Re: Ye Olde Tarheel State...not hiring?

[Karen Brown <karenb -at- PO3 -dot- NET -dot- CHO -dot- GE -dot- COM>]

Here's another response to Dawn's frustrating job search:

After I got my Master's in English, I also assumed I'd be able to get a job
quickly.  After all, I had experience in writing, editing, and teaching--who
wouldn't want to hire me, right?  Well, I couldn't even get an entry-level
job.  While I continued to look, I added to my experience (and income) by
teaching at a community college, tutoring high school and college students,
doing freelance technical editing, and stringing for a local newspaper.  I
also continued working part-time doing desktop publishing (and in the
process gaining some valuable computer skills).

It took me a few years to get a full-time technical writing job, but my
determination to improve my skills (even while wallowing in relative
poverty) certainly helped me get my current position, and the things I've
learned have served me well on the job.  The moral of the story is that an
English degree is less valuable than the professors lead us to believe (just
ask my friends with Master's degrees in English who, five years after
graduation, still work unhappily in retail stores).  Keep searching, keep
applying for jobs, but keep striving to add to your skills and experience.

(BTW, the desktop publishing job I had at a copy shop counted as workplace
experience--I could talk about working with a team, seeing projects from
start to finish, and meeting deadlines.  So the "workplace" doesn't
necessarily have to be a desk job at a corporation.)

Karen Brown
karen -dot- brown -at- cho -dot- ge -dot- com
Charlottesville, VA