For millennials, life after college not what was expected

Newlyweds Daniel and Jenna Griffin graduated from Temple University in 2012 with hopes of landing their dream jobs. Jenna left with a bachelor of science degree in elementary and early childhood education and Dan with a bachelor of business administration degree in marketing.

Two years later, Jenna is employed as a preschool teacher but still searching for a position at a K-12 school, and Dan recently landed a job as marketing manager at Everase, a white- and dry-erase-board company.

For the Griffins, like many college graduates, postcollege careers aren't exactly what they hoped for. With college enrollment at an all-time high but employment for millennials at an extreme low, the trend is growing nationwide.

Nearly half of graduates from four-year colleges say they are in jobs that don't require a four-year degree, according to a report published by consulting firm McKinsey and Co. last year. McKinsey also reported that 4 in 10 graduates from America's top 100 schools could not get a job in their chosen field.

To Generation X and the baby boomers, a college degree resulted in an admirable job, satisfying income, and an all-around great life.

But for millennials, oftentimes the only promise that comes with a college degree is a mountain of debt that can follow a graduate even until death.

The average 2012 college graduate who used student loans to pay their tuition left school with $29,400 in debt, according to a report from the Institute for College Access and Success' Project on Student Debt.

In addition to the debts incurred postgraduation, millennials are entering one of the most competitive job markets in American history.

Dan Griffin found himself applying for countless jobs in which interviewers were asking for the same thing: experience. His hard-earned degree would be constantly passed over because the only "real" experience he had was as manager of a Rita's Water Ice.

"There aren't many companies that are willing to take a risk on a fresh-faced college graduate," Dan said. "Many companies overlook your years of work for other small companies and things you may have done in the past, because at the age of 22 they want to see that you have already worked at a company like theirs in a position that you just learned how to fully manage."

This exhausting process of interviewing over and over to hear the same feedback for lack of experience is also familiar to Griffin's wife.

Jenna has applied for so many teaching positions that she said she has lost count. "While I like where I am working right now, as a preschool teacher, it's difficult to hear people say to you over and over again, 'When you get a real teaching position . . .' "

Low-paying jobs right out of college have made millennials more realistic about the investments they can afford, unlike past generations.

"Today, young people facing job and income insecurity put off decisions that were once the hallmarks of maturity, such as buying a home, starting a family, or moving out of mom and dad's place," said Catherine Ruetschlin, an analyst at Demos, a public policy organization.

This new thinking could become an economic issue as young people delay these grand expenditures.

The Griffins are still optimistic of where their career paths may lead them. But Dan recognizes the ominous process and the tiresome measures necessary to finding a job.

"When pressure is put on you to have 'the perfect job' and you just pick any company and any job that comes along, there is a great chance that you will be unhappy, and your greatest skills will go unused," Dan said.