YNPNSD Helps People Find Jobs

I have felt invincible at least twice in my life.

The first time, I was 8 years old and had jumped off the back of a friend’s moving bicycle. As I was rolling to a stop, I felt no pain, fear, embarrassment, and most importantly, no regret. I was even ready to do it again, if it wasn’t for the gash in my knee and forehead… as well as my mother’s inevitable scolding.

The second time was when I was 24 years old, and it was that nanosecond right before I was officially laid-off from a job I started a year prior.

Wait… what? I just graduated college… my student loan bills have already started coming in... I finally matured from ramen and Easy Mac for dinner (almost – they are pretty tasty). The moment it sunk in that I no longer had a job was when I felt my invincibility slip away. I felt no pain, fear, embarrassment nor regret, but the difference between this instance and that of 16 years ago was this time, I knew there weren’t enough band-aids to patch me up along with the other 10% of the country going through the same thing.

I really started reflecting about my career: should I stay in nonprofit, go back to school? I got my answer three weeks later when I was offered a job that paid very well, but turned it down because it didn’t feel right. Then, when I started getting rejections like, “You’re not qualified enough,” and, “You’re too qualified for this position,” I didn’t know what to think anymore. Am I in some kind of professional purgatory? Was I being punished for being picky?

Then, I saw it – a job posting through the YNPN listserv. After reading the description, I knew this is what I was looking for. So, in goes my application, but once again, out it comes with a red stamp on it, except, with a note from a fellow YNPN San Diego member who happened to be on the receiving end of my application. She referred me to Junior Achievement and two interviews, some squealing and celebrating, and 10 months later, I’m sitting here writing to you about how YNPN San Diego has helped me in my career.

I did not spend months just sending out resumes and applications. I dove into YNPN San Diego and got my hands dirty with the Member Relations Committee as well as the Meet and Greet Committee. I manage the Facebook Fan Page as part of their social media strategy, an asset valuable to my job description here and now.

I learned I am still invincible, and things will get better if I just work at it. I just needed to jump on that bicycle again, unafraid and un-regretful that I waited for what I wanted instead of settling. Thanks, YNPN San Diego for being my metaphorical door opening while all those gently closed behind me.

Many thanks to Vietca Do for her generous contribution to the YNPN San Diego blog and all her work on committees!! To learn more about YNPN San Diego, visit our website and read all about our committees. If you are interested in writing for the YNPN San Diego blog, email us at sandiego@ynpn.org.