You want me to do WHAT with a college education?!

It's been a few years since I graduated college and entered the working world. As I've talked about before, I'd maxed out my internship credit, and made decent contacts in doing so. I was a virutal shoe-in for my first post-college job. I became an Associate Producer at the stations where I'd interned all through college. While I'm sure I had the basic "OMG, I'm graduating college!" jitters, I don't remember really being nervous about getting a job after college.

It's been five years since then, and recently, my sister finished up her college education. Granted, she's in a different field than me - her degree is in Sociology, and she wants to work in a non-profit capacity - but I was still shocked when she didn't have an automatic place to go right out of school.

She did some things differently than I did - rather than intern, she opted to spend her summers doing study abroad programs, and working with underprivledged natives of the countries she traveled to: India. Morocco. etc. Pretty cool experiences - and definitely relevent to her career field.

Never the less, when she graduated she found herself in fierce competition with other qualified grads for entry level jobs - for receptionist positions. Admin assistants. Executive assistants. I was kind of shocked - I would never have considered taking an admin level job when I graduated college.

So - do you think it's due to a change in job market in the last five years? Because of her career field? Because I "knew" more people than she did when I was entering the work force? A combination?

The good news is, after about three months as a temp, she recently got a job at a international non-profit. She's still entry level, but at least she's at a place she loves and believes in!