Hey Annie,

I can relate so thoroughly to your position. I’m a recent graduate (May ’13) and I considered med school at one point and am still considering getting a psychology degree too. The job market can be unfriendly and super confusing to navigate for sure.

My best advice is to start somewhere. A practical suggestion is completing an AmeriCorps program. This is what I did right after graduation. Not only does it look great on a resume (employers and schools like seeing service work), but it allows student loan deferment while you’re in the AmeriCorps (so no interest on loans). It ALSO gives you a $5,500 award towards graduate school OR loans once you complete a program.

There are AmeriCorps positions in practically every field. Public health, administration, environmental stuff, schools/education, disaster relief, etc.

When I graduated college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where to start. I knew I wanted work experience so I could have a practical understanding to apply to whether or not I wanted to attend grad school. Long story short, I found an AmeriCorps program in California and moved across the country. The pay is crap, but I met a bunch of amazing people. Through those connections, I landed a job after AmeriCorps that paid better and was more interesting. Then through the connections in that job, I landed another job that paid better and was more interesting than the prior. All in a field (healthcare) I thought I didn’t care about — but I’m surprised at how much my work interests me now.

Even if you don’t want to do AmeriCorps, there are other ways to begin building a life and profession you’re happy with. One of my favorite quotes is “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” Do not wait to be CERTAIN about something before taking a first step. After that first step, you’ll have a new view. You’ll see some things more clearly. Confidence and clarity come after you act, not before.

As far as I can tell, this is how the awkward post-grad life works — you keep moving, not entirely sure of where you’re going, but slowly things get better and better. The fog clears.

I know the feeling of uncertainty that comes with college graduation. It doesn’t go away, so make friends with it.

(One last idea–look up the work of Cal Newport, who researches passion. One of his most interesting findings: what do most people who say they are living in and working with the field of their passion have in common? The only thing that they all shared was how LONG they had been in that line of work. In other words, passion comes from mastery, and the idea of needing to “find your passion” before you commit to trying something too often holds people back from trying anything. Passion is developed through expertise, not discovered through a thunderbolt to the brain.)

I really hope this was helpful! Best of luck to you!

Jock

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Jock Gilchrist.