Both H and I didn’t get real jobs until well after 30 what with graduate school and then post-docs, but it was still hard watching S1 go through the long process of uncertainty about ‘will I ever get a job in my field’. He was about 28 when he landed the first job that paid more than lunch money; he worked nights on top of day job to barely make end meet and lived more spartanly than a grad student. At 30, he landed a career job. For him, the path was so uncertain, so circuitous and so very impoverished. But he works in international humanitarian relief. His best friend who got a degree in engineering had a paying job right out of school.
Have you noticed the national unemployment rate is at a 9 year low of 4.6% ? So the problem isn’t “jobs”, it must be jobs of a certain type, that pay a certain amount, or are in your chosen field. After my son got his BA in Communications (a very proud moment for all!) he looked for a job in his field for 6 months at which point I told him he needed to get a J - O - B, (That spells “job”) of any kind, something to keep him occupied and make some money, you know, that type of job, so he applied for a job in the ummm err… retail grocery store business, and surprise surprise it has not been bad at all. In addition to the obvious discipline of showing up on time on a regular basis and working and getting paid, he has actually gained a lot of product knowledge and learned some valuable sales skills and customer service skills.
S1 signed with a business consulting firm last August at the end of his internship. D, however, is a junior and has been applying like crazy for summer internships in her field, zoology. It has been very stressful for her. We can’t really pay for her to take an unpaid, zero-stipend position away from home so she can only go after the most sought-after positions.
S applied and interviewed a lot in fall of his SR year, including some interviews in HI during Christmas break. He had 3 full time job offers by Feb and chose the one which he found most exciting. He and we have no regrets.
@Gourmetmom “my son has zero interest in what he says are programs that funnel folks through jobs that separate the wheat from the chaff into more pigeonholes.”
Does he mean big corporations where multiple entry-level employees are set against each other and only few of them are advanced based on skills and performance? This definitely happens, and I can see how such highly competitive environment is not for everyone (my daughter turned down one of those jobs). However, there are also many corporate jobs where this stereotype does not apply. While intern selection process can be very competitive, and job offers are extended based on performance and skills, the position itself can be in a small group with friendly supportive environment, but still offer significant growth and learning potential. So, I would not recommend ignoring internship opportunities based on assumptions.
My kid was always lacking in motivation to get a job, throughout HS and much of college. It was worrisome. He picked a decidedly impractical major.
He then decided what he wanted to do, calmly applied to professional school, graduated with a job in his field. He doesn’t make much money, but he is self-supporting.
Your never know. 
The hiring process itself can take months. DS graduated in engineering and actually started his job parttime before he had graduated. DD lived at home for 8 months after getting her graduate degree; it took that long to figure out what type of job she really wanted to do, and the hiring process was slow- often months from when application was submitted to when interviews, and final job offers. She is not well-paid, but is doing interesting work in a nice environment with great benefits.
S1 had a job lined up well before he graduated. He had been doing open source programming for them since the summer after freshman year (sometimes to the detriment of his grades), so he knew what he wanted and his employer knew what they were getting.
S2 has had a different road. Was supposed to graduate in 2014, but took a semester off due to depression/anxiety and graduated a year later. It’s hard to get a job in the field straight out of UG, but he was not ready for grad school and doesn’t have the grades at this point. He spent several months working as a cook, then had one unpaid internship in his field at a think tank, and this year has worked on a congressional primary campaign (paid) and a long-term temp gig doing political ad placement. None of this pays enough for him to move out. He’s trying to save $$ to go overseas and do some volunteer work in his field. Meanwhile, the kid spends a LOT of time on the couch (not paying rent, not interested in getting his own car, and generally making a mess of the house). It has been a challenging time with the boomerang issues at home. He also spent a lot of time on Reddit talking to other folks in his area of academic interest and has had a couple of articles published. He drove me NUTS because he’d sit on the computer ALL.THE.TIME. chatting with these folks.
Well, it turns out he was actually doing a ton of networking online, and a couple of people passed along job opportunities. He started at one this week – PT for an eight week probationary period, then 32 hrs/wk. It’s in his field, it involves lots of social media, takes advantage of his strengths in geopolitical analysis and it uses his language skills. Please, G-d, help him work hard and hang on to this opportunity!
@CountingDown - Glad things are looking up for your S2!
One of our kids (the engineering) did have job offers by Christmas senior year. The other (also quite bright, but not organized) had a long an winding road through college… so throughout senior year I was just holding my breath over each course completion. All has turned out fine for both of them. But I well remember the anxiety of worrying over their prospects.
I spend time on Reddit on the Actuary site. I see this field as a good fit for my kiddo. But gosh it is so depressing, there are soooo many more applicants than entry level positions available.