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Since I graduated college, I’ve existed in almost a perpetual state of job hunting.  The issue is not that I spend any significant time unemployed, but that I constantly search for the next, better opportunity.  And as I waste away life on Craigslist, I notice that a fair amount of ads employ the term “recent graduate.”

I like to consider myself a “recent college graduate” because it is the preferred euphemism for “waitress with an expensive degree stashed in a drawer at my parents’ house.”  As a recent graduate, I always live on the verge of launching an exciting career.  The title sounds infinitely more respectable than an English major who still has no idea what to do when she grows up.

Embracing the term helps in a number of situations we didn’t expect to find ourselves in at twenty-something.  It absolves us of social sins such as living with parents, unemployment and less than stellar jobs, lack of five-year plans and long-term investments.

So is “recent graduate” a subjective term, or is there a deadline on it?  At some point, must I return to school and spend thousands more dollars so I can be justifiably unsure of my future for another few years?

(Image courtesy of Eamonn via Flickr)

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