What should one do if unemployed for 1 1/2 years since graduating?

I'm confused -are you unemployed, underemployed, or employed in an unrelated field?

1. If you're unemployed, get a job. It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to be expensive. Having a job shows that you're a stable, driven human being. None of the rest of this post matters until you get that first part time job.

2. If you're underemployed, and can't manage to escape it to something better, it's time to go back to school. While MBA programs want you to have real experience, MSF and MSRE programs often don't have that requirement. This is called a rebranding.

3. If you're fully employed but simply in a non-finance related field, then masters programs are an option, but MBA programs also become an option. This would make you a career switcher, which is not that uncommon of a reason to get a MBA.

I'll give you my story in hopes that it helps. I graduated from a meh school and was networking hard to get into real estate. I worked my way in with a company but the hiring process was taking months...and months...and months...so I took up a job as an assistant manager at a terrible retail store to pass the time and pay the bills. I think I was making $9.25/hr or something. It was awful for so many reasons.

When I finally got my in-person interview with my first commercial real estate company, they looked at my graduation date and asked what I had been doing in the meantime. By now it was November, so half a year had passed. I told them I had been working full time to pay bills in hopes that one of my real estate options would work out. (At that point, they were my last option - the only one left) They asked if I had any experience. I said I didn't at all, but I would work hard and do whatever it took to come out on top - which was clear from the otherwise demeaning job. I got the job.

So, if you're unemployed and only have a part time job opportunity, or you're underemployed at Starbucks or whatever, it's not the end of the world. Keep driving toward the goal line. Progress is all the matters, not its speed.

At my first commercial real estate company I kicked all sorts of ass as an analyst, but everyone around me was a broker and I wanted that lifestyle, money, and to fit in. I became a broker six months in and immediately hated it. I left six months later - almost exactly at my one year mark. More specifically I told them I would be leaving 4 weeks early, trying to do the right thing, and then got fired on the spot. They were cool people, let me tell you.

I didn't get another real job for 6 months, during which I did contract work on the internet - reviewing resumes, writing articles for websites, picking up contracts on uwork and other contract sites, all to pay the bills. Eventually I got myself a job as an asset manager, but it quickly became apparent that the role was actually just a property manager. Frustrated, I applied to graduate school, got in, got a pre-grad school internship, and told my company I would be quitting on a certain date. My company, yet again, fired me on the spot. You think by now I would learn, but no. The lesson here is that companies don't give two shits about you so you should rarely do right by them, but it's a bit more nuanced than that. Relationships matter too.

Anyhow, I, for the third time, was faced with not having a job for a month or so and I had bills to pay. I took up a job as a superintendent with a crew renovating Holiday Inns. I had no prior experience in construction, but really being a super on a simple job like that is just inventory and enforcement. Make sure all of the materials are cataloged and ordered along the critical path and make sure whatever the project manager says is implemented. Did that for a month, learned some fun Spanish phrases like "Puta Madre!" and then moved on to a fantastic acquisitions summer internship before starting graduate school. I was amazed how much I had learned about interior renovations in that month and how much it helped me.

In grad school I worked the front desk once or twice a week during the year. Didn't make much money, but when I was asked how I spent my time going into the next summer for a development internship, I had something to say other than "I just go to class and play golf." Turns out my boss worked dumb jobs during his MBA, so he respected that.

When you look at my resume now, you see leadership positions in every school and organization I've ever been a part of, you'll see accomplishments, recognition, victories, impacts, a masters degree, two solid internships, a 3.80+ grad school degree and my current job in development. It all looks fantastically impressive.

Reality is far more muddled. It took me six years to graduate college, including when I failed out. (I'll tell that story sometime) I was fired from my first two jobs. I have been underemployed for over a year all put together. I'm almost 30 and doing a job that I should have had when I was 25.

But fuck it, you know? I am finally exactly where I always wanted to be, doing exactly what I always wanted to do, and excelling at it. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get where you want to be. It doesn't matter how many bumps there are along the road. It doesn't matter if you're "behind."

"If you're going through hell, keep on going."

Just get there, wsonewb. Just keep going.