Hi, I'm an idiot and majored in Communication at NCSU with a concentration in media. Needless to say, I can't find a job for which I have the necessary skills, despite graduating Summa Cum Laude.

I wish I would have had more fun in college and majored in something else, or something in addition to this. I am depressed about my situation and feel that it is my duty to inform other tres stupides like myself to make a change while they still can.

Also, does anyone have any advice for me? Or ideas where I might find work that pays somewhat decent? I took a risk and quite my long-time job of waiting tables thinking I'd be able to find something else...Now I am applying for clerk work at grocery stores, drug stores, and department stores, all of which I could 've done WITHOUT BLOWING MY MONEY AND BRAINS OUT AT COLLEGE!!!

If you, or someone you know, is majoring in Communication and feel they may benefit from my experience, please refer them to me and I will be glad to help save them from feelings of personal defeat, depression, and useless exhaustion.

8/28/2006 7:59:58 PM

Oh yes, I have plans to go back to school for something lucrative but I have run out of money so will have to take a crap job for the next half decade just to be able to afford it...such is life.

8/28/2006 8:01:47 PM

try and find a job in the media? radio maybe? I majored in engineering and a radio station almost hired me to announce the news

8/28/2006 8:01:50 PM

I had a friend that majored in communications, and she was able to find a job at a television station. She had to move halfway across the country though

8/28/2006 8:07:06 PM

dude, where did you apply for jobs?

i am sure some tv/radio station, newspaper, magazine, website, consumer advice companies, ngo, etc would be willing to hire you.

do you have good computer skills, esp with web design, and/or graphics? if not, learning those could multiply your marketability several-fold.

8/28/2006 8:11:42 PM

SALES

8/28/2006 8:14:34 PM

What kind of grad school would a communication major go to?? Can they get into an MBA program without having a business degree??

I always thought of communications majors as athletes and people who wanted to get into radio/television/newspaper. Or pershaps some type of PR job at a major corporation...but I think business majors would have just as good a shot at those jobs as communications majors.

Never really understood the desire of people who "don't know what they want to do" to major in communications. I always thought the most generic major that might actually help you out would be business.

What exactly did you want to do with your life???

8/28/2006 8:15:29 PM

Quote :

"if not, learning those could multiply your marketability several-fold."

everybody and their fucking brother can make a webpage these days. i wouldnt waste my time if i didnt already know how

8/28/2006 8:15:35 PM

what have you tried thus far to get a job - have you attempted to network at all or did you just expect life to be handed to you on a silver platter

Quote :

"WITHOUT BLOWING MY MONEY AND BRAINS OUT AT COLLEGE!!! "

you shouldn't have blown your brains out getting a communication degree - it's just a B.A. - if you did then you might have a hard time in life

8/28/2006 8:20:25 PM

i always thought communications = MRS degree...

8/28/2006 8:21:23 PM

Quote :

"I wish I would have had more fun in college and majored in something else"

I hate to break the news, but from communications, it only gets harder. You have a major in what engineers call "nothing".

8/28/2006 8:21:50 PM

did you have any internships while in college?

are you willing to move away from raleigh or even out of nc?


if you answered no to both of these questions, i dont think your major was your problem

i majored in communication with a concentration in PR

but i also majored in business


for any communication majors out there-- if you really do enjoy it, stick with it! we are just ab the only ones who can get away with writing "good oral and written communication skills" on a resume and not have someone roll their eyes

BUT i'd also recommend majoring in something "practical" like business, engineering or something else 'generic' that is in demand

my major in business landed me my job but my extra degree in communication made me stand out among the other business majors applying

8/28/2006 8:35:00 PM

you can possibly be my trophy wife

8/28/2006 8:36:50 PM

Quote :

"what have you tried thus far to get a job - have you attempted to network at all or did you just expect life to be handed to you on a silver platter"

Seriously. There are far too many people who are under the delusion that if they just get a degree and make good grades, everything else will take care of itself.

8/28/2006 8:44:12 PM

the only thing that i can think of is to "cast a wider net"
dont just settle for jobs in north carolina, look for positions in other states too
also try looking into non-profit companies, seems alot of people overlook them

8/28/2006 8:49:48 PM

this has to be the most retarded thread ever. If you cant find a job with a communication degree then you must be completely retarded. Not only that but you're making all Com majors look retarded.

but I guess if you just fucked around then you are fucked.

hahaha and if you think Business is practical then you have a hole in your head

but I guess im a Com Media major with a minor in Poli Sci

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 9:33 PM. Reason : !!]

8/28/2006 9:29:27 PM

The last time I saw my com major friend he was delivering pizzas. I guess when he was going out 6 nights of week getting plastered it never occured to him there might be a reason he could do that and make straight A's while I was stuck in the lab writing code all the time.

Quote :

"I wish I would have had more fun in college and majored in something else"

Damn, I don't even know how to respond to that comment. I'm just sort of speechless. How can you even come to this message board and make such a statement?

Quote :

"have you attempted to network at all or did you just expect life to be handed to you on a silver platter"

Oh come on Alan. Did you not hear her? She graduated "Summa Cum Laude." The very thought that she does not have lucrative job offers banging down her door on a daily basis is truely mind boggling.

DeMotherLoad, maybe you can throw out your SAT score while you're at it and we can all pretend to give a shit about that as well...

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 9:38 PM. Reason : stupid crazy code]

8/28/2006 9:38:03 PM

maybe instead of waiting tables for several years you should have gone out to find internships or shit-paying jobs in your field to get some kind of experience.

8/28/2006 9:49:32 PM

De, I would suggest posting this in Study Hall if you want some serious answers ... you are gonna continue to get flamed. Without going into a terrible amount of detail, I'll say NCSU has a ton of resources to offer ... 95% of them are listed on the website. Start with career center and former COM advisors.

Oh, and there's nothing wrong with taking a temp job to pay bills. Just keep your focus.

8/28/2006 10:20:29 PM

You're qualified to be the lead singer of a band.

8/28/2006 10:20:57 PM

Being a Com major you have to search out and find your job. Most people will not come to you with job offers to begin with. Of course the fact that Ive interned with several businesses and I work at WKNC gives me a good chance of getting a job that I will enjoy right out of college.

Im glad I didnt sit around and write code just so I can sit around and write code for the rest of my life. I dont need to make my life miserable to make some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

fuck that

8/28/2006 10:23:16 PM

out of all of the csc graduates i know - only 2 code - and they both do so by choice

8/28/2006 10:25:17 PM

I have to admit I thought this thread was a cleverly placed joke. I was beginning to enjoy it until it dawned on me that this could actually be serious. This being the case, I have to address two points:

Quote :

"I wish I would have had more fun in college and majored in something else, or something in addition to this"

You can't have more fun in college majoring in anything else but communications. You chose the most fun path, sweety.

Quote :

"duty to inform other tres stupides"

Maybe you should have majored in Frenglish.

8/28/2006 10:25:29 PM

Quote :

"Im glad I didnt sit around and write code just so I can sit around and write code for the rest of my life. I dont need to make my life miserable to make some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$."

I'm not saying you should have sat around writing code. That's what I did and I enjoy it and am good at it so it was a good path for me to take. The point is, if you major in something that's easy, don't you think it will be hard to find jobs in that field? If it's easy and there are tons of jobs with decent pay then why the fuck wouldn't tons of people major in that field. It's simple supply/demand/economics or were comm majors not required to take that?

8/28/2006 10:27:57 PM

I guess you gotta get the job you want and take the path you want. One of my friends at KNC now works at Trill Jockey records in Chicago. It would be great, not great pay but something I would like to do.

8/28/2006 10:28:44 PM

I have a Communication degree with a concentration in media and I have a job.

Me: 1
You: 0

If you whine about it some more though, I'm sure that will make you a very attractive hire.

On a serious note, find what you enjoyed about the Com major and try to follow that into a job. Might not happen today or tomorrow, but if you just give up, it never will.

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 10:32 PM. Reason : .]

8/28/2006 10:28:45 PM

^ ^ ^ LOL


The man speaketh the truth. In "America," we are "paid" based on how "valuable" our "skills" are.

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 10:30 PM. Reason : ]

8/28/2006 10:29:38 PM

^ what job did you get?

8/28/2006 10:29:44 PM

De, you might also want to consider long-term goals/questions if you haven't already:
-How long can you survive without a job?
-Where can you move/work to if you got a job offer?
-What ultimately do you want out of a career?
-What ultimately do you want to get out of life?
-Etc.

Quote :

"Im glad I didnt sit around and write code just so I can sit around and write code for the rest of my life. I dont need to make my life miserable to make some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$."

Don't start a "Major A" vs. "Major B" debate. Unless you've been through both degree programs and have had significant job experience with each, you just proving how ignorant you are by making such an assertion. See below quote for reference of ignorance.

Quote :

"Can they get into an MBA program without having a business degree??"

8/28/2006 10:31:23 PM

Now it's time for sing-a-long from Broadway musical Avenue Q

Quote :

"What do you do with a B.A. in English, What is my life going to be? Four years of college and plenty of knowledge, Have earned me this useless degree. I can't pay the bills yet, 'Cause I have no skills yet, The world is a big scary place. But somehow I can't shake, The feeling I might make, A difference, To the human race. Morning, Brian. Hi, Kate Monster. How's life? Disappointing. What's the matter? The catering company laid me off."

8/28/2006 10:31:52 PM

Damn I want to see that in person. My cousin saw it in NY and he said it was funny as hell.

8/28/2006 10:33:10 PM

Quote :

"^ what job did you get?"

I'm a web developer, which is what I wanted to do since even before college.

8/28/2006 10:33:55 PM

Wait! You mean you actually started planning for your future before you started college??? Gasp!

8/28/2006 10:35:04 PM

I had a philosophy major and still found a full time job that wasn’t in retail/food service within 4 months of graduating. I fell back on something I’ve had a little experience with before, working as a receptionist at a vet clinic, since I interned at one in high school & came to state originally in animal science.

While I hope this thread makes people makes people seriously consider their post college plans, I hope no one gives up studying something they love. The end of classes isn’t the end of making yourself more eligible for the kind of work you want/resume building.

"all of which I could 've done WITHOUT BLOWING MY MONEY AND BRAINS OUT AT COLLEGE"

That’s probably true, but I bet you gained some non-vocational lessons/experiences in college that waiting tables wouldn't have given you. I mean the money is gone, but a life without using your brain really hard once or twice doesn’t sound very fulfilling.

8/28/2006 10:38:47 PM

1. Get a job at a stripclub
2. Wait for NBA/MLB/NFL players to come in
3. Have unprotected sex with players
4. Get pregnant and medication for your new STD
5. Profit


Being a girl would be so easy

8/28/2006 10:40:28 PM

Don't get discouraged, DeMotherLoad. You have to keep trying. Yes, it's hard to get in at first. I'm working part-time as a camera operator in hopes of getting a better job. My suggestion for undergrads is to network like hell and get involved early. That means internships, jobs, etc. As for grads, network like hell.

That's my spill, and I hope this helps. That reminds me, I'm going to have to look for a new job after next week. My part-time job ends on Labor Day.

8/28/2006 10:52:51 PM

Let me just start by saying that I didn't read any responses to the original post because I'm too lazy, so this may render it a moot point..however...

So, I graduated from state with a B.A. in Communication as well, but unlike you and your fantastic Summa Cum Laude experience, I was fortunate to find a well-paying, completely unrelated position because of the ACTIONS I TOOK DURING SCHOOL. You can't expect to get your degree and get a job in most cases anymore, especially with a humanities degree in many instances. You must make up for this deficiency, a lack of experience, and a lack of diversity by jumping into initiatives on your own. I participated in 4 internships and worked while I was in school - the result, a good, safe job, with a LOT of potential for growth.

Now, De MotherLoad, since i've debunked your fantastic "communication sucks" message, i'll continue on to say, you rightfully screwed yourself by not gainin anything from mentors or external experiences from what I can tell. But since that doesn't seem to be kicking in or making sense to you, the best thing you can do, if you're capable, is work into an inside sales position or something dealing with PEOPLE - these are always desirable characteristics and can be broadly applied.

Best of luck.

8/28/2006 11:15:18 PM

Quote :

"Let me just start by saying that I didn't read any responses to the original post because I'm too lazy"

Quote :

"So, I graduated from state with a B.A. in Communication as well"

Correlation? Hmmmm

I too was too lazy to read your post. Let's subvert the principle of networking altogether; how ironic in a thread full of people holding degrees in...communication of all things.

Wait, I completely forgot. What's going on here? Did you post something?

8/28/2006 11:20:17 PM

Oh, whew, I'm dying over here - your cleverness just "WOW"s me, Stategrad......

...

alright, i'm finished being "WOW'd".


Do you guys know anything about blankets? I hear they're extremely useful for covering a whole bunch of things together at once and making useless statements while continually furthering stereotypes that are completely untrue, and in some cases, completely asinine! Apparently Stategrad's heard of them...

Mike

8/28/2006 11:24:03 PM

Quote :

"if you're capable, is work into an inside sales position or something dealing with PEOPLE"

A half retarded monkey can work in sales. You also don't need a college degree to work in sales.

Your advice is terrible, but it's decent in the arena of people holding degrees in communications.

8/28/2006 11:25:39 PM

Quote :

"Do you guys know anything about blankets? I hear they're extremely useful for covering a whole bunch of things together...."

8/28/2006 11:34:00 PM

i dont know wtf she was doing in Com Media but all of my classes have to deal with audio and video production right now. Sales would suck and isnt for a Com Media major. All of my Business major friends are just glorified sales men.....that sucks

8/28/2006 11:36:06 PM

You just hit the ground running for anything you can get. In the world of journalism, it's really more about the position than it is about the pay, but you can get hired.

You have to recondition yourself into a total package to get picked up for some jobs, even if that means losing weight or enhancing your skills and beefing up your resume in other extracurricular ways.

8/28/2006 11:38:58 PM

^ yes I think we all can agree Demotherload needs to grap her nuts

8/28/2006 11:45:44 PM

Quote :

"Wait! You mean you actually started planning for your future before you started college??? Gasp!"

Realistically speaking, if I didn't need a degree in something to hold my current job, going to college would have net me minimal gains.

8/28/2006 11:51:04 PM

Yes, and maybe more important than expecting difficulty getting a job is the shock that you will be treated like an absolute whipping boy/girl in the workplace because you will be lucky to be there if the job is good. You've got to swallow a lot of pride.

If the place is unknown to you until you walk in the door and they entice you with catch phrases and promise you the world, you should try looking around some more.

8/28/2006 11:51:05 PM

I was a communication public and interpersonal concentration with a minor in journalism...I am not really willing to move right now (and I don't need to just yet) and I have completed an internship and have a kickass portfolio. I haven't had great luck with my job search but I have found jobs. Just keep a stiff upper lip. You need to get a job...some kind, any kind and just work and then move in the direction you need...hardly anyone gets their dream job right out of the box.

8/28/2006 11:51:56 PM

why do people choose to stay in raleigh?

the same jobs can pay substantialy more in other geographical locations

sorry but unless my friends are making my rent payment and putting food in my stomach, i gotta take the bigger check somewhere else to get my life started instead of staying in raleigh with a shitty paying job

i'm an only child and my parents miss me a lot but they also know i went to college to get a job, not be a bank teller

different strokes for different folks i guess

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 11:59 PM. Reason : skjdhfjkshdf]

8/28/2006 11:58:13 PM

i dont have boobs

8/29/2006 12:05:39 AM

Speaking as somebody moving to NYC within the next 2 weeks to work at a large investment bank - Raleigh is an extremely attractive area because it's cheap and growing fast. It's a great place to raise a family and to do so affordably.

8/29/2006 12:06:15 AM