It’s 8 p.m. on a Friday night— what many would classify as the prime hour for fun. I’m sweating from running around, but trying to keep my composure. I look down at a stocky middle-aged man toying with a glass of pinot noir. “And how would you like your burger cooked?” I ask. “Uh, medium, I guess,” he says. “But, uh, can you make sure that there is absolutely no onions on it, none at all. And I want to add swiss cheese, avocado and three slices of roasted tomato. Only roasted, not raw. If you only have raw, forget it.” I quickly jot all of this down, hoping not to forget anything. “Do you know if your beef is grass-fed?” he asks, sounding happy to be so eco-chic, so San Francisco. “I’m not sure, but I can find out for you,” I say politely, through a customer service smile. I walk away and he shouts after me, “And remember, no onion please!” I wipe my brow and hand the order slip to the kitchen. Another three hours before I am free. Maybe Craigslist will have some new job posts when I get home.

Three months ago, when I proudly accepted my college diploma, if someone asked me where I would be in three months, I would have used words such as “nine-to-five,” “salary” and “benefits.” After all, I graduated at the top of my class from the University of San Francisco, a school known as much for its connections it is for its small class sizes and hefty fees. But that’s why I forced myself into $100,000 of debt so the faculty would know my name. I’d be out in four years and hiring officers would come to knock on my door.
But oh, how wrong I was. Somewhere between a slew of rejection letters, failed first interviews and the ever present need to pay rent, I sucked up my collegiate pride, slapped on an apron and began waiting tables five nights a week. Not that there is anything wrong with waiting tables; it’s a perfectly respectable job. But, it’s not what I imagined doing post-graduation. Nothing became of the A+ papers, internships and ass-kissing that I did.

Times are tough, so tough that the Economic Policy Institute noted that due to the current economic recession, which has caused a spike in job losses and unemployment, “there is little evidence to suggest that the job market will improve for recent college graduates in the near future.” And the Seattle Times described my exact predicament, “this year, as the economy teeters, college graduates face a tough job market, leaving many without work in their fields or doing jobs that people without college degrees can do.” This was not what I got into debt for. And, with my loan repayments on the horizon, I literally felt like I was stuck in a quagmire.

But then there was a ray of hope, a Craigslist-fueled job that helped me feel that all is not lost. It belonged to my 23-year-old house mate, Jeffrey Johnson, who graduated from SF State last spring. He walked in the door at 5:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, dressed to the nines; suit, shirt, tie. He got a job at a top law firm in the financial district where he assisted lawyers and paralegals. On any given day, he comes home and cracks open a beer just as I am putting on my apron for another night of sweat, orders and tears.

Where did I go wrong? Where’s my adult job with the benefits and a pension fund? When asked how he did it--how he landed the job that he actually wanted three months after graduating and on his first try--he smiled and said, “I don’t know, I was just lucky I guess. It’s all about how you conduct yourself in an interview and if your resume pops. You’ve got to stand out from the rest.”

As Johnson admited that he knew several people who landed professional jobs right after graduation, I mused over the different costs and reputations of our schools. Mine being the expensive, alluring private school that promised each of its students a well-respected diploma. His being the gigantic, state-run institution where most students are just an ID number away from complete anonymity. “I could have gone there,” I thought. And just as I felt that pit of anxiety grow in my stomach, I began to wonder if SF State has a crash course in job hunting? Should I be college bound once again? Oh please, where do I sign up!?