Back at the beginning of October, I began casually checking the job listings in my area due to some significant changes with my current employer. Once December rolled around, that job hunt became a higher priority, and right now, I am looking daily for something new.

Within the last six months, I have begun working towards various certifications, and none of them seem to be taking me anywhere. I enrolled in the Prior Authorization Certification Specialist program because the clinic I work in considered getting a nurse to do just that for our providers. I was told there was an excellent chance to get the course reimbursed. About a week after I paid for the class, an email was sent out saying that the main hospital campus would be taking over this task, which rendered my certification useless. (and naturally, there was no reimbursement for something the company was no longer interested in.) Perhaps the most frustrating part about this is that any jobs looking for PACS certification want an experienced worker as well. Since obtaining my certification, I have gotten no more work with prior authorizations because they are done out-of-clinic.

I took applications all around town last week. I have yet to hear back from any of those companies. After reading reviews on Indeed, I walked into one establishment, confident that I would be interviewed on the spot, but the manager wasn’t available to speak to me. I called that same business on Monday and, again, the manager was unavailable.

I keep up with the news, and there seem to be endless reports about places needing workers. I can’t even get Culvers to call me back. It isn’t like I am refusing any avenue for a job; the jobs just aren’t interested in me. I could apply to McDonald’s, where they pay their workers anywhere between $13 and $15 an hour, but I bet they say I’m overqualified to work the register. I consider a job as an administrative assistant, and they want me to have 5+ years of super-specific industry skills while only offering to pay $15 an hour. There was a remote position listed on indeed for a test scorer, and that position also required a bachelor’s degree for $16 an hour.

While I would never say that a company should have to pay me more, I will say that a college should not take taxpayer dollars and then charge $30,000 a year for just the classes.