
Advertisement

Advertisement


Advertisement


Advertisement

Me: Just looking for a job.
Cop: You can’t do that here.
Me: Why not?
Cop: [Silence] I don’t know.
Me: Can I stay then?
Cop: Well, you’re only selling yourself aren’t you?
Me: Yes, I suppose I am.
Cop: [Turns to second cop and a security guard] So why can’t she stay here again?
Cop 2: I dunno. This bloke says it’s against the rules.The security guard then said that if I registered where the street performers and charities register—and went through the evacuation process—I could come back and try again. It seemed like a lot of effort. I wasn’t there to raise money or earn pocket change with a bad acoustic cover of a Dave Matthews song; I was just a graduate with two degrees, looking for a job.***I'm part of the last generation to be told, with conviction, that if you graduate, you'll get a job, and if you go to college, you can be anything you want to be. Of course, we now all know that to be a lie, and I have no idea how long—if ever—it'll become a truth again.For now, though, there's this. I was only holding signs up for a couple of hours, but it still made me feel pretty drained—worse than the feeling I get every single morning after checking the ads to find that no new entry-level journalism jobs have been added. Admittedly, it was quite a good way to attract the attention of potential employers, but I wonder if I'd have had the same rate of success if I was a boy. Just about all the people who approached me were men. One even offered me a job I was blatantly unqualified for (I was holding a sign touting my falconry prowess), then took the offer away when I wouldn't give him my phone number.But hey, if you’re a marketing graduate? Go ahead. At the very least, someone will write an article about you.Follow Hannah Ewens Twitter.
