Expectations vs. Reality
My experience with the job market as a 2020 college graduate.
Before I graduated, I had this wonderful image of my job market, expecting to be working for my favorite companies with talented groups of people who share the same creative and professional visions right after I step into society.
I majored in Film and Digital Media at UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz), so I was constantly researching jobs at big movie studios, looking for entry-level job positions such as Assistant Editors or Production Assistants. I was dreaming about working as a part of the crew on large movie sets, utilizing all of my creativity to help make great spectacle feature films. It was a constant daily routine, I woke up, checked my emails, searched for jobs, updated resumes, and drafted cover letters, and continued to apply for a ton of more jobs. Then I waited and waited, as days passed by, I got hit by this big pile of crap called reality.
The reality is, among the almost 70 applications I sent out, I have merely received around 6 responses so far, and most of them were rejections saying they’ve found someone else with more job experience than me. It gradually became discouraging and depressing, I began to doubt myself and doubt my passions, that perhaps I just chose the wrong major, and I just simply didn’t work hard enough. I wanted to create art and movies, but how could I create without first securing a job?
But that’s not the case at all.
Before 2020, it used to be recent graduates like me that compete against one another for an entry-level job, so it was an equal opportunity. But since coronavirus started, I have been hearing news of huge corporations going bankrupt and laying off hundreds of workers, especially in the movie industry.
So it’s no longer graduates versus graduates, we are now competing against the senior-level applicants who lost their jobs due to the virus and who are now looking to get into entry-level jobs as well because everyone needs a job. The competition is not equal anymore.
So what I want to say is that if you are also experiencing this struggle, do not panic and do not feel like you are alone, because you aren’t, everyone is dealing with the same issue, and just remember it is not your fault.
It is not your fault because you are no longer in equal competition; it is not your fault because even the biggest companies can’t afford to hire more; it is not your fault that the hiring manager in charge of your applications might have been laid off before even contacting you!
It is not your fault that the stupid virus is happening; it is not your fault that the whole world is not the same anymore, and that we are being forced to adapt to a new norm.
So don’t let it bring your mood down, and don’t let it discourage you.
I was feeling like I was wasting my time just applying for meaningless positions, I felt like I was not being productive at all. But then I realized the issue is not the reality, it's my expectations. This is actually the best time to explore new career paths and opportunities.
Now that we have all the time in the world, why not try out some new things? Like a new hobby, a new skill that you never had the time to learn, or a new career that you never had the courage to try out.
Life itself is not a competition, it’s a journey, go explore, go enjoy every moment and try to see the beauty and new opportunities in your life. There is no need to compare yourself to others, as long as you are able to make it in this society, no matter what you do, no matter who you are, you are successful.
As long as you and your family are happy and safe, your life is meaningful, your career is meaningful. In order to achieve that, you don’t need to be a celebrity or a billionaire, all you need to be is a good parent, a good brother, a good sister, or a good child.
Which, I’m pretty sure you already are. So you are already halfway there! During this quarantine time, if you want to feel more productive and use this time more efficiently, why not go check your list and finally do those things you’ve been wanting to do but never had the time.
This has been my thoughts on expectation vs reality, if your expectation doesn’t meet the reality, simply put, just go create a better one!
