letter," as usual).

Meanwhile, I've been doing some thinking (again) about what the hell I should do now. I don't know for sure, but I know a couple of things:

-I want to progress in horticulture by going into the Master Gardener program. That way, I'll finally have some official horticultural training under my belt, and not just an "I has a green thumb, I can has garden? hire me nao kthx" on my resume. Hopefully this can take me places in the world of gardening.

-I'm still interested in molecular biology, however. I've been concentrating my efforts mostly on molecular biology/genetic engineering lab tech positions. I don't expect to be paid a whole lot (the sheer number will crush me at first, I'm sure), but at least I'll have a job directly related to the college training that I did get and paid soooo much for.

-Computer/networking jobs are pretty much out of the question at this point, but with some reservations. Sure, if a job offer falls into my lap, I'll be more than elated to accept, but I have too little experience for me to qualify for even the most menial of tech jobs. I can't get an entry-level computer help desk job because:

1. they'll see my CCNP and immediately think I'm overqualified,
2. they'll see my lack of A+ certification and immediately think I'm underqualified,
3. they'll see my lack of computer experience whatsoever and immediately think I'm underqualified, and
4. they'll see my Biochemistry degree and laugh while rejecting me on the spot.

I know that if I just work at selling myself and my skills (and potential for growth) that they can hire me DESPITE my shortcomings, but right now the only reason why an IT job would be worth it is purely because of money: computer jobs (even entry-level ones) net more money (on average) than any entry-level biology lab tech jobs.

And for that reason of money alone, I'm still conflicted as to whether I should pursue IT or continue going for biology/horticulture (which I'll have to make decisions on later in life anyway). The job market right now is tough enough (and will continue to be so for a while), and my financial situation in the next couple of years will be grim as my student loans come into repayment, so I'm at a loss for guidance and direction. I can't wholeheartedly pursue both concurrently, because I will really need to eat/breathe/live my discipline in order to have any chance of getting a job. So, yeah, I don't know what to do.

-On a lighter note, I'm thinking of applying for the Peace Corps. I've thought about it for a while, and I know one of my classmates who I think has already been nominated. The impression I'm getting is that they'll take people with many skills, a knack for languages, a desire for independence, an open mind, and drive. Given these guidelines, I think I'm a good fit, so I'll apply and see where it goes.

that's it for now. I expect to be blogging more often nowadays since I officially don't have a dayjob (yet).