Graduates struggle to find jobs matching their degree

“What field will your degree be in? How is the income/job prospects once you’re finished with college? [re: Am I doing okay financially?]”

“I’m 23F and honestly, I’m feeling pretty discouraged with my job search right now. I have a bachelors degree in fashion merchandising with a minor in international business. I graduated in 2022. After graduating, I was a server for quite a bit and also have retail/merchandising experience. I stepped away from pursuing my career after having my son in 2025 and I’m now been out of the workforce for about 16 months. Every day for the past 4 months it’s has been my mission to actively apply for jobs”

“I graduated with my degree in Environmental Science & Policy in spring 2025. I have been trying to get a degree within my passions (urban agriculture, community engagement, food access) for a year and a half now. In the fall after I graduated my professor helped me get an internship at the Museum of Natural History. I had that internship for a few months and have been living in DC and working at a grocery store since then. I know the job market in DC is very bad right now. Plus the communiti”

“Hey everyone looking for advice! I graduated back in 2024 with degree in Environmental Earth System studies. Since then I’ve held some pretty great internships but I could never find anything full time within my field. Last month I finished up an amazing internship with a local nonprofit and immediately found a job in an unrelated field within the corporate world. One thing that I am beginning to learn about myself though is that I despise the corporate world. I miss the nonprofits I’ve use to w”

“i finished my bachelor’s in 2023, graduating with a pretty average WAM and a pretty broad major. couldn’t get a job in my field, fair enough, so i worked full time for two years and started my master’s at the start of 2026. i’m now coming up on a year, doing it part time so i can work my shitty bar job, with an 81 WAM. i’ve worked my ass off for it. i’m now applying for cadetships, and have been told that i’m too overqualified for the role because they’re made to “support people at the beginning”

“First time posting on here, so please don’t be mean. So i’m 22F who is going to a community college right now, and I’m genuinely curious what type of jobs I can get that actually help the environment. There’s probably not a lot of options, but that’s kind of why I’m here to ask. Here are some criteria: -I understand that at first, I won’t get the job I’m hoping for, but I’m definitely willing to work for it as long as I’m helping the environment -I want to be in a higher, leadership role that ac”

“I finished a master’s degree in the sciences about 2.5 years ago, and I’ve had a very difficult time finding a job that feels aligned with my education and career goals. I currently work in a technician-level role, which is fine for now, but the pay is relatively low and I’d like to move into a position that is closer to scientist-level work, particularly research, data analysis, or similar analytical work. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs and have only received two interviews. During interviews”

“Hi all- I’m at a loss for how to find a job in this field. I have three college degrees (Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Soil and Crop Science). Yet every job I see listed requires years of experience on top of education- that I don’t have. I do have some field experience but am really hoping to be in a lab or otherwise doing data analysis, even crop advising, working for an FSA… Am I being overassuming that the USDA is not an option right now, or am I not seeing the right listings (these job”

“I’m a college senior that majored in finance starting to apply for jobs in preparation for graduation. To make myself competitive, 2 years ago I made the choice to work full time during school in relation to my major. I took an entry level bank teller job and moved up to a back office role paying $49k. Work during the day and do full time night classes after work. It’s been a huge grind and honestly I’m burnt out but glad I’m getting to the finish line. I’ve been applying to higher paying roles”

“Last year, I graduated with my B.A. in communication. Since then, I’ve been working part-time at a university in public-policy research. Now, I’m looking for my very first full-time job in the education or legal field, since I’ve worked in education through college, and am interested in learning more about legal work. But even after tailoring my resume to the job, I’ve had no luck. I feel like all my life I’ve been incentivized for being multifaceted, but now I’m being punished for not having a”

I landed my first job out of college in my degree field 6 months ago. I didn’t have any professional experience in the field before this job, and it IS a great…

“I, 23F just graduated with a Bachelor’s in User Experience Design. I realized towards the end of my time in school that I hate tech and should’ve stayed in science, as I did a year in biology. My overall GPA is not great, as I was very sick for a somewhat large portion of college and on a medication that basically sedated me. I’m now panicking because my time is running out. My parents expect me to get a job and pay for myself which is understandable, but I don’t feel nearly skilled enough to fi”

“I graduated last year with a niche STEM degree, and gave up on finding a job in the field bc theyre limited and competetive. Experience wise, I have the typical retail / food service jobs and was a resident assistant in college. My most recent full-time job has been more administrative experience, but I’m growing to dislike it due to the pressure of the industry (biopharma) and the fact that there is no growth from my position as its just a support role. Either way, I wouldn’t want to move up (n”

“Is this normal!!! For me it’s been since 2023 Im trying to get a gage on recent college grads- when you graduated and how long you have been unemployed, and if you are underemployed what do u work in submitted by /u/pennycat23 [link] [comments]”

“I’ve just started college for a urban planning degree, and was just wondering if the job market was terrible for people with just a bachelor’s degree. I’ve been debating if after the four years of hs, should I go directly into getting my masters degree or get a job first then go for the masters degree. submitted by /u/Dregy_417 [link] [comments]”

“I’m not really sure if this is the right sub to post this because it’s sorta dealing with multiple issues, but I’ll start here. I graduated college in 2023 with a BS in geography and GIS concentration, along with a minor in planning, and found a traveling job just a few short months after that. Since it was a traveling job, I figured it didn’t really matter where I moved as long as it was within the work region since I wouldn’t be home often anyways. I ended up moving in with my gf in her hometo”

“For context, I’m 22F. I just recently graduated college with a degree in education - specifically, secondary social studies education, and a minor in sociology. Over the summer, I took a job opportunity with my local school district I graduated from. It was a nice little gig, I made decent money from it, and all I really had to do was come up with activities to keep a small group of 11 and 12 year olds entertained. Ended up landing a job subbing in the district from it, even though I haven’t pic”

“I have a bachelors degree in environmental science but in my twenties I was never able to land a job within that field, so I mostly have worked front desk / reception roles as well as some office coordinator / manager type roles (though low paying) mostly in healthcare settings. I’m in my mid-thirties and would like a higher-level office type role with good job security but cant seem to break into any admin assist / EO type jobs strictly from applying online even though I feel like I have the sk”

“I started applying for full-time positions in mid-to-late August 2025, about a week or two before my senior year began. I attended a highly ranked public university and had research experience, internships, and part-time jobs throughout college, but finding a job was still much harder than I expected. Throughout the year, I averaged about two or three interviews per month. The process was exhausting, but it taught me a lot about tailoring applications, preparing for interviews, and communicating”

“I started applying for full-time positions in mid-to-late August 2025, about a week or two before my senior year began. I attended a highly ranked public university and had research experience, internships, and part-time jobs throughout college, but finding a job was still much harder than I expected. Throughout the year, I averaged about two or three interviews per month. The process was exhausting, but it taught me a lot about tailoring applications, preparing for interviews, and communicating”

“I started applying for full-time positions in mid-to-late August 2025, about a week or two before my senior year began. I attended a highly ranked public university and had research experience, internships, and part-time jobs throughout college, but finding a job was still much harder than I expected. Throughout the year, I averaged about two or three interviews per month. The process was exhausting, but it taught me a lot about tailoring applications, preparing for interviews, and communicating”

“Hi, I graduated university in July 2022. Since then, I have done a marketing internship and worked as a marketing executive at one company. Then I worked as a marketing coordinator at another company but got made redundant in end of december 2025. Now i am unemployed AGAIN and doing the whole job search and feel hopeless. I aso worked retail part time for a few months inbetween this. My parents, especially my dad makes me feel like shit and always says "it's been 4 years and you still h”

“I have a bachelors in evolutionary biology and a minor in geology, and I want to get into paleontology (eventually). I ended up not getting in to any grad schools on my first attempt applying (lesson learned I need to apply to more, and plan on sending out more applications) but in the mean time I need to have a job and want to use this as an opportunity to pad my CV if possible. The problem is I can’t find anything with only a bachelor’s degree. Every position I can find needs a doctorate, rare”

“I have a Bachelors in Biology and just graduated in May. I want to go into wildlife conservation/wildlife bio but the job market for that is hell. Im going to have to be working field tech/research positions that basically make below minimum wage or close enough to it (30k/year). On top of this I have student loans I need to pay off....... I have always had an interest in graphic design and art, and can really see myself working in this field. Its just unfortunate that I'm really feeling dra”

“I am a uni student from Canada studying a science degree from waterloo finishing 2 out of 5 years (materials and nanosciences). I started worrying that my degree won’t lead to a job after graduation because many of the roles it prepares me for require engineering graduates, which I’m not. I also recently realized that pursuing a master’s in engineering or science (the usual path for my degree) isn’t something I can realistically do. I struggle significantly with reading comprehension due to ADHD”

“Hello, I graduated in the winter of 2024 with a degree in parks, recreation, and leisure studies. Since then, I've been working part-time jobs in my field, which are low-paying and offer little hours. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Are there any desk jobs that will take any four-year degree? submitted by /u/pinkelephant156 [link] [comments]”

“I have a bachelors in environmental science, 1 year working at an ivy league and 2 years working in education as a paraprofessional. The science job market was so hard to get into that I did a full career switch into special education in hopes that it's easier to get a job. But it seems no matter how hard I try I can never get hired. What am I supposed to do at this point!? submitted by /u/CF166- [link] [comments]”

“I’ve been at a company that creates tests for water for over 5 years. It’s my first company out of college. My degree was biology and I initially started out as a scientist but pivoted into marketing for the same company. Because I moved within the company they limited my salary increase as I jumped 2 levels instead of one. They only recently adjusted my salary by 10% this spring to put me closer to the middle of the pay band. I receive glowing reviews, my director even set up a career discussio”

“21 and graduated college almost exactly a year ago, since then I’ve been working multiple part time jobs to work up my savings. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Sustainability and Gender but spent my time in college more focused on money and getting out early (I only took three years and a summer semester) rather than networking or interning. I’ve been told that my field would be used well in Human Resources in terms of policy application and rule in companies regarding the handling of workplac”