As college graduation approached, many of you might have made the mistake in assuming that just because you had a college degree you would be able to snap your fingers and command a job just like that. After all, you reasoned, you can now check the box "bachelor's degree" on job applications. Now, a couple of months later, you might find yourself coping with the fact that life hasn't picked up as fast as you thought. To make things worse, several of your friends might already have gotten those first jobs in their fields, causing feelings of inferiority, jealousy and resentment. You might have submitted some resumes and are just praying for this madness to end as soon as possible with your first hire.

Well, that moment that will finally grant you some status and an initial footing in this scary post-college world, might come tomorrow and it might come several months from now and for some of you, it might only come after more schooling.

The serenity prayer, that has been adopted by the group Alcoholics Anonymous since 1942 to close out meetings, asks for the Lord to grant serenity to accept the things that can't be changed, the courage to change the things that can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Regardless of whether you're an alcoholic (although if you just graduated college, that is becoming increasingly more likely) or rely on divine intervention to get you through your job hunt, the lessons from the serenity prayer are very applicable here.

A lot of job advice columns are going to tell you how to maximize your chances of getting that job, but perhaps, college graduates also need some awareness of the things you cannot control. I know this might be difficult to accept: Conventional wisdom, based on how quickly your friends have gotten jobs, is that it should be within your power to get jobs but we all have different circumstances and, to some degree, some of us have luckier breaks than others.

So let's review what you cannot control:

1) You can't control who decides to hire you or not. You might have the qualifications but there are always going to be other people you're running against and someone more qualified than you, could have applied to that same job

2) You can't control when the desired employer can get back to you. Too often, it is not acknowledged how much this can hurt you, if you're not employed in the meantime, as your bank account might be drained while waiting for that next job to get back to you

3) You also can't control if your dream job is hiring. On a larger scale, you can't control the job market

4) You might not necessarily be able to control the external pressures on you to produce money quickly. This might depend on your parents or other people to whom you are economically dependent.

Here's the good news. What you can control?

1)      You can maximize your opportunities by sending out more resumes, sending targeted resumes, and relying on your networking. Since this solution is generally what's covered in most job articles, let's discuss the other solutions....

2)      You can almost certainly get a lower level job while waiting for that job to come in. There are plenty of lower level jobs that you can get with a college degree, whether it's waiting tables, driving a taxi cab, clerking in an office, or whatever. They might not be satisfying or where you want to be, but your goal is to put money in the bank, even if you don't think you need it now. Every day, there are opportunities to make money quicker than through the methods you want to make it. They might not happen within a day, but they are surer bets than that entry level job you might be hoping for.

3)      Furthermore, you can keep enhancing your resume. In some cases, you might find that depending on your major and the field of study you're going into, if you keep getting rejected for jobs, you might look it into it and find they're generally looking for people with masters degrees, graduate coursework, or experience in the field. Even though the perception is that non-paid internships are just for people in college for credit, a lot of my peers have non-paid internships or paid internships and that usually leads them much closer to a job in the industry. Many college graduates are usually just one internship away from a good job.

4)      You can keep being productive. Find a new hobby, volunteer, or travel. You have a priority to advance your career, but you also have a priority to keep yourself healthy and happy, and if one area in your life is floundering (career), you can enhance others. My bachelor's degree is not in writing or journalism but because I had experience working for school newspapers and other local publications, I chose to pursue writing on the side and if things aren't going well in the 9-to-5 job world, I always have a second option I can pursue and while one might pay significantly more money than the other, I personally care about both.

5)      You can also keep learning. When I was thinking of applying to a couple jobs in an industry I used to be interested, I went to my local library and read about it.  Look into taking a class in the interim. It is also really helpful to attend lectures and conferences. Those are your best opportunities. Learning can also come from multiple sources. Uboast gives you an opportunity to learn from each other as you create a professional network. 

6)      Lastly, you can control your attitude. You can react to rejection or delays in the process in a way that doesn't take away your resolve to keep going or doesn't take away your opinion of yourself.

Personally, I have had a very bumpy road over the last couple years since graduating college. During an unexpected break in employment, I found myself working for a very low rate at a very demanding job as a movie theater concessionist and usher, for a few months. I was ashamed that I was a year out of college and was working alongside 16 and 17 year-olds and I was filled with a desperation because I had the sense of going nowhere. I had previously worked at the movie theater the summer before my senior year of college and I thoroughly enjoyed it because I loved movie theaters and I figured that it would be my last summer to do one of those minimum wage jobs. To get through the days, I tried to remember what it was I loved about the job in the first place although it didn't help much. When I finally did land that big job, I was filled with joy and relief, but I was also filled with a sense of regret that I let myself get down in the interim and I wish that I could have gone to that movie theater job with a smile.