Several friends and I are caught in the same soul crushing loop of job hunting. There are several little problems we're all having:

1. Education versus experience
2. Inability to sell ourselves properly
3. Skewed expectations

Job postings we encounter generally either seek those recently out of undergrad, or with 10 years experience. Clearly, those of us with masters degrees and 2 years of experience, none of it in the developing world, are having a hard time finding the right fit. It's been frustrating, and has done a lot to effect numbers two and free on my list. The constant hit to self-confidence is less than helpful for keeping up motivation.

I've never been any good at selling myself. I tend to see where I'm just alright, rather than being able to hype my skills and accomplishments. No one I know is all that great selling themselves. We're modest, honest, and well aware of our limitations. Additionally, lacking the previously mentioned experience and the depth of the talent pool in DC, we have a good idea of where we stand. A generous soul with a gift for words just took over my resume and seems to have produced some verbiage that makes me blush. It's hard to talk yourself up, and then seeing it done for you is just strange.

All of this leads to a strange set of expectations of we can get and what we deserve. There's a certain lack of willingness to take administrative positions, mixed with knowledge that we'll be lucky to find anything that'll actually cover cost of living. Grad school loans essentially equal a second rent (I wish I were exaggerating), which means that the NGO jobs we're looking at are going to require part timing as well. Personally, I'm not one to be above paying my bills, but it's hard to avoid the train of thought that leads to, "But I have a masters!" Just shows how meaningless that is I guess. Basically we have both inflated and undervalued senses of our own worth.

I'm sick of this whole process, and just want to be an adult already. This strange limbo isn't working for me.