New grad close to giving up- in desperate need of ANY advice
For context I’m 23F. I’ve been job searching for entry level mkting roles since graduating with a BS in Marketing in December and I just need advice. Or maybe just to cry. Is this normal?
For background, I graduated Magna Cum Laude, hoping to find a green or ethical company to work for but applying to everything. I fell in love with marketing in college volunteering for three different nonprofits, doing their cause mkting, branding, and troubleshooting their digital presence from scratch. These nonprofits went on to experience double or triple success. It set me on fire, and I loved making a difference. During my two internships I fell deeper in love with marketing and communications to drive connection, earning 51% CTR on linkedin and +90% in FB engagement.
(if you don’t want to hear how my interview process has been, skip to tl;dr). Unfortunately right before grad, I was rejected by my internship due to a hiring freeze. I started strong applying to about 10 roles a day, but now after six months I’m close to giving up. If I don’t put every resume through AI to match the application (which is usually written by AI as well) I automatically get rejected. Additionally, a good 2/5 “entry-level” roles on linkedin/indeed/ziprecruiter are by devilcorps or completely fake AI-generated ghost companies. I’ve landed six or seven real company interviews in this time and always proceed to the final round. The small company roles were disastrous (first was a guy who wanted me to run two failing restaurant locations, the next was hospice marketing for a woman who laughed about experiencing death daily, and one that turned out to only pay $8hr). The big company roles for like banks or ad agencies ghosted ME (3 times!) after final rounds, which feels humiliating to be left on read and seeing them post their new hires online.
My latest interview, I matched the role perfectly down to the daily work but was passed over for someone with more experience, despite it being entry level. Do companies really want new grads? Lastly, I had no idea the time that all these interviews would take- now it’s June and I feel SO lost.
[TL:DR]: Over 50% of my class graduated unemployed. The same professors who told me to “know my worth” during college are now telling me to “start anywhere small” post grad. My sales professor told us very sternly that over 80% of marketing students end up in sales. I networked with four separate people who told me to avoid ad agencies “because its not a good time.”
Am I kidding myself? All my marketing friends managed to land roles right now, though some don’t like how overworked they are. Does marketing suck right now, or is it just me? What do I do?