In 2020, I got my Bachelor's of Science in Food, Nutrition, and Health. I spent a good chunk of my undergrad doing volunteer work and extracurriculars because I was told that would increase my chances of getting a job. I also have certifications in things like food safety, research ethics, and coaching.
I got accepted for 3 jobs since graduating and applied for many more. Overall the experience has been awful. It made me feel terrible about myself and think I’ll never succeed.
-Applied for a writing position for a website. After I got the “congratulations, we want to hire you”, they also went “btw we’re not paying you.”
-Worked a contract job relating to my degree. Had to know nutrition info to create programs, teach cooking classes, take photos/videos for our social media (I had to bring my own equipment), degree required, etc. Got paid minimum wage because it was a contract. Also, on like my third day of teaching at a community centre, a guy showed up on drugs and insulted my job.
-Since I also speak Mandarin, I at one point edited English text written by a Mandarin speaker. Everything was fine at first. Then I stopped getting paid. I emailed them about it. Said I’ll get paid later. They never paid me, stopped sending me work, and ghosted me.
-I applied for a job at a local hospital. 2 days later a bunch of people threatened to bomb that hospital.
-Applied for a job with typical resume stuff but also a 4-page questionnaire. Got an email saying, “we were so interested in your application!” Sent me 2 documents to read and 2 tests to do. Finished them all, they gave me a third test and I completed it. Then they ghosted me. No response to my follow-up emails.
-Recieved an email at 12pm one day saying that my interview is in 3 hours. I missed the email because I was away from my computer at the time. I sent an apology email and asked to reschedule. No response.
-There's, of course, the cycle of “you need experience to get a job” and “you need a job to get experience”.
I'm just so mentally and emotionally exhausted. I don't know what to do with my life anymore.