The State of Me & the Job Market

"The worst economic crises since the Great Depression" - Uh oh, I was a history major! I think I remember something about the Depression being really, well... depressing. Evidently, this is not a great time to be graduating from college and looking for a job. I have experienced the difficulties of a looming depression as I have yet to secure post undergraduate employment. I've heard the same thing almost everywhere: "There is nothing wrong with you or your profile, we just have a hiring freeze right now."

Maybe that’s just the standard line to throw out when you are not generous enough to give a job candidate any candid feedback about why you won't hire them... but I hope it's more likely that companies are just scared right now (since that has the obvious benefit of erasing me from the equation of my not being hired.) The economic picture does not necessarily look grim, it just looks horrifyingly unstable and companies are afraid to hire into uncertainty. "Call us back in six months." Great, so now what? Keep looking, keep the glass half full and keep putting yourself through the emotional roller coaster that is job searching? Change your expectations, change your goals, change your entire approach to the situation, give up?

There probably is not a right answer to those questions. It depends on the person, their goals, dreams, desires and ambition. I've decided to take the first approach. Just keep looking. After all, sooner or later someone is going to see the true value in hiring me, right? And once they come to that conclusion I'll make sure they never regret that decision. Changing my goals is not an option, if you want something you have to keep going after it no matter what life throws at you. And I never want to be in the awkward position of trying to explain to an adcom why I lowered my expectations and settled for something less than my best.



So in the meantime I start GMAT prep with the Princeton Review and I continue to search for jobs. I also hope this extra time will give me an opportunity to get more involved in my community, something my intense stint finishing my undergrad in three years prevented me from doing – at least to the extent I would have preferred. At some point in the near future, after the GMAT is out of the way, I think a move will be in order. Not just a small symbolic move, but a bold move to a new city where I can focus my attention on an industry, get myself employed and begin to plant roots somewhere.

Our economic situation has not been a road block or even an obstacle to me. It has been an opportunity to explore options I never would have considered before. Let’s see where this ride is taking me. I’m still excited, which is reassuring and reassurance has become quite a luxury these days.

October Jungle Smash!

Recently, a friend and I decided to put together a video about Crest toothpaste and enter it into a marketing contest held by James Altucher, founder of www.stockpickr.com. The contest, called Jungle Smash, can be found here.

I am extremely pleased to announce that the video my friend Marc Messer and I put together, "Crest Wars" won first place for the October contest! You can view the video below.



Our video was also the favorite of author Stephen Dubner. He featured it in his New York Times Freakonomics blog. You can find that here.

I am very proud of the final product and hope you enjoy it as well.

Quick Updates

The University of Cincinnati has officially conferred my Bachelor of Arts degree in History.
My final, cumulative GPA is 3.770. In addition to graduating Magna Cum Laude, I also received the distinction of graduating with Honors. I have also been invited to join the highly prestigious academic organization Phi Beta Kappa.

I have also moved from part-time to full-time status as a file clerk at Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L. until I find post-graduate employment in my desired field. I now lead the Closed Files branch of Central Files. I am exited about my increased role within the department and look forward to leading my team on future projects.

The Future: Now what?

Now that I have wrapped up the undergraduate chapter of my life, I now intend to enter this thing people keep calling “the real world.” Aside from a miserable reality TV series, I’m not entirely sure what to expect of this “real world.” Since it is usually referred to with such negativity, I feel naïve for not being more fearful of it. In reality, I could not be more exited. I’m young, energetic and looking forward to getting work experience with a great company. I am as ambitious as they come and will work incredibly hard for any company willing to give me an opportunity.

I have embarked on a job search that I am confident will place me with an exiting company where I can grow both personally and professionally. I believe my analytical, communicative and writing skills would make me a great research analyst. With the right training, I would also be thrilled to develop a hobby of mine: investment and finance. During my undergraduate, I took over custodianship of my own personal finances and have invested in a diverse range of mutual funds, stocks and bonds.

After spending a few years in a rewarding and enriching business enviroment, I hope to return to school and earn a masters of business administration. Ultimately, I hope the experience I receive during my post-undergraduate work will prepare me for business school in a way that optimizes my educational experience, all in hopes of emerging from business school ready to compete in our ever flatter world.

The Beginning

My Education
I have just become a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. My specific focus was the American Civil War, but more broadly my studies concentrated on contemporary American history. I completed the program in three years, a feat I am particularly proud of in a day in age where five and six year undergraduate stints have become the norm. I am confident in my academic record as I graduate Magna Cum Laude with a cumulative 3.75 GPA. I look forward to earning even more academic distinction as my graduation date approaches.

The best experience I had during my undergraduate work was researching and writing my senior thesis. It is a “Why We Fight” study of Henry Windsor Mason, a private in the Twenty-Fourth Wisconsin volunteers during the Civil War. I became interested in Mr. Mason when my mentor allowed me access to a collection of Mr. Mason’s personal correspondence with his family during his service. My mentor, Dr. Fred Sturdivant, is in the process of writing a book with Mr. Mason as its centerpiece, so I am elated to be serving as his research assistant while also completeing my own work. Dr. Sturdivant and I traveled throughout the Western theatre during the summer of 2007. On the trip we traced the Twenty-Fourth Wisconsin and Mr. Mason’s path through the Western Theatre that included Franklin, Tennessee, where Mason was wounded, and Nashville, Tennessee, where Mason later died of his wounds and was subsequently buried in what has become a national cemetery. Although I have submitted my senior thesis, Dr. Sturdivant and I plan to travel to Wisconsin this summer to visit the historical society and get a taste of Henry Mason’s hometown. I look forward to helping Dr. Sturdivant research his much more extensive study and plan to add to my own thesis with his help and guidance.
The Battle of Franklin

My undergraduate education has helped me hone my communicative, writing and analytical skills. The accelerated pace in which I completed the program also prepared me for handling stress, making and keeping goals and also prioritizing tasks. During my undergraduate studies, I also worked part-time at the Cincinnati based law firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L. As a records management clerk I learned the value of organization and being able to work with a team to tackle big projects.

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