By Danielle Lichliter
When I graduated Penn State in May, I could not have been more relieved, excited and proud that I had a full-time job waiting for me. Better yet, it was in Hawaii! One week after graduation, I packed my bags and flew across the country to work as the Housing Coordinator for an international education company. Upon my arrival in Honolulu, I hit the ground running and was completely in charge of the entire housing department for this 200-person school. With limited training, I relied on the communication and leadership skills I had learned at Penn State and was forced to trust my gut more than anything else.
During my second week, my boss went on a two-week vacation. At the same time, a Resident Assistant for the dorms and the Activities Coordinator both quit. During my boss’s vacation, I worked 96 hours in one week. Most of this time was spent trying to figure out how to actually to do my job.
When my boss finally returned from her vacation, I was completely exhausted and overwhelmed but I assumed things would be easier with her back. Unfortunately, since we were gearing up for the summer, the expectation was still that I would be able to work seven days a week. After talking to my boss, who told me this was the company-wide expectation for housing coordinators, I then called my boss’s boss. When I was reassured that yes, this was the company expectation and yes, it was normal to be working this many hours, I knew that I had to quit. There was no way I could continue on under these conditions, nor did I want to work for a company that demanded this type of work from their employees. After many hours freaking out on the phone with my parents, I eventually walked into my boss’s office and quit. She begged me to stay but also made it very clear that the time commitment would not change.
Why am I sharing this treacherous story with you all? Because I now realize that learned a lesson very early in my career that I will never forget. No matter the situation, no matter the location—no matter what— you are never stuck in a job. It would have been easy for me to try to stick it out for at least a few more months (it was my dream job after all!) and put up with the hours. It would have been easy to tell myself that this was all a part of the process and that I needed to put in the work to climb the ladder. But I didn’t. I am incredibly proud that I, as a brand new graduate, was able to stand up for myself when I knew that the situation wasn’t right. And to be honest, it was scary as hell. I was becoming an unemployed recent college graduate moving home to live with my parents (something I never dreamed of doing) with no foreseeable job prospects, no friends living at home, and no money.
While it did end up taking a good three months for me to end up finding a paid position, I am now employed full-time in a position that is a much better fit. I work for NerdScholar a financial literacy company for students. I get to help promote resources and articles that help students with their finances. And it’s a start up in San Francisco. This means we get catered lunches, have weekly happy hours, and lots of other great perks! The environment is much more laid back, albeit results-driven and simply a much better fit. For those of you who will be graduating soon, remember that the liberal arts education you have offers you a wide range of opportunities and skills. If one specific job doesn’t seem to be working out, don’t be afraid to seek out something new! Penn State has prepared you more than you realize!