ShareThisJonathan Beaton isn't bitter, but he's definitely disillusioned.
The recent University of Tampa graduate says he grew up believing that if you go to college and work hard, you would get a meaningful, good-paying job. Guaranteed.
Well, it hasn't exactly worked out like he expected. The less-than-generous economy has made those coveted jobs few and far between. Instead of launching their careers, many grads are hopelessly unemployed or in dead-end positions.
To encourage them and help with their search, Beaton has started a career-networking Web site, wejustgraduated.com. He wanted a place where recent grads, and even people still in college, could gain insight and share information about finding a job they love.
"There's a lot of sites that give graduates career tips, but there's no examples of how a person got a job,'' he said. "I wanted to start a group where people who just graduated can collaborate.''
Beaton, 23, graduated from UT in May with a marketing degree. He works full-time renting cars for Enterprise for about $30,000 a year, but "it's not something I want to do long-term.''
His site caters to Generation Y, those born between 1977 and 1994, whom he describes as the "most educated and most tech-savvy generation ever.''
He calls on his peers not to get discouraged because "it will be on us to change the world,'' he writes on his site.
Beaton authors and posts articles geared toward recent grads, from college-loan consolidation to post-college advice. Members get access to other members' profiles, which include information on how they got a job and whether they're enjoying it. They also can air grievances and frustrations.
Beaton hopes to use his free site as a springboard for a new job or his own business, rather than a moneymaking venture. He tried blasting his resume to online job postings but met the black hole.
Maybe some entrepreneurial experience will pique employers' interest.
"Just because we can't get a job in corporate,'' he said, "doesn't mean we can't be successful on our own.''
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)
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