Mira Dearest,

I recently graduated from Old Dominion University (May 2010) with a BA in English. I am still working in the coffee shop I worked in through college and nannying two children, part-time, to pay my rent. I have tried since before graduation to find a job–even something entry level and underpaying, but I have had no luck.

I don’t have enough time to take on an unpaid internship that may or may not end up leading toward a paid position later. It’s getting close to a full year since I graduated, and I am worried and frustrated that I won’t have a job even by May. Do you have any advice/career guidance to offer a young girl with a dream?

~Young Girl With a Dream.

Dearest Young Girl With a Dream (YGWAD),

Holy curriculum vitae, girlfriend, I feel like you just read a page from my Hello Kitty Diary, circa 2002, the year I graduated from college. There I stood with my spanking fresh diploma in one hand and my waitress apron in the other. I hear you, in fact, I’ve been right smack up in the middle of where you are, minus the coffee and screaming brats, replaced by gin and tonics and leering, investment-banking douchebags on blow.

I’m speaking to you from experience when I tell you: There’s a future for you out there. I promise.

Here’s the deal: Job hunting, even during the best of times, can really suck the big one. It’s tedious as hell, is all about P.R. and, as cliche as it may be, it’s true: in the end, it really comes down to who you know. That said, I’ve got hope for you girl, because you, like I, have dreams and that’s a good place to start.

I wish we were talking about this kind of Rocky Road.

The economy is riding on a rickshaw down a rocky road and unemployment is moving along like a three-legged dog. You’re out there with your dreams and your prayers competing for jobs with seasoned professionals. The sad truth is, those seasoned pros have been laid off and are now saddled with professional-sized lifestyles to maintain, and they’re cramming employer’s inboxes with their overqualified resumes in an attempt to meet their own bottom lines.

I suggest that you get yourself organized and start making lists of every local business/organization/company that even remotely inspires you. Google those businesses, go to their web pages and find out the names of the people in charge. Add those names to your list, beside the names of the corresponding businesses.

Give yourself a call to action: What is it that you’d like to gain from working at any of these specific places? What is it you have to offer? I can tell you, right away, that employers like organized people who communicate well, write well, are self-motivated and excellent at time management (add those words to your resume RIGHT NOW).

Go to your university career center, reach out to your former professors, call anyone you know who currently holds a job at some place even halfway respectable. Do they know or have access to any of the people working at the places on your list? Ask around–do you know anyone who knows anyone looking for a reliable, self-starting communicator with writing skills like yours? Don’t shy away from part-time, either. Start working your community, your contacts, and your connections, YGWAD, and I mean, don’t be too proud to beg. Make it your goal to replace one of your jobs with at least a part-time job that will lead you in the direction of what you want. It’s going to be baby steps. You may have to be an editorial assistant and live in a world of coffee runs and data entry, but not forever (Been there. Done that.).

Finally, whatever you do, don’t lose sight of your dreams and your goals.

Keep your eye on the prize. You're a tigress!

Be true to yourself and keep your eyes focused on your version of that proverbial prize. Keep exploring what you love to do, what you love to create, what you love about work, what kinds of environments work for you and above all else, keep your head up. You have to stay positive and it’s best to keep your energy in check, because when you get a call for an interview, you’re going to need to speak with intention and clarity and let those soon-to-be employers know how damn lucky they are to get a talented and bursting young dynamo like yourself on their team.

Don’t give up. Just get yourself out there and get your piece of the pie.

Make it happen,

Mira Dearest.

Have a question for Mira Dearest? Email that sweet lady: mira@altdaily.com.