Summer repeat

Like most of Generation Y, I have a considerable amount of debt.

Debt that sometimes makes me shudder or gives me goosebumps when I think about it. So instead of complaining about it (as I hear many of my fellow Gen Y-ers), I've been trying to find a second job--a place where I could work on the weekends to bring in some extra cash to help pay off my debt.

But no one will hire me.

Since I cover education news, summertime is best for me to take on extra work. There are less school board meetings and, of course, less school events to cover. I thought it'd be ideal for me to get a job this summer, but as I stared a thank-you-for-applying postcard from my absolute favorite big box store I realized it's never going to happen.

Never.


And this isn't the first time it's happened. Last summer I applied to about half-dozen places but I came away with no job. I remember standing in a home decor store explaining to a manager that I have already graduated from college. For some reason, she kept asking if I was still in school. I told her I wasn't several times, but she didn't get it.

Another place asked where I worked full-time. When I told this manager, her face lit up and she asked me lots of questions about what it was like being a reporter. Apparently, she'd been interested in journalism, but she never finished school, she said. After I answered all her questions, she told me she didn't think she could hire "someone like you."

What?

Someone like me? Is it because I'm a reporter? Or, is it because I already work 40-plus hours a week and I won't be available during those hours? Or, is it because I'm not a current college student or among the 87 percent of the state's population who doesn't have a college degree?

I changed the way I respond to certain questions so potential employers won't think I'm snobbish or I won't take my second job seriously. I've even tried to omit my full-time job from applications so they won't get scared I'm going to write something bad about them.

I've got one more application out. I hope it materializes into a position at the new high-end purse store opening in one of the malls.

Meantime, I've got my rejection postcard on my fridge.