# How long did it take you to find a job? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882 "2015-11-28T22:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brahmsacademic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/838e76/32.png) [@brahmsacademic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brahmsacademic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/1 "2015-11-28T22:43:32Z")
How long after you got your Bachelor’s Degree did it take you to find a job that paid enough for you to support yourself? In years and months please. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/2 "2015-11-28T23:05:44Z")
4 months. The guy who got that job ahead of me made himself unpopular with both his bosses. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/3 "2015-11-28T23:18:07Z")
This probably isn’t the answer you are looking for but I have been financially independent since I was 16 for most definitions and completely financially independent throughout undergraduate and undergraduate school. That may not mean what you think because it certainly wasn’t glamorous and sometimes bordered on homelessness and destitute but I had a full scholarship to undergraduate school and paid for every thing I needed by working $5 an hour work-study jobs and much more lucrative catering and bartending jobs nights and weekends. I got paid to go to graduate school until I decided to change my path drastically and moved to Boston with negative money in total. The first six months were not fun at all because I had to use more than all of the money I made just to exist but I had my first professional level job as a corporate manager at 23, married at 25 and had an impressive house, two nice BMW’s, extravagant vacations and lots of land by 28. The kids came after that and then things went downhill in huge ways for about 6 years. I almost didn’t survive it but I did and then things started looking back up again and have been on the upswing every since. I am 42 if that puts things into perspective. I missed the concept of “late launching” by a few years. When I was in my 20’s in the late 90’s, someone would have to be a world-class screw-up not to get a good job basically on demand as long as you had any marketable skills at all. It was ridiculous. The time between posting a desirable resume and first calls was measured in minutes and went for days. However, I have seen the opposite happen as well especially during the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2008 financial meltdown. It doesn’t really matter how good you are during circumstances like that. It is all crickets chirping until you happen to get lucky. I have noticed that the norms have shifted a great deal in just the last two decades. Gen-X’ers didn’t move back in with our parents after college unless something went really wrong. That wasn’t even an option. We were expected to support ourselves in whatever form that took. To do anything else would be going backwards and that wasn’t allowed for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/4 "2015-11-28T23:20:17Z")
It took me 13 months. This was back in 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/5 "2015-11-28T23:24:37Z")
I had my job secured 4 months before graduation contingent on successfully gaining my degree but I didn’t start until August after a May graduation since I wanted a summer vacation. So depending on how you look at it -4 to +4 months. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/6 "2015-11-28T23:56:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > It took me 13 months. This was back in 1984. It took me 3 months, same year. I have been gainfully employed ever since. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/7 "2015-11-28T23:56:59Z")
The B.A. (Liberal Arts) investment didn’t pay off for me. So, I returned for graduate work in the sciences. A better investment. So, I guess the answer depends on a B.A in what? And what is the market looking for. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/8 "2015-11-29T00:38:16Z")
One year, 5 months. I was gainfully (and painfully) employed at my family’s business during the time from graduation until my “real” job, supporting a new wife and having moved out of my parents. I refuse to count that time as a real job, though. The new (and still going strong) job was in 2002. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/9 "2015-11-29T00:55:05Z")
I got an AAS in Nursing in May of 2011. At the end of June, I took the exam for licensure and got my license in July. Got my first job on November 28, 2011. My BSN, I’ll be getting in approximately 48 hours. So, negative 4 years and 2 days from Bachelors to job. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/10 "2015-11-29T01:01:45Z")
Two months. I was interviewing right as I graduated with my degree in English. After I graduated, I worked a little at my part-time job, then had my tonsils out (I had huge tonsils, and had had strep off and on for six months). I got the job offer for a tech writer/editor literally on the day I had my tonsils out. My dad had to explain to the recruiter why I couldn’t talk, and relayed the offer to me. It was an extremely good salary for that time and place. Shut my parents up with the “what will you do with that degree?” question, too. ETA: 1992, Jacksonville, FL. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/11 "2015-11-29T01:06:32Z")
I got my BS by going to night and weekend schools as I already had a full time job. I also got my Master’s degree while working full time. Two of my three kids had jobs within a few weeks of graduating. The third child took off about 8 months to goof off and race bicycles in Europe. She found a job pretty quickly once she came back home. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/12 "2015-11-29T01:08:58Z")
Zero days? I got offered a position, tentative until graduation, while I was doing my student teaching. 1979 ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/13 "2015-11-29T01:33:14Z")
16 months. 1969. I was 4-F, otherwise someone else would have found a job for me sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/14 "2015-11-29T01:38:44Z")
It was six months to get the job I was after, but then another four months before I started, which entailed being sent to Thailand for the first time, so 10 months until the actual start of the job. In the meantime, I did a lot of temp work and even made a brief foray into Mexico and Nicaragua. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/15 "2015-11-29T01:40:14Z")
Three months. I graduated in June and had a job in September. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/16 "2015-11-29T01:41:10Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > My BSN, I’ll be getting in approximately 48 hours. 😛 Congratulations! Great career choice. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/17 "2015-11-29T01:48:15Z")
I was making serious grown-up money as a college freshman. That continued through undergrad and a year of MBA school. As I tapered off school my work hours went up and my income did likewise. And all of this was done in a specialty aligned with my college major. So my gap was about 4-1/2 years from starting my professional career to later completing the degrees that went with it. Though I did all this in the 4-1/2 years immediately following high school and got my BS at the then-traditional age of almost 22. This was the early 1980s. Things may have changed since then. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/18 "2015-11-29T06:32:57Z")
Graduated Saturday morning signed on a T2 tanker as a third assistant 2:00PM. job was 60 days. Job ended end of September got my first stationary job the next June. I was either overeducated or did not have enough experience. Now the alumni association helps place graduates. The employment rate is 90% within 30 days and 100% within the year. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/19 "2015-11-29T10:50:34Z")
> [@brahmsacademic](#): > > How long after you got your Bachelor’s Degree did it take you to find **a job that paid enough for you to support yourself**? In years and months please. Thanks! **bolding mine** 6 years 4 months ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882/20 "2015-11-29T11:07:09Z")
87 years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-find-a-job/738882.md?page=2)