Congratulations! Here's your diploma... and an application for food stamps.

Picture this: You've just graduated from college, you have a 3.8 GPA, 3 internships under your belt and an incredible work ethic when it comes to applying for jobs. You are ready to face the world! Plummeting job market be dammed! You WILL get a job. After all, you are an experienced and intelligent person who is overflowing with new ideas and burning with an intense dedication to helping those affected by domestic violence and sexual assault.

You apply for jobs nearly every other day from January to May. Your job search spans the continental United States, though focusing mostly on New York and Washington, D.C. You mail applications as well as email them to over 100 job listings and organizations.

By the time graduation rolls around you've only had 1 interview, but you chalk this up to the fact that you have yet to graduate. Besides, most of your friends haven't had much luck and others who have graduated before you didn't get hired until the fall anyway. No sweat.

But the months just keep ticking by...

May

June

July

August

Until finally it's September. Over 200 jobs applied to... only 1 additional interview.

Hello everyone, my name is Dara, and this is my life. At the suggestion of a good friend I have started this blog. Her exact words were "You've seen Julie & Julia. If people will read that shit, they'll certainly read about you." Encouraging. Really.

Exactly four months to the day of my college graduation from the beautiful and overpriced Drew University located in Madison, NJ, I sit here on my bed in the room I grew up in and browse craigslist, idealist, monster, careerbuilder, snagajob, facebook (well... I'm just being honest) with the distant hope that someone will hire me... this time.

This blog will follow my daily escapades to procure employment in the great state of New Jersey so that I can pay off my debt, afford my rent, and maybe eat something too. You will read about my revisions to what I call my "working" or "PC" resume and my "professional" resume (yes the amount of jobs I apply to require that I have two different resumes), the ridiculous interviews I go on, my forays into plus size modeling, my life on Ocean Avenue, my application for food stamps, my never ending battle with the freshmen 40, my scores on Mafia Wars, the latest "get a job" tips, and the successes of all those around me and culminating (hopefully) in full time employment for yours truly.

Stay tuned! You can find me on twitter: DaraontheHunt! Tweet tweet!

Happy Hunting,
Dara Laine

Follow my blog at: http://daraonthehunt.blogspot.com/