graduate

During high school everyone says that you need to go to college in order to make something of yourself. They say that college grads make over a million dollars more in their lifetime than non college grads. Considering this information the logical course of action is to attend some sort of college level program. During college they say internships are necessary to get experience. Experience is the main factor in getting a job out of college. Heres the chicken and the egg scenario. Even with internships a job is not just waiting for you when you get out of college. For instance I have two internships that I list on my resume. When I was in college I worked for a consulting firm doing inspection engineering on the WIlliamsburg bridge in NYC. When I was doing the internship I felt it was going to matter. I thought a big name bridge, and a big name company would make a big difference on my resume. My other internship was for a company called Eagle Research doing lab work, and miscellaneous clerical duties. Consistent with what I was told in college, I though these internships would make a difference. Then why do recruiters always come back and tell me I don’t have experience for the job I applied to? Ok I want to get the experience, and I say to them “I will have experience after you hire me for the job!”. The chicken and the egg scenario is where you need experience to get a job, but you have to get a job first to get the experience. Obviously the experiences that I had during my internships are not counted as “real” experience, otherwise I would have the experience necessary to get a job. Any job. I have applied for many types of jobs. Jobs consistent with my internship experience, and jobs consistent with my extracurricular education in computers. In all instances I was not qualified enough for their taste, and did not get the job. I don’t understand. I don’t know what to do other than keep applying for jobs. I tweak my resume, send out personalized cover letters, and on rare occasions I deliver the resume and cover letter on professional paper directly to the office. Is the job market alive? I understand that a company wants an employee with experience, but how does a person get experience without getting a job?