A Slap on the Back

Because they are loyal readers, and because I have not had time to devote to this space, here is the story of two graduates of the Fraternity who struggled with unemployment following graduation that I worked on for my feature writing class.

Unemployment often greets unprepared college seniors as they collect their diplomas during college commencement ceremonies. The excitement over the culmination of their education often distracts them from planning for life after college. For many, the focus is simply on finishing up their last round of classes and exams.

Moses and BSB graduated from the State University six months apart with identical degrees. They both dreamed of careers under the bright lights of television news, and both admitted they were undaunted when they clutched their degrees without post-graduate employment.

But they quickly found that when there were no fraternity parties to attend and only an endless string of empty hours to fill that jobs were necessary and effort was needed to obtain them. Both mistakenly believed a degree from the esteemed State College journalism school would have news stations burning up their cell phones, but as the months dragged on and their resumes went unanswered, they decided they had to change their strategies to find work.

Moses was the first of the two to graduate in December 2007. He had planned very little for a life after college, and spent his last semester “looking toward the finish line.” Because he graduated in December, he still had his apartment till July, and planned on working his two part-time jobs till something better came along.

BSB followed his fraternity brother down the Comcast Center aisle in May 2008. He had began searching for work by sending out resume tapes beginning in February, but had little hope of finding work due to the fast paced nature of the news industry. Unlike his business school peers, no news stations were in a position to offer him a job that he wouldn’t begin till months later, because openings typically need to be filled immediately. This stunted his job search, and put him under the gun once he returned to his native Wisconsin in June.

While Moses was more flexible in his job search, BSB was adamant about being on-air. It had been a dream of his since childhood to be a sports television personality, and he was unwilling to take a behind-the-scenes job because he did not think he would be able to graduate to front of the house.

“Working your way up is not how it works,” BSB said about his disdain for a behind-the-camera job. “You have to pay your dues [on-air] in the really small markets. I was willing to work anywhere and be paid peanuts to be on-air, but I wanted to do sports and be on-air.”

“I figured if I was going to be paid $20,000 in small town America, it was going to be advancing my career, rather than waiting for a shot.”

Moses did not have as specific guidelines for his career, and coupled with a job waiting tables at a local Olive Garden and parking cars at mall as a valet, he was admittedly lackadaisical in the first few months following commencement. But, he found life after college truly intolerable, and decided he needed to make a change.

“I didn’t give the job search my best effort at first, expecting something to come my way as rich, spoiled, white, northeastern kids tend to do,” he said. “But, I quickly learned, when you aren’t going to school, or going to fraternity events, when you are just working two shitty jobs, it sucks. It’s horribly boring and terrible.”

Moses said that frustration coupled with a tip from a former professor motivated him and led to him landing his current job. As he returned from a fresh bath in marinara sauce one night, he decided to call on a former professor. The conversation turned to his job search, and the professor led on that an alum would soon be on campus from ESPN. Moses knew he could not afford to pass the opportunity up.

He had learned a lesson from past failed attempts. Rather than merely sending his resume and hoping for the best, Moses worked to forge a relationship with the recruiter and impress upon him how much he wanted the job. Following their meeting, he sent the recruiter monthly e-mails to let him know he was still looking for a job, and his due diligence paid off. The recruiter recommended him to another in his department, Moses received a phone interview, and eventually his current job.

“It sounds cheesy, but it came down to persistence,” Moses said, a nod to the famous quotation from a former member of the fraternity. “My boss told me they interviewed 11 other people, and there isn’t a chance in hell I was the most qualified. I was a kid out of college, with almost no experience, and it was totally my persistence and my desire to do well that got me the job.”

BSB would not be so fortunate. He made it to a final interview for a position in Eau Claire, Wisc., but when the job was awarded to the son of the director of NBC’s Milwaukee affiliate in August, he was left without many options as the direction of the economy began to mimic the nosedive the journalism field had been in for months.

BSB was forced to admit the mistakes of his past had caught up with him and that his dream was dead.

“The thing I didn’t realize, journalism is completely driven on internships and connections,” he said. “I though the State University’s reputation and the fact that I graduated from there would really mean something. It was a major error thinking the degree would speak for itself.”

BSB now wishes he had been more proactive as an undergrad, working more internships than merely the one needed to graduate. His lack of experience and fervent refusal to take anything other than an on-air position had left him jobless as the cold snows began to blanket Wisconsin.

He decided he needed to change directions. He had heard of two-year long teaching fellowships from a friend and decided to apply. He earned interviews and eventually job offers from the programs in Washington, D.C., Prince George’s County, Md., and Baltimore. In September, he will begin his new career as an elementary school teacher somewhere in Washington.

He will be placed in a high need school after a six week “crash course” this summer, and take certification classes at American University to earn his certification and a Masters degree in education. His acceptance into the program guarantees him a position as a District of Columbia public school teacher, but he will have to apply to individual schools himself to find his home for the next two years.

He is excited about the new opportunity, but understandably disappointed that he did not fulfill his dream of sports broadcasting. After the two years in D.C., he plans on staying in the education field or moving on to business. For him, the child hood dream appears all but dead.

“I began to realize journalism, especially sports broadcasting, would force me to live a nomadic life style, in which I’d be in one place for two years and another two years somewhere else,” he said of his decision to switch fields.

“Even though it had been my life long dream, it became a little more unappealing, and once September and October hit, everything dried up. I was sick of living at home and wasn’t prepared to continue being here [Brookfield, Wisc.] and not working. I just thought the time was right to switch paths.”

Ironically, Moses, the one without ardent plans, ended up in a position with ESPN, seemingly something BSB would have loved, but he has no regrets and did not solicit help from his fraternity brother to secure a job there.

“I’m excited for this new challenge,” BSB said. “It [the job switch] won’t hit me until I’m six months in, maybe even longer. I’m only 22, I’m not signing my life away with this new career path. I can gain some invaluable experience for however long I do it.”

But he admitted he might feel some remorse in years to come.

“It will be interesting to see if in a few years I feel regret for abandoning journalism,” he pondered aloud. “I’m just very happy to have something.”

Moses will not be forced to wonder the great “What if?” He is entering his eighth month at ESPN as an assistant integration producer, which requires him to monitor all on-air entertainment over the news titan’s multitude of networks and “ensure we are always producing quality content for our viewers.” He also has taken a prominent role writing for the company’s intra-office newsletter, and had the privilege of writing a story on former NBA All-Star and current ESPN employee Jamal Mashburn.

But while their paths have diverged after sharing the same trail for four years, their words smack of lessons learned and the understanding that they still have more knowledge to acquire and that life after college has proven to be confusing and difficult.

“I feel like I’ve made a leap, from one piece of solid ground to another,” Moses said. “I got through the mucky-muck in the middle, and now I’m keeping an eye out for the next piece of solid ground, but I’m happy to be standing where I’m standing now.”

“It’s a cold world out there, you gotta look out for yourself,” BSB said, “because nobdy is going to feel sorry for you and it falls on you and the person looking back in the mirror at you. Eventually you have to get it done.”

But while they both sound as though they long to return to college and a life full of friends and parties, they both sense they’ve accomplished something, and stand a little bit taller because of it.

“It’s [working world] different, I think it’s great and I think it’s better,” Moses said, “but I think it’s natural to think, at each new stage of life, to think it’s better. No one wipes your butt in the real world, but it’s cool, because there is a certain sense of sel-satisfaction that comes with running your own life and knowing you can handle that.”

But BSB summed it up best, in the simplistic style of a former student of journalism.

“It sucks to leave college, but at least you’ve entered a new chapter of your life. I’m happy to be in the real world.”