I recently graduated and am unhappily unemployed. I have been applying for about a month now and am already getting frustrated.Should I just take some god forsaken job coding somewhere in order to plug the gap on my CV and stop my boredom? Or should I carry on with my applications full time in order to really get the job I want.Given present market conditions I am worried that I will spend 6 months searching with nothing to show for it bar a gap in my CV.What should I do?

Let me guess: you have just graduated and already swallowed whole all the tripe they feed you at University - you will be able to move smoothly into x field etc. Wake up call Lost: you and thousands of others have graduated and need jobs. In 6 Months if all there is on your CV is white space you will find it even harder to even get that God forsaken codnig job. So take the job, stop moaning and loitering around on this forum when you should be looking for a job, and get with the program. Maybe if you prize yourself away from daytime TV and get an job, ANY job, you will start taking ownership of the process and will start getting interviews for what you really want to do.

I agree with Mars, old folk like me graduated in the early 1990s in the last recession, lots of my fellow graduates had to take any job, and they have all moved on to better things. Get a job, perform excellently at it, prepare a plan to move on when things pick-up and be ready to strike when a good opportunity arises. If not, at least go travelling and do something interesting for the CV. Or join the Army and get shot at.

Lots of ex-army join consulting.

Any sensible graduate will not invest serious resources into getting into consulting. The market is certainly shrinking and the number of opportunities open for grads is shrinking rapidly.Work out what sectors are defensible and look for jobs in these areas.

Yes, we get:1. Dumped on (frequently, usually at 5.00pm on a Friday evening)2. Abused (including physically, if you consider staring at a screen for 14 hours a day, eating mars bars all day long, and waking up at 4.45am on Mondays a form of physical abuse)3. Laid off at a whim (why shed permanent jobs when you can just slash costs in a consultancy contract)4. Sent packing all over the world at a moment's notice (nice and family friendly there, then)5. Promised megabucks and paid peanuts (why no earth MC and banking even get discussed in the same conversations I'll never know)6. Humiliated during appraisals that expect you to perform like superman7. Forced to work from basements or whatever spare table that nobody else at the client site wants8. Forced to spend our late nights masturbating in hotel rooms rather than tucked up in bed with the wife9. Ten times the workload of any other regular employee (quite literally)10. Irritable Bowel Syndrome as a rite of passage, given points 1 to 9 above.Anyone else want to add to the list?

"8. Forced to spend our late nights masturbating in hotel rooms rather than tucked up in bed with the wife10. Irritable Bowel Syndrome as a rite of passage, given points 1 to 9 above."The mind boggles!

Less of the "we" if you don't mind. We're not all EDS-quality losers.

To get back to the OP's question.Just standing still is not an option. The clock is ticking.Finding the job of your dreams is never easy, and it will take time.In the interim period, fill your time (and CV) with something pertinent and interesting, both to you and to a prospective employer.Travel has been suggested, which is one great suggestion, particularly if its linked in with learning a new skill such as a language.The other option that you may want to consider is approaching a local (or indeed national) charity, and offering your services in delivering work in the area you wish to specialise in.Although it probably wont pay anything, it shows that you are determined to work in this space, and are prepared to invest your own time and energy in developing your skillsetSitting at home watching day time telly is not an option.