Why Are Job Sites So Confusing?

Since I graduated this past May, I have been using several different job sites (including Monster.Com and Careerbuilder.com) to broaden options for employment; to find jobs that I would not have normally thought of or heard of before.

Yet whenever I try to search for employment opportunities the results rarely have any connection to what I searched.  There was once an instant where I would type in “Marketing Jobs” and every time a job opportunity for a Pizza Hut to deliver pizzas came up.  How is that even close to marketing?  Why are the job titles also so confusing? (I realize that is more on the employers than the actual job websites, though.)   Why can’t I differentiate between entry-level and high-level jobs?  I have to start somewhere, and I don’t have enough experience to ask for an exact salary.

Also, when I do find an entry-level job, why do I need 3-5 years experience doing it?  On the job training would not take more than a week; hell, I’d likely understand how my job works within a few days.

I am also not going to pay for extra services to become “more attractive” to employers, just stop asking me.

The Job Search Is Killing Me

Seriously it is.  Searching for a job is killing me mentally, emotionally, and even physically because of all the stress I put on myself.  I really want to find a job where I can shine and have growth.  I don’t want to settle for a position where I’m overqualified (think Wal-Mart cashier), but I’m not saying I won’t accept a job at the bottom – as long as it is in a field that will help me reach that growth I so desperately want.

My degree is in geography, with a minor in marketing, and the typical route for a geography major is to take a position as a GIS (Geographic Information Science) analyst.  Except there are a few problems:

1. Nearly every GIS position I have come across requires experience (typically 3-5 years; or a masters degree)
2. Nearly every GIS position also requires knowledge of coding language (python, c++, etc.) and guess what? My university just started to offer those types of classes (in association with GIS) as I was graduating.
3. I like the GIS program, but I never felt like I was fully taught correctly how to utilize it completely.  It’s a wonderful program and you can mine a lot of data through it, but without an interest in coding, or the proper training I seem to be SOL on that front.  It just never sunk in for me.
4. I like geography when it comes to history, to culture, to the physical aspect of it, not sitting on a computer all day.
5. My University did not really do much for geography majors in terms of internships, or employment after graduation. (Only one professor would ever send emails in regards to internships/employment and even then they were difficult to get into.)

I know it seems like I am putting a lot of blame on the university, and I need to realize that I am 75% of the blame.  I went to University with high hopes of getting into the film industry (original major was film production) and it started out well until my second semester.  A professor was very abrasive when speaking to my class on our “chances” of making it in the film industry, and essentially told us that we were likely not going to be more than lowest on the crew totem pole at best.  It was disheartening, and the class was boring (“History of Film”), but I am glad he said that because I instantly realized that this was not the type of job I wanted to do.  It’s not that I didn’t want to put in the work since I do like film and creating them in my spare time, but rather I realized I wasn’t obsessed with film like everyone else was around me.  I could name a few directors (mostly mainstream) vs. everyone else that could name directors until they were blue in the face.  I knew nothing about Neorealism in Italian film, or what ‘Avant Garde’ exactly did for filmmakers.  I knew my classmates knew that I was the equivalence of a toddler when compared to them.

‘Bicycle Thieves’ is only one of two movies I enjoyed in ‘History of Film.’ I highly recommend it.

I was lost, so I decided to switch it up to something I always enjoyed: Maps and geography.  I loved, absolutely loved, reading maps.  It just came so easy to me.  I would grab Ohio’s state map whenever I was in the family car.  I’d point to where we currently were (typically in NW Ohio) then point to where we would be heading (Columbus or Cincinnati) and figure out the route we would be taking and how many miles it would take to get there.  I got even more enjoyment out of it when my family would vacation to Florida.  My mother would tell me which Interstate we were on (I-75 normally) and I would rattle off all the names of cities we would be passing big and small.  I found it fun and a game.

Though at a very small scale, this is similar to the map I would always unfold when in the family car and peer over constantly.

Now only two months removed, I know geography will no longer be a game for me.  It’s all about data and what goes where (business wise) and how I can use my understanding of geography for a business.  It’s not fun anymore.

Sorry about that tale there.  Didn’t mean to go there, but my mind and fingers did.  Back to the job search topic.

I would really like a job where I can find enjoyment and growth (not everything is about the money).  I would really like to score a job working for a music label somehow, or with a band, or with a music magazine.  Hell, I  think I could even utilize my knowledge of geography with my love of music into something spectacular.

If anyone reading this knows of any type of job openings with music, geography (preferably not just GIS), or record labels, part-time/full-time/seasonal/etc., please forward them to me.  I would be indebted to you.