Networking = Cheating

[Ssenkahdavic]

Mr Khan said:

Soleron said:
I still think you chose the wrong field. There are millions of intelligent people in the US who could take the jobs you're applying for because you don't need to know ANYTHING about International Relations to do a job in it.

So they'd obviously rather take someone who has a good reference from a person they know. It's not cronyism, it's risk aversion.

The only thing wrong with my field is that where i live is a good three to five-hundred miles away from where any jobs in my field are. If i lived in the greater DC metro area, i'd just be signed up with all the temp agencies, and eventually i'd punch through somewhere (and have actual work in the meantime).

I do agree some marketable skills would help, but nobody wants to give me the chance to do that, either (no opportunity to improve my Japanese, jack squat).

Somebody's to blame here that isn't me. It's either old people, hiring managers, or cheaters.

How can you blame others for this?  You said yourself earlier that if you lived elsewhere, you could find a job.  Then live elsewhere? 

I made this same mistake.  Went to school, got the major that I WANTED and then decided out of nowhere "Im not moving!"  Guess what?  My skills do not translate into a job I can get where I live.  Same as you, if I moved Id have no problem finding work. 

Instead, I worked odd jobs/crap jobs for about a year and a half out of school and eventually found a job.   Turned out to be a great career, but it did not look like it at first.