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What can you do when you're feeling stressed about not having a job while in college?

I'm almost finished with college and I have yet to find a summer job. I'm afraid that this may hinder my job search after I graduate, since I have very little job experience. This has caused me to begin to stress and worry and wonder what am I going to do once I finish school. I feel like now all I think about is this and its driving me nuts. How do you handle this self-doubt and try to overcome it?

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Subject: Career question for you

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Paul A’s Answer

Hi Amanda! My older friend used to ask me when I would say things like you are saying. Paul , she would say "why are you buying trouble before trouble gets here?" I soon learned that I had a habit of stressing over things that I made up. I later learned my imagination, if not trained automatically takes pessimistic negative thoughts and makes up stories with unhappy endings. Most people react to those made up stories by worrying about what they are going to do to handle the stories they made up that may happen or not. So why not make it OK to not know what you are going to do this summer. Trying to solve a problem when feeling worried, concerned or doubtful creates negative energy. Why not focus on the end result you desire and feel as you would if had occurred. Increase your odds! I don't know enough about your specific circumstances to offer options and possibilities. Make up a list of services or skills you have to offer, Make up a flyer and some business cards offering those services baby sitting, senior shopper or helper, walking animals, doggies parties, running errands, laundry, washing windows. My point is become more financially self reliant while exploring job possibilities and the fear and worry will diminish. If you tutor or teach classes, even more wonderful. You are an empowered, bright, talented and intelligent woman. Everything is always working out for you. Trust that!


How about Summer nanny / babysitter


For working parents of school-age kids, summer presents a real challenge. Summer camp may take care of a few weeks, a family trip another week or two, but then what about the rest of the summer? Find two or three families, or one with several kids, and take care of the kids during the day.


What you'll need: Clean, reliable transportation, some classified ads, a love of kids.


Estimated startup cost: Under $50 for classified ads.


How much you can make:$8-$12 an hour, depending on the number of kids. It's less money than some of the other options, but it's generally easier work.


How to grow: Take in more kids and turn into a home day care. Or, charge more for added services, like pet care or light house cleaning.


Things to watch out for: Caring for multiple children not in the same family will generally require licensing and will require the facilities to meet certain requirements. There's a big step from watching 2-3 kids from 1-2 families in one of their homes to watching 4-5 kids in your own home. Some states have licensing requirements for nannies, as well.


Best web resource: International Nanny Association — A non-profit association dedicated to promoting quality in-home child care. Lots of free articles, plus information about government regulations for all U.S. states.


Tutoring and teaching


Opportunities abound for the entrepreneurially-minded person with knowledge to share. Some kids need help catching up on one or two subjects, homeschoolers usually school year 'round, and many parents put their kids in summer classes on a fun topic like science, drama, or creative writing. You can tutor individual kids, or put together a group workshop or week-long class.


What you'll need: Some advertising and a facility, if you want to do group classes.


Estimated startup cost: Under $100 for flyers and advertising. For a facility, check local community centers, YMCA, etc., where you can usually rent a room for $10-$30 for 60-90 minutes, or $30-$50 for a half day.


How much you can make: $10-$20 an hour for one-on-one tutoring, depending on your qualifications. Classes vary widely in price, but with even a small turn-out, you should be able to make $50-$100 per teaching hour, but that doesn't count marketing and preparation time.


How to grow: It takes the same amount of time to teach 20 kids as 10. Marketing & advertising is what will drive your growth.


Things to watch out for: Generally, teaching short classes that are not for credit doesn't require any kind of special licensing, but check your local regulations to make sure that you don't end up falling under the day care regulations if you have multiple kids.


All of the above business ideas can be started on a minimal budget and bootstrapped by reinvesting some of your profits. While they have a seasonal element to them, they also all offer the potential of growing into a full-time, year-round business if you choose, but they're all also things you can walk away from in the fall.​

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Matthew’s Answer

A common interview question is, "What is your greatest weakness?" This question is an opportunity to cast a potential weakness as a strength, because of the lessons you've learned while dealing with it.


You may, in your current situation, be discovering a possible answer: "Sometimes, I can doubt myself because of one thing or another—even though I make it a point to be prepared, and I'm good at adapting when given a chance. For instance, the summer before my college graduation, I began doubting myself because I still hadn't found a summer job. I began thinking, 'Will I be given a chance in what I'm training for, if I don't have much on-the-job experience?' And then I realized: I had an opportunity!


"So, instead of continuing to look for a summer job, I devoted my summer to contacting people who are already doing what I've been training to do. I asked them if they would be willing to meet with me to offer me some advice about this line of work. Pretty soon, I had landed some opportunities to job-shadow and volunteer. That's how I got two of the letters of recommendation I sent in with my resumé. Instead of continuing to worry, I recognized in my worry (about what I didn't have) a wake-up call to take action. So, instead of experience at any old summer job, I have familiarity with the industry and the beginnings of a network of people who are confident in my abilities."


Who knows what kind of answer you'll be able to give, Amanda, as you continue to take action? You can't always control whether people will give you the opportunity to work for them. You can, however, make solid strides toward becoming the young professional its sounds like you want to become. Go get 'em!

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Amrinder’s Answer

When you are stressed just relax and find the cause of it, which in your case looks like the job. Now you need to understand the benefits of keeping stress in mind, I feel first benefit could be lots of sleep or sleeplessness. Both are bad for you and the benefit will go to your competitor, if you really want to be selfless charitable person and give everything to your competition take lots of stress, Or plan your actions explore your ability, find your interest, learn from the mistakes you make, and ensure you do not repeat them in future. If you do not have a job, just check what are the requirements for the job you are looking for, forget about the experience. because it will come only once you are on a job. You just need to look at required capabilities for the job, when you know you fit the bill do you best to crack the job interview, in case you fail hit it harder next time, Just remember if someone is rejecting you, does not mean everyone will reject you, that one person is just 1 mind in the whole world and the world does not follow his mind. Find another mind, and keep on searching until you get the best. All The best.

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Mowna_V’s Answer

Stress is the most powerful fact that make people to loose control. So first do not think about anything else while you are studying. But engage yourself in doing multiple related courses which will get you job as soon as possible.

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