Escape from fresh graduate illusion
Getting a job might become everyone’s overriding priority after graduating from college. Commenced by making a professional resume, jumping from one job portal to the other, attending an interview, bla-bla-bla, and bla-bla-bla until we could be so sure to update our LinkedIn profile as the success proof of landing the first job.
But to ultimately have a message “Congratulate [Your Name] for starting a new position as [Role] at [Company]” in your connections’ notification is kind of an uphill battle.
The fresh graduate illusion
After graduation, I, pushed by my quarter-life crisis things, started to set a career plan like what kind of roles I wanted to walk in, the company I adore, the salary I prefer, and other considerations and preferences.
Once I found one that I want so bad, then I searched all the available-and-still-suitable vacancies and tried to send the application.
I lately just realized that every single phase in a job application has a chance to make us feel bad, or really bad, or even really really bad.
For instance, in your first application, you’re happy that your resume has passed the screening and you’re able to go to the interview. But after it, you apparently feel messed up with your performance and then you may think to move on to another application.
Next application, you’re able to reach the panel interview but then you failed the final interview and it hurt you deeply.
Well, you might take a couple of days to recover or evaluate what you’ve been through or even stay away from it until you’re ready to carry out the job-seeking again.
Congratulation! This time you’ve passed all the recruitment steps quite perfectly. Yet, you seemed unsatisfied with the offering and then you forcefully decided to reject it.
Look, it’s tiring, isn’t it?
You may continuously feel this way until you get it. Unluckily, I hate to say this, you never know when exactly that time will come to you.
But don’t you worry, it’s just a matter of time.
Thereafter, I called this situation a fresh graduate illusion, where you merely focus on finding a job and seem to feel trapped on that endless cycle as though that’s the only thing you’re able to do.
How it really looks
I admitted that I’ve been experiencing the illusion as I just utilized many times and energy back then for only getting a job.
As my eyes just opened, I started a day by diving into several job vacancy sources (social media, job portal, employer website, etc). Once I found one that suits me well, then I noted it down, prepared the files needed, and sent it.
Its process approximately took half of my day.
After I discovered some potential opportunities, I need to validate the credibility within it. I also tried to super personalize my resume with the selected job requirements and wrote convincing cover letters.
Look, it’s just one! Instead, I usually have 2–5 applications that need to apply.
The next day, I repeated the same activity but as an additional chore, I checked my e-mail first to make sure whether there are updates related to my previous application or not.
Here are some points that make me feel trapped in this situation:
- I did the constant endless full efforts for getting a job. As time goes by, it’s really exhausted and full of anxious feelings.
- The recruitment process I had was just like a tiring cycle and seemed like a never-ending story. The final results are still the same, I failed again and had to start from the bottom again and again.
- I had a mindset that currently there’s nothing more important thing than getting a job. It made me didn’t have time to get relaxed or delight myself at all.
The time I realized that it was bad
Imagine that you are playing a game, you may find a so hard and stressful stage you can’t beat. Because you truly want to win the game, you then push yourself harder and harder.
You arrived at the time that you feel so bad, lost your motivation, but your mind and heart always try to set you back to the game and demand you finish it. Instead, your energy maybe not be as much as before.
It’s the same feeling when I suffer this illusion.
Well, we can choose to leave that game since it gives less impact in our life, but if I skip these finding job things…… Hmmm, I have no words.
I also encountered there’s a part of me that felt somewhat stressed. Chances are I lacked to serve myself some space to have a light and fun activity that can make me still ‘alive’.
At this point, I considered managing my time not only for job-seeking but also to spare for doing something pleasant.
Instead of using my full day to focus on getting a job, I initiated building my new activity.
I chose to learn mobile photography
As a homebody, I rarely go outside or leave my room. But in this case, when many stressors came, I decided to find a somewhat stress reliever beyond my comfort zone which is my beloved room.
Anyway, I have a running habit at 16.30 PM every day. One day after I’ve done with it, I sat under the lush tree and just let my eyes look around while waiting for my sweat to dry.
I saw many interactions there, like a bunch of kiddos practicing soccer, two lovebirds sharing foods and stories, a group of elderly people doing yoga, cadgers offering their own goods to people there, and still many more.
As I digested it as an interesting thing, then I stood up and started to walk toward one of them. I took out my phone from my black short pants pocket and tried to capture some running moments I saw using my A50s.
And voila! I was glad that I could save a nice moment into a photo. I can’t explain it properly, but this is super legit and a big desire to capture another moment suddenly came to my mind and flew to my chest.
That night, I considered deepening a simple skill in photography which is composition. Because no matter the gear that you use, if you’re not aware of the proportion between your main objects and the background behind them, your photo might not look good enough. I also learned how to beautify images using Lightroom. Both of them could be my ammunition for the next hunt.
This is the first time for me as a homebody that I want to regularly leave my room to get new spots of taking pictures.
I captured the streets, buildings, people interactions, animals, and any objects that I feel it’s attractive. Then I felt super duper excited to get home because I couldn’t wait to process the images.
Whoa whoa whoa! The feeling after finished editing the photos and you saw the results are pretty good is delightful, pleasing, thrilling, and arghhh I don’t know how to express it, but the point is I earnestly enjoyed this photography thing and I can feel ‘alive’ back while temporary forgetting about the job-seeking thing.
Afterward, I made an Instagram account as my online album. I posted my photo experiments there but I still kept them privately back then. Now, you can see it.
To enrich my skills and references in photography, I built some learning environments like following many photographers on Instagram, bundling a bunch of Youtube videos into a playlist, and the last I impulsively bought a course on Udemy.
Because I found it as a full package as though it starts from the very very basic to the advanced one and it gives you some particular and specific techniques related to many interests in photography art (such as portrait, urban, buildings, nature, weddings, human interest, and many more). But the important thing, I got that in the year-end sale price as you’ll get the discount of almost 85% from 799.999 to 99.000 IDR.
Hey hey wait, it’s not too important.
Well, I just want to share with you guys haha. Okay, let’s jump to the next topic.
The after effect
Through this new activity, I know the practical meaning of distraction when you get stressed. Like you give some space to yourself and present a thing that distracts your bad feelings with a good one.
Through this new activity, my unemployment period became lighter and more mindful, it’s because I just found the balance between stressed and happy feelings.
It doesn’t end there, I’m often wondering if could it have a good prospect for me in the future? Then suddenly, I’ve been thinking to start creating a pathway to make my new activity become something bigger, let’s say, becoming a photographer.
As Pandji Pragiwaksono said,
If you’re wondering to become something, try to wonder it with super detail and it automatically becomes a plan or milestone.
Then, I followed what he said.
Starting with my personal contentment with photography art, I’ve created a pretty detailed milestone for being a photographer.
First, when I have my first job I want to save my income so that I can buy my first camera. Second, I’ll spare 1 to 2.5 hours in a day for 2 to 3 months to practice using the camera through the learning environment that I’ve built before. Third, I’ll build my first professional portfolio. Fourth, I’ll start my first small photography business as my side hustle.
And it’s important to keep in my mind, this is just wondering. It’s good when it becomes true and it’s okay if it doesn’t happen.
At least, I know what makes me feel ‘alive’ and fulfilled during this unemployment period. But still, I wish it could become truly happen *insert a pleading face sticker
Lesson learned
We all know that finding our first job is laborious. There might be physically and mentally drained within it.
Needless to say, we should try harder and never let ourselves down. Well, I truly know about it, yet don’t forget to give yourself a free space to feel ‘alive’ again. It’s crucial, period.
You can start by giving yourself some activities that you like or you want to learn or even something you already do in the past but you don’t have time to do it again now. Make yourself fulfilled and be free from the fresh graduate illusion.
Let’s say you like to sketch, just do it now. If you like to bake cakes or want to try cooking some new recipes, just do it now. If you want to learn how to capture and beautify images, like me, just do it now. If you want to learn how to run a business, just do it now.
Listen, don’t you always feel trapped like nothing to do in your life except find or get a job. Do things that make you curious and happy passionately because maybe in the future it can be beneficial for us. It also can open a new opportunity for you to strive in. You know, working nowadays with something you’re fond of is really really a privilege.
Actually, we have a lot of time, but this illusion turns it like we don’t and we might feel being chased by the time.
And I realized that the unemployment period is a great-and-fit time for you to learn something new or interesting or maybe you see there’s an economic prospect exists there.
So, now you know what to do, right?
Closing
Well, to call it a day, I hope that, first, you get your first job as soon as possible, second, you can be more mindful in your job-seeking so that you’re not too stressed about that, third, you can be free from the fresh graduate illusion by doing something that makes you feel ‘alive’. And if you have your own way out of this illusion, please let me know.
Have a great day, my dearest readers.
