This is episode three of Overcoming Underemployment and this is a very exciting episode because this is the first episode in which I share someone’s underemployment story. A big part of this podcast is sharing underemployment stories because if the research on underemployment has taught me anything it’s the experience of being underemployed is pretty consistent and I’m excited to share those insights with you.

My guest, Hadar Spector, is actually a friend from college. We met when we were both studying abroad in 2011 and our shared experience of underemployment brought us back together all of these years later. I had a great time talking with her and we discuss everything from how underemployment affected her mental health and relationships, to coping with the experience of underemployment.

Topics discussed:

• Hadar’s underemployment story: six weeks of unemployment, working as a hostess at a restaurant, working four jobs at once, then the restaurant full time, an administrative non-profit position, editorial assistant at a publishing house, a position that just wasn’t a good fit, quitting her job entirely, going back to being a hostess, to finally using her degree.
• Graduating a few years after the recession and facing a lot of competition
• Hearing, ‘You have to do something you don’t like to do something you do like,’ when slogging through a job that may lead to something you actually want
• The effects of underemployment: envying friends who were adequately employed, feeling inadequate, not having a social life, the uncertainty of choosing one job over another, making absurdly low wages, having to defer student loans, dreading having to tell people where you work when they ask, dating while underemployed and dealing with the stigma of being underemployed, having trouble being happy for friends, losing touch with friends, the effects of underemployment on mental health, not even getting interviews for positions, not even getting a ‘no.’
• Navigating extended family gatherings while underemployed
• Expectations not meeting reality: why don’t I have the experience I need?
• The experience conundrum: need to get experience, but I can’t get experience without having experience first.
• Should internships and practical experience be a more integral part of college majors?
• Learning the hard way that getting a degree will not automatically get you a job
• Balancing the time consuming process of looking for a job and working full time only to get rejected
• Finding the silver lining in her underemployment
• College graduates need to adjust their expectations for life post-graduation
• Comparing our parents’ experiences and expectations and our own
• Follow your dreams or stay practical?
• Learning resilience as we went