How can I get a job with No Work Experience, only a Degree? (application, unemployment)

[Stumbler.]

It only usually works for professional degrees or degrees that train you for a particular job. Most of the time, for bachelor's degrees, a degree isn't enough.

[L'Artiste]

know someone that will give you a job.
but seriously its harvard, it shouldn't be that hard right?(to find work, not get someone to give you a job)

[NJBest]

I find it hard to believe that a university's career center is useless. Schools strive for their graduates to be fully employed and earning a high income so they can use as a statistic.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by SoFuarked

I really messed up by not getting any useful work experience during college. I went to Harvard and got a BA in Physics and a minor in Economics, and graduated *** Laude (2 years ago), but I neglected to get any internships or useful jobs while I was there. I did work, only during the summer, but it was for my dad's landscape architecture company. Now the company has barely any work, and I need to get a job. I don't know enough about landscape architecture to try to apply to a different firm (plus you need specific degrees and certifications for that), and I don't have any useful experience in anything else. Also, I don't remember any physics really, and have no intention or ability to pursue a career in physics or a masters degree. I didn't do the requirements for applying to Physics grad school. The main thing I learned from my Physics degree was that I don't want to do any more Physics. Also, I took a Computer Science class in college, but I don't remember anything from that either. And I designed the website for my dad's company, but I am definitely not good enough at that to warrant applying for a web developer type job. Essentially, I feel incredibly useless in the job market. My supposedly impressive degree means nothing without relevant experience or marketable skills.

About 7 months after I graduated, I got a job as an SAT tutor, but the company didn't give me many hours, and apparently I sucked at it, because I got fired 9 months later. So I don't really think I can use that on my resume. Since then I've done some landscaping work, through my dad's company. When people used to call us and ask if we did landscaping, we would say "no, we only do design." But now we take anything we can get. The landscaping work naturally dried up during the winter, but it might pick up again in a month or so. Either way that can't be my only job.

One of the reasons I didn't apply for internships in college was that I have no idea what I want to do for a career (well really, I want to play bass in a band, but that won't pay the bills, especially in the short term). Originally in high school I thought I wanted to be an engineer, but since Harvard engineering sucks and would require way more classes (and engineering jobs are boring and the salaries grow very slowly), I chose Physics instead, thinking I could apply for finance jobs (supposedly physics shows I have superb analytical abilities, which banks are apparently to drool over). I totally missed the boat on that one by not getting an internship. And I can't see myself working 90 hour weeks anyway.

Basically I'm asking how I can get a job with no useful work experience in anything. I know I totally wasted my time in college by not getting internships, etc. But is there any job I should still try to apply for? The only jobs I find listed always require multiple years of experience in that particular field. I probably can't even get a simple retail job because I don't have experience in that. Is there anything I can do, preferably not for minimum wage? Since I have no career direction, any and all job suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Well if you really want a job as you say and you like many others now a day not that there is anything wrong with your college education but if you will taske some advice from a 70 yrs old man that didn't finish high school, you need to think out side the box . if you can't find someone who will give you a job then you need to develop your own job( self employment ) If you think as I have all these years ( out side the box ) there are lots of things someone of any age can do . As a pre teen many yrs ago too young to get a job , I picked blueberries and sold them after school , later while working for my father at his service station ( not a really high paying job working for family ) I sold Xmass trees for extra money that carried me for months.( Sorry to be so long winded again ) What Iam trying to say is that their are alot of small jobs out there we don't think of while looking at the big oicture. now as I travel , Fultime RV'ing I am still comming into money making opportunities. One is something almost anyone young or old can due. There is a company that sells a product called "Optic Guard" Plastic lens cleaner / polish, www.opticguard.com ( just look around at all the people wearing glasses) the product only sell for $13.99 , has a good profit margine , can be sold almost anwwhere, I usually just sit at the dinner table at the fridat and saturday night dinner , I pull out my small jar and start cleaning my glasses , no selling pitch needed ( people just ask , What are you doing? ) After selling 8-10 of them I ready to eat!( for free). You can also sell at street fairs, swap meets , car shows , sporting events , even at the beach ( works great on sun glasses), I do it at campgrounds all over the western states as I travel. If you are able to do a little fiscal work ( not that much ) another thing I do in my travels Is restoring the plastic headlights that have clouded up on the cars and trucks all over the country, I do it mostly at truck stops when I get the earge to make some extra money ,m it takes about 30 min. to do each vehicle and I get $25.00 each , and I can do 7-8 easy in a day and be on my way enjoying life. this is something most any one can do and there are thousands of vehicles waiting for this service. These are just 2 of the out of the box jobs people overlook ,for those big jobs with all that so called security that really is not there anymore ,so why not be your own boss and controll your security. If anyone is interested in more info Dm me.

[elliot_p]

Just my two cents worth, and I may be repeating stuff others have written since I didn't really have the patience to read all the posts...

I graduated in 1981 with an EE degree from a University. It was a bad recession, My father died during finals week, had family stuff to do, jobs were tough to find, I had a straight C average, (woopee!!) and didn't even look much my final year. OK, i just deleted a page or so - you don't really need to hear what you should have done or the like. You need to know what to do now.

I will sidetrack with this one personal experience, mostly for any of you students now. You went for a Physics degree, right? Well, a 4 year degree in that is really worthless, isn't it? so why do it? You need advanced degrees. I really like Economics. I got straight A+'s in it. After I took all the undergrad courses I could I had a a talk with a professor about switching from EE to Econ - and he gave me a heart to heart. He said from his expierience - as a current PHD student - he could not get work. He told me I would have to go to school for what - 6 more years or so - to get advanced degrees, then I'd probably end up teaching if I was lucky, or being a bank teller.

Anyhow, I'm saying only a 4 year degree in a pure science discipline is not worth much, IFF that is all you have. So you have to add to it.

1) get your teaching certificate - usually only a year or 2 more - and you can teach. Or teach and go back for more degrees. But if like me, you don't like talking in front of people -

2) If you can afford it, send out letters to your places of interest (in physics I take it) and offer to
work for free for a time - 3 months, 6 months, etc. Or to intern now.

2) Do what I had to do - i got work thru a Consulting firm (really, it was a "contracting" firm), and it was doing something I only had a few courses on - computer programming. coding. testing debugging. if you have the smarts you talk about in your post, and from harvard, you should be able to get something.

I only stayed at it for a year, saved my money, hated the job the whole time, then went back to Univ for courses in a better kind of Software Engineering. After a year or so of that, I was able to get a job at a big company doing basic stuff I wanted to do.

Eventually I ended up doing some fairly advanced Sofware Engineering. I didn't originally plan it or get a degree in it.

I'm a priivate investor now. Life is funny huh? it happens while we are making other plans...

Sorry for the overly personalized parts of this.

Summary: get any job you can, hopefully in an area you can put up with for awhile, build on it and keep looking, maybe go back to school full time or part time, go thru a contracting or consulting firm if you have to....

And good luck.

Oh, yeah. Consider moving. To anywhere, consider it for just awhile. Try out of town head hunters. I wasn't willing to move, even though i had some offers, and it really hurt me.

Oh, do something else I wasn't willing to do... maybe take some classes on personal presentation, resume writing, job interviewing....

[bluefrogs]

This is an age old question. Nobody ever starts into this world with a job. You really have to FAKE the attitude until you make it. Its not about the degree you have, the college you went to, the skills you supposedly have, the way you look, the credentials or whatnot. Half of all jobs that people have are either because they know someone in the industry or because its a high turnover job. So, that's where I would tell you to start. Stop thinking about the 'ideal' job, and look for a job that most people will not compete with you for.
When I started looking for a job, the only requirements that I had was that it was LEGAL, and they were paying CASH.You can't expect too much from this economy, otherwise, you may be unemployed for a long time.
A degree is not work experience, but its proof that you have the job skills that most employers need: arriving on time, completing duties, computer skills, maybe a second language, basic math and english skills, and ability to break down hard concepts. Find ways to make it seem like you have a grasp of concepts. Read up on more stuff.
This is the kind of stuff you should be talking about at interviews.

[e_cuyler]

The only place I've seen where education can be considered equivalent to work experience would be for certain government jobs.

[andywire]

Umm... Doesn't a degree from Harvard stand out in the job market? Especially in something like physics? Have you tried searching for jobs around the country? Have you tried searching for jobs in all different sectors, including lower paying entry level work? Just seems like SOMEONE would see value in such a degree... My only advice I can give... Make searching for a job a full time job. By that I mean... Get up and work 8 hours a day searching. Be sure to take a 30 minute lunch and 2 breaks throughout the day. I am just a measly HS grad, but this always worked for me, and I have never been unemployed longer than 2 weeks. Treat it like a job.


I do have one friend that graduated with a physics degree from U of M. He ended up joining the coast guard. That wouldn't be a bad option. Another friend just graduated and joined the navy.

[ragnarkar]

Contact your school's career center and stay in touch with them regularly.. explain to them your situation and see what they can do. If you keep in touch frequently, then when the right opportunity pops up, you'll be at the top of the "list" to know of it.

I went to Berkeley and was in your situation so going to a decent university is no ticket out of extended unemployment.

Don't want to sound like a broken record but..

No job is below you, even with a Harvard degree as long as it meets these 2 criteria:

1) It puts food on the table.

2) It gives you experience that'll make you more employable in the future.

A job that barely meets these two may not be glamorous but just treat it like a job and nothing else.. you'll be in better shape when better opportunities arise.

[blackconverse]

Originally Posted by NJBest

I find it hard to believe that a university's career center is useless. Schools strive for their graduates to be fully employed and earning a high income so they can use as a statistic.

I don't.
This is a common criticism across all colleges and universities, no matter the ranking.
They are mostly useless.