Sorry to have shown some ambition- it won't happen again

I, like all of us, am a statistic. Nay, many statistics. You can't do anything these days without being required to fill out "optional" surveys asking you anything from your ethnicity to your shoe size. Some supreme being somewhere is supposedly compiling all this data in attempts to make sense of the modern world. I think this is, at least for the most part, crap, but that's besides the point. My point is, I am one of hundreds of thousands (have we crept into the millions?) of unemployed "out there" today. Despite the overwhelming boredom that creeps in some days, it's actually not so bad. I'm still collecting unemployment, and without having to go to work every day, I'm saving a bundle on gas, food, lattes, and other former necessities (I had a habit of visiting Ross on my lunch breaks from time to time).

Actually, that's not even my point. The point of this blog is the ridiculous hoops one is made to jump through these days in their quest to seek gainful employment. It's taken me a while to realize how bleak the job market is, but I've pretty much got it now, thank you. It doesn't matter how you go about your job search, and it hardly matters how qualified you are. No matter what door you beat down, you can rest assured there are hundreds of other applicants beating down the same door. Many have gotten there before you, and many have similar or better qualifications.

Impossible, I used to think. I am generally a pretty modest person, but I do know that I'm smarter than a lot of people out there, and pick things up a lot quicker than the average bear. My problem is simple. I am young and still trying to figure out who I am going to become over the course of the rest of my life. Curse you, mom and dad, for not copulating five years earlier, for telling me "you can be anything you want to be," for sending me to the college of my choice instead of forcing me into the work field so I could gain experience in every single proprietary software program that any employer may ask me to know. Job ads are now only looking for individuals who:
1) Have spent at least 5 years already in that particular narrow industry
2) Are preprogrammed to know all the idiosyncrasies of this new office and the people that reside therein
3) Are willing to work for $10 an hour (no offense to people who make $10 an hour, but chances are it's not paying for the mortgage)
4) Are not planning on needing a filling, getting in an accident, or becoming ill for the first 90 days after the first partial month worked
5) Have no plans to ever do anything with their life except work in that particular place in that particular menial position for that skimpy paycheck for the rest of their days.

Here's where I come in. I have a music degree. Not the most practical choice, I know, but I was 17 when I chose my college, I worked hard, got ahead in school, and graduated with honors. It was only after I grew up a little that I realized life was about more than one's career, and I didn't want the lifestyle that came with hanging out in a recording studio for 80 hours a week. Sorry for maturing, future employers. I know it's confusing seeing a music degree on my resume, but ask me about it, and I'll put it into perspective for you. Anyway, since then I've held two jobs, each for about a year and a half, each progressively more demanding than the last. Let's not forget there's my student employment job which was often a full-time gig, one that I held for more than half of my college career. But, because I am actually somewhat of an overachiever, I decided that wasn't going to be that and enrolled in an online school to earn a second degree. Stupidly, I put this on my resume thinking that it shows I have direction in life and am not just floundering around waiting for opportunities to be handed to me. Because it's online, guess what? It means I never have to leave early to make a lab time or a study session.

To make a long story short, I've sent out hundreds of resumes and gotten six interviews, none of which turned into jobs. At the last one, I paid close attention and realized that the turning point in the conversation came when I gave them my anticipated graduation date, still at least two years in the future. I really had them, too. I had even convinced myself that I was really looking forward to learning about the foreclosure business and would remain dedicated to performing, delivering, etc., etc. The fact that I am looking for a job that I am currently qualified for (instead of the job I want that I'm not qualified for yet) is killing me. The fact that I don't want to settle for only that like they did, is what's been killing me.

Two days ago I took all mention of my current studies off my resume. I have three interviews lined up in the next two days.

Sorry to have shown concern for my own future. I'll have those TPS reports to you by the end of the day.