College Graduates: Are You Underpaid and Overqualified?

Ask most people how they feel about their job and you'll hear some version of the same complaint: too much work, too little money. Work for a government agency and that feeling tends to double. The economy hasn't done anyone any favors lately either. So the question stands. You're sitting in a job that drains you, the pay is thin, and you're more qualified than the role requires. Now what?

New graduates tend to walk into the job market expecting it to welcome them. It doesn't. School teaches you plenty, but it rarely prepares you for how competitive hiring has become. The assumption is that a diploma plus a quick search equals a good, well-paying job, no experience required. Reality looks different. A degree might get you hired, but often at the bottom of the pay scale.

Years ago, before the recession, landing work was easier simply because fewer people were chasing the same openings. That cushion is gone. A single posting today can draw two hundred applications. When an employer has that many people to choose from, they can be as selective as they like, and they usually pick the candidate who brings both a degree and a solid work history. Getting turned down over and over wears on you. It chips at your confidence. Going in, you have to accept that hundreds of others want the exact job you do, and many of them already have the experience you're still building. Sometimes the only move available is to take something that pays less than you hoped.

Taking a lower-paying job doesn't make you a failure. The working world runs on its own logic. Plenty of employers rank experience above education. Others hand promotions to friends or to whoever has been there longest. Once you understand how the place actually operates, you can make better decisions about where your career goes. Turn the frustrating situation into leverage.

When I started out, I was earning a little over $22,000 a year. I had just wrapped up my second bachelor's degree and figured I'd earn more. I didn't. The choice in front of me was an hourly position with no health coverage or a standard nine-to-five that came with benefits and a retirement plan. A job you resent can still teach you things. It lets you collect experience and sharpen skills you'll use later.

Sacrifice is part of it. Reaching what you want usually costs you something first. Maybe you move back in with your parents. Maybe you cut your spending hard and live on ramen for a couple of years. Don't let other people's opinions shame you out of doing what the situation requires. You do what you have to do to get where you're going.

Figure out who your allies are and stay close to them. Not everyone you work alongside is going to like you. And people are paying attention, more than you realize. Your coworkers know your background and your credentials, which is reason enough to watch who you confide in. You may be a threat to someone without having any idea.

That threat is real when you're one of the few people on staff with a higher degree. Workplace expectations are shifting, though. A growing number of states want an educated workforce and are starting to require one. So don't let it rattle you when senior coworkers nitpick everything you produce. The pickiness is often a tactic, pressure designed to push you out the door, because your presence unsettles them.

When you do find people who pull you aside and show you how to survive a hostile office, pay attention to them. Those are the ones who can help you climb inside the organization or jump to something better paying somewhere else. Remember who helped you. Don't forget them later.

Learn the job top to bottom, even the parts that feel pointless. There will be days the whole thing seems like busywork, but let that disappointment slide past you instead of stopping you. Soak up every piece of it, whether or not there's any clear path upward where you are. The point is to gather enough experience that another agency would be glad to have you.

Some employers only recognize a good employee after that person walks out the door. Don't let the ungrateful ones wreck your sense of worth or leave you feeling cornered. A lot of managers simply don't know how to hire genuinely qualified people. That's just how things go. Keep one rule, though: never let yourself get stuck somewhere because you lack the skills to leave.