I’ve been unemployed and then underemployed for the last 8 months. Unemployed while I was in Asheville, NC working on a startup business and underemployed since moving back to New York in January. The term underemployment has multiple meanings. The first is for being employed part time when you wish to be full time. The second is when your skills are underutilized. There is a 3rd use that doesn’t apply to me that involves underutilized staff in seasonal workforces.

I am grateful to have a part time job selling cupcakes, but I make no secret that it is was never a first choice. Folding boxes, counting change, and making deliveries is not why I invested four years and huge sums into NYU. I work selling cupcakes to cover the bulk of my expenses while I work to improve my skills and gain full time employment in a challenging and rewarding field (something other than cupcakes). I’ve found there is a maximum time you can spend before burning out applying for jobs. As a way to fill my time better, I recently started working unpaid at Tory Burch doing web and graphic design. Working unpaid is a much better term than intern. Intern = coffee run. Working unpaid = graphic design, web development, real work but instead of monetary payment you gain connections, references, and a better portfolio/resume.

The statistics on my job hunt are not rosy. In the last 8 months (some months I only actively searched for employment for 4-6 months) I applied to around 100-120 jobs. Out of those 100, I’ve interviewed (via phone or in person) for about 12. I’ve also gotten a handful of responses saying the position was no longer available because of the economy. Out of those 12 I’ve gotten two positions (one part time, and one internship to fill the rest of my work week).

The take away from this is that you got to be insanely proactive in your search for employment. Its a numbers game. I have yet to find linkedin to be of any use but have worked to build my connections on it. I did get one interview from a facebook status update of a friend. I also find that your skills on paper are just that on paper they don’t mean shit. I also got one reply saying that they thought my cover letter and resume were great but the writing on this blog wasn’t professional enough for the position. I was a little annoyed because to me its important to differentiate between context and this is an informal blog. It’s not edited perfectly or for a commercial audience. I have professional writing samples in my portfolio. In terms of interviewing I’ve found the small things to be crucial even if unintentional. For instance I was told that a big part of the reason I got the cupcake job was at the end of the interview I pushed my chair in and asked for a towel to wipe up where my wet jacket had dripped on it. Something I had done without even thinking about it.