I finally have a job， 18 months after graduating. It hasnt been an easy path. In fact， at times， its been downright miserable. The howls over statistics about graduate unemployment and dole claims may already be fading from memory， but for me the graduate blues went much deeper than the snappy headlines suggested.

After years of rigid structure and clear linear progression through institutions， I was finally left to my own devices to find a job. As I slowly began to comprehend the vastness of the world and the many roles I could assume within it， I was at times reduced to a nervous wreck.

Economists， editors and parents have been quick to blame the statistics on the recession， but in all honesty， I didnt know any different. In my case， and the same was true for many of my friends as well， the real problem was the mentality I had when I graduated.

Having gone to a good university， and with a reasonable idea of what I wanted to do next， I graduated and began looking for the perfect next step. It felt like the first real test of who I was and what I could achieve. The pressure I put on that decision， needless to say， was immense.

Equipped with only a rudimentary knowledge of the options open to me—in my eyes a major failing of the current university system—I stumbled blindly but stubbornly in the direction I thought was best.

This， initially， was fashion journalism. I wanted to write and I liked fashion， so at the time nothing seemed more obvious than securing as many internships at relevant publications as possible. After a few weeks of being “workie” Devil Wears Prada-style， I was having some serious doubts about my nascent career plans.

Eventually， after a bit of head-scratching， I changed tack. I figured that while fashion wasnt my world， journalism was， so I emailed the other departments at the paper I was at， applied for experience at completely different magazines， and even looked for internships abroad.

A year later， I had tried everything， from freelancing and subediting to photography and documentary filming. I had written about the arts， politics and social issues. During that period， I lost count of the number of times I felt like giving up on journalism altogether， especially when it felt like I would never get a job and was simply banging my head against a brick wall.

My way of dealing with that feeling was to keep moving. The combination of the sudden freedom and the absence of any framework in which to make decisions can be a paralysing one， but I guarantee that the lost feeling disappears the moment you have something， anything， to get you up in the morning and keep you busy during the day.

Of course you want to do something that is a step towards your dream job， but it doesnt pay to be narrow-minded about how you are going to get there. If one thing isnt working， shifting the emphasis slightly can open a door you hadnt even thought about.

While I was helping a freelancer with research， he offered to teach me how to use a video camera. I had previously ruled out a career in film and television， for reasons I can no longer remember， but not only did the experience open my mind to other possibilities， I also really enjoyed it. Filming is now something Ill be picking up again in the near future， and a skill Im thankful to have under my belt.

Of course， Im not alone finding these choices difficult. One of my friends was so overwhelmed by the number of different directions to go in that she decided to jump straight into a marketing role without stopping to consider what she actually wanted to do. A year on， although sick of her job she also insists she doesnt regret her choice at all. Im inclined to believe her. She is not only a year up on me in terms of practical work experience， but she also has a much better idea of what she wants from her next position.

My point is that there is no use getting bogged down in grand ideas of how your career should start off. Its natural to feel like the rest of your life depends on the steps you take now， but in reality， most people change careers several times throughout their life. That sense of desperation and loss between graduating and finding what you want to do is normal， but not unmanageable.

I tackled it by making sure that every day I did something to work toward my final goal of a job in journalism， whether that was work experience， talking to someone in my field， or just applying for jobs and seeing what happened.

Despite how it may feel， very few land their dream job straight away. If you stay flexible about how the next few years pan out， you may be pleasantly surprised by the consequences. If not， you can always quit. After all， its only a job.

畢業(yè)18個(gè)月后，我終于找到了一份工作。過程充滿了艱辛。事實(shí)上，有時(shí)候，情況非常糟糕。有關(guān)畢業(yè)生失業(yè)和申請(qǐng)失業(yè)救濟(jì)金的分析數(shù)據(jù)雖然讓人抓狂，但已漸漸被遺忘，而我認(rèn)為畢業(yè)時(shí)的惆悵比本文簡練的標(biāo)題還要深刻得多。

經(jīng)歷了幾年固化的學(xué)習(xí)模式、在學(xué)校按部就班的生活后，終于到了要靠自己找工作的時(shí)候了。我漸漸明白了世界是如此之大，我在其中可以扮演的角色如此之多，這使我不時(shí)感到躁動(dòng)不安。

經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家、編輯、父母都急著抱怨經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退的數(shù)據(jù)，但說實(shí)在的，我不知道那對(duì)我有什么影響。對(duì)我和我多數(shù)朋友來說，真正的問題是我畢業(yè)時(shí)的心態(tài)。

我就讀于一所不錯(cuò)的大學(xué)，對(duì)自己接下來要做的事情有著合理的想法，畢業(yè)后我開始尋找完美的下一步。感覺那是第一次經(jīng)歷“我是誰”，“我能做什么”的真正考驗(yàn)。不必多說，做那樣的決定讓我感到巨大的壓力。

我對(duì)自己能選擇的工作只是略懂皮毛——在我看來，這是目前大學(xué)教育體系的主要問題——我盲目地、跌跌撞撞地、固執(zhí)地在我認(rèn)為是最好的方向上前行。

最開始涉足的是時(shí)尚新聞業(yè)。我想寫作，喜歡時(shí)尚，因此，在那時(shí)，眼下要做的事當(dāng)然是盡可能多地在相關(guān)的出版社獲得實(shí)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)。我變成了《穿普拉達(dá)的女王》那樣的工作狂，幾周后，我對(duì)自己不成熟的職業(yè)規(guī)劃感到深深的憂慮。

最終，經(jīng)過一番苦思冥想，我作出了改變。我明白了時(shí)尚行業(yè)并不適合我，但新聞業(yè)的方向是對(duì)的，因此，我給當(dāng)時(shí)所在的實(shí)習(xí)報(bào)社的其他部門發(fā)郵件，申請(qǐng)到一個(gè)完全不同的雜志編輯部實(shí)習(xí)，甚至在尋找出國實(shí)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)。

一年后，從自由工作者到助理編輯，從攝影到拍攝紀(jì)錄片，我什么都嘗試了一遍。我寫過關(guān)于藝術(shù)、政治、社會(huì)時(shí)事的文章。在那段時(shí)期，我已記不清有多少次想完全放棄新聞業(yè)，尤其是當(dāng)我感覺自己永遠(yuǎn)不可能獲得一份工作，我只不過是在把頭撞向磚墻的時(shí)候。

我處理這種情緒的方法就是不停地工作。突如其來的自由以及沒有了限制決定的條條框框?qū)ξ叶紱]有幫助，但只要我有事可做，每天早上催促自己起床，讓自己忙碌一整天時(shí)，這種失落的感覺就會(huì)消失。

當(dāng)然，你會(huì)想做一些讓自己更接近理想工作的事情，但不能以狹隘的目光看待該如何達(dá)到目的。要是一件事行不通，稍微轉(zhuǎn)換一下重點(diǎn)就能打開一道你想都沒想到過的大門。

在我協(xié)助一位自由作家做調(diào)查研究時(shí)，他教我怎樣使用攝像機(jī)。我之前辭掉了一份電影和電視行業(yè)的工作，我已記不起其中的原因，但那次經(jīng)歷不僅讓我有了更多選擇，還讓我真正喜歡上了攝影。我在不久后將會(huì)再次投入到攝影行業(yè)中，我很慶幸自己學(xué)會(huì)了這項(xiàng)技能。

當(dāng)然，并不是只有我難以作出抉擇。我的一位朋友因要面對(duì)如此多不同的選擇而感到無所適從，她沒有停下來好好思考自己真正想做的是什么就直接投身市場(chǎng)營銷行業(yè)。過了一年，盡管厭惡這份工作，她還是堅(jiān)稱不后悔作出這樣的選擇。我還是相信她的。她不但比我多一年的實(shí)際工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，而且她對(duì)于下一個(gè)想得到的職位有著更為清晰的想法。

我要說的是，迷失于如何開展事業(yè)的諸多偉大想法中是毫無用處的。自然，你會(huì)覺得你的一生就在于此刻選擇的路，但事實(shí)上，許多人一生會(huì)改變職業(yè)好幾次。即將離開大學(xué)校園，找一份自己想要的工作，這時(shí)候大家普遍會(huì)感到壓抑和失落，但這都是可以解決的。

我的解決辦法就是確保每天都向著自己的最終目標(biāo)——新聞業(yè)內(nèi)的一份工作，而作出努力，不管是獲得工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，跟我領(lǐng)域內(nèi)的人交談，還是應(yīng)聘職位，看看結(jié)果如何。

不管你感覺如何，很少人會(huì)在一開始就獲得理想的工作。如果你靈活處理接下來幾年所得的收獲，你會(huì)得到驚喜的結(jié)果。如果沒有，你大可以辭職。說到底，那只是一份工作而已。