Week 2

You've spent the last week in bed, drinking and being depressed. You likely still have your most recent disbursement of your loans so you will be okay for a few months (in theory). Now is time to start thinking about your next step. You need to eat and clothe yourself beyond the few months worth of cushion you might have. 

This is a time that will be especially trying for you. Take a job, any job at this point. It will give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning and a new set of peers to be around. I was lifeguard for four months after PA School.  Boy, that was a HUGE piece of humble pie. I went from having 4 hour cadaver anatomy labs and practicing mattress suture patterns in surgery lab and cramming for cardiology to sitting in a lifeguard stand, making just more than minimum wage and essentially watching people swim. It was simple, easy, somewhat mindless work. Just what my brain needed. Plus I got to swim laps on my breaks, another way to wear myself out so I could sleep at night and not cry.

You should take anything that is offered to you until you can pull your CV or resume together. Once you get your resume in solid shape, (there are tons of free templates online) send it to your local staffing agency. The jobs they offer you likely won't be your dream job but you will not find a job based solely on your bachelors especially if you went straight to PA school right after undergrad and have no work experience. I have a M.S. in biochemistry and couldn't get an interview for a permanent position because I had no experience. Yes, the wonderful Goldilocks Paradox of most recent grads, the ratio of work experience to school is always off!

Staffing agencies give you a couple of really great advantages:

1.) Someone to be your own personal cheerleader with employers (trust me you need this right now).

2.) Someone to help spruce up your resume, let you know what employers are looking for and how to make it more professional if needed.

3.) Someone who knows the business of getting employed. These guys know how to sell you to a company and how to help you market yourself in an interview. 

4.) Someone to help you network, they know people, you don't. It turns out industry is a lot less about what you know, but who knows you. And these folks, get your foot and face in the door.

Rx:

1.) It's time to start being practical. You will feel better as you have more time and space between you and school. When your peers are normal people, no longer the most elite of everyone, from every University, you feel less disappointed in yourself. Any job will fill your mind with busy work or anything else to focus on. 

2.)Delete everyone from school from your social media accounts. Trust me, the people you actually enjoy and care about will resurface. For now, you need some time to nurse your wounds and separate yourself from the identity of being a professional student without reading the rants of people who are still afforded the opportunity to be ungrateful for the torture of pursuing your dream.

Remember that its going to be okay. There is more than one type of success. Its awful taking a job that you will initially believe is beneath your station but trust me, you need it. A job that doesn't follow you home with homework and studying is good for you right now.