Tarot Cards: 18 August, Leo 2015

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Happy Tuesday, Sault Ste. Marie! For today's Tarot cards, I'm responding to an Anonymous Rabbit who asks,

I recently graduated from university with a BA and a complimentary certificate, but I can't find a job that doesn't involve me selling ice cubes to snowmen. Why can't I find work?

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Hello, Anonymous Rabbit, and as always thank-you for trusting me to answer this question for you. To start with, there's good advice for anybody in your situation and that's to work with your local employment office. Employers send their job listings to them and trust that they'll provide the best candidates for the job. It's not a guarantee, but it's a lot better than going it on your own. And as always, any work is better than no work, so keep your eyes open for anything that'll bring in a paycheck.

The reason I say that last bit is because you come up in the context of this reading as being very prideful about who you are and what you've accomplished. And why not? A university education is a big deal. But if you're going to stand on top of an ivory tower and expect the world to climb up to you, I think you'll be sorely disappointed. Yes, celebrate your accomplishment and the identity this education provides for you, but at the same time, you've got to recognize that unless you're an entrepreneur and you create your own opportunities, you'll have to find a way to fit into the opportunities provided by others.

Of course, all employers make decisions about what's best for the employer, not for the employee, so don't be surprised when the only work you find doesn't boost you up your own ladder, but instead puts you holding somebody else's ladder.

As far as finding work, you need a reference or an "in" provided by a friend or associate. It's a shame that you can't get hired based solely on your merits, but there are two competing problems at work here: first, you need a professional reference that is known to your desired employer. And by "reference," I don't mean a letter, but an introduction made by this person to said employer. In this case, it literally pays to have friends in high places.

And second - and probably the most important - there's something about your personality that's frustrating this union and keeps pushing your next job contract further and further away just as you feel you're getting closer and closer. Is there something about your identity or the name you've made for yourself that could do such a thing? Think about it.