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When Mike Raymond graduated from Chico State University with a communications degree in December, he had visions of working for a ski resort in Lake Tahoe and living on his own. But life after college has been anything but what Raymond expected.

The economic downturn kept the 23-year-old graduate from getting a job in Tahoe and he was forced to move back home with his parents.

"I thought it was going to be a real smooth transition, but it wasn't like that at all," Raymond said. "I felt like a total failure for a while."

Since moving back home to Santa Rosa, Raymond interviewed for nine different jobs and got only one job offer from a wholesale plumbing products company in his hometown. The job is an entry-level position, but he plans to work his way up to a sales position, he said.

The transition into the workforce by recent college graduates can be overwhelming and sometimes hazardous to their mental health.

Graduates have to deal with the expectations for their future, the doubts over the careers they have chosen and the failures they might come across.

"I had really high expectations and I didn't realize I'd have to start at the bottom," Raymond said.

Add on decisions concerning health insurance plans, financial debt and taxes, and the first few years out of college can turn into an endless pit of self doubt for some.

With pre-graduation stresses mounting, there are many places soon-to-be alumni can turn to for help.

James Starmer is the director and an adviser at the Chico State Career Planning and Placement Office where help is given to students searching for a career. The office conducts workshops every semester on resumes and interviewing techniques, as well as bringing companies on campus to recruit students.

Starmer said many of the students he speaks with are excited about graduating, but they also have an undertone of nervousness and apprehension about not really knowing what they are getting into.

"I think the real world is kind of a daunting and frightening concept for a lot of them," Starmer said.

The transition from college to work is a big adjustment for many graduates, since they might not be ready for the grind of being somewhere 40 to 50 hours a week, Starmer said.

"No more school means no more going to Riley's on Tuesday and Thursday night, and no more getting spring, summer, and winter vacations. That's a hard reality," Starmer said.

It is important that graduates realize they are being strongly evaluated during the first year working for a company, he said. The companies are looking for a strong work ethic, professionalism and maturity in their new employees.

There is always self-doubt anytime someone starts a new job, but it is compounded when a person is graduating from college and work is a new thought, Starmer said.

Help on the shelf

Several books have targeted anxiety-ridden college graduates in hopes of offering them advice and hope by letting them know they're not alone in their worries.

The New York Times bestseller, "Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties," was written by Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner in an effort to bring attention to this previously overlooked phase in life. A quarterlife crisis is similar to a midlife crisis in that people start to reevaluate where they are at in life. College graduation is often the trigger of a quarterlife crisis, the authors write.

This period - marked with self doubt, insecurity and panic - can be devastating and throw someone's life into chaotic disarray or paralyze it, the authors write.

Robbins and Wilner interviewed more than 100 graduates in their twenties for the research, and the book has sold more than 100,000 copies. In cities like Seattle and Washington, D.C., recent grads are forming support groups to talk to one another about their transition.

Another book, "Life after school. Explained," offers practical tips on how to ease into the workforce. The book is based on a series of seminars sponsored by the company Cap and Compass.

Founded two years ago by two recent college graduates, the company gives humorous seminars on college campuses teaching students the practical lessons they need to survive in the "real world." Some of the seminar titles include "Avoid Looking Stupid at Dinner" and "The Least You Need to Know About Taxes."

Co-founder Jesse Vickey said a lot of the questions he gets from students at the seminars are about financial planning issues, including credit cards, student loans, and investing.

"A lot of people don't know that there are a lot of ways to invest your money other than checking and savings accounts," Vickey said.

Cap and Compass found that 73 percent of the students who attended their seminars did not feel that college prepares them for the life skills they need after they graduate, Vickey said.

Vickey said the idea for his company resulted from experiences he had during the three years he spent in sales and trading on Wall Street after graduating from college in 1997.

Vickey said he once made the mistake of ordering an alcoholic beverage during a work dinner. He had no idea that drinking alcohol during a work dinner was frowned upon.

"So much of your job success deals with your personal skills," Vickey said. " If you embarrass yourself at a work dinner, your boss won't trust you enough with other duties."

There are many books that deal with the transition from high school to college, but there are not many that deal with college graduates going into the workforce.

Cap and Compass hopes to expand its seminars to colleges and universities on the West Coast next year and soon develop starter kits for recent graduates moving to specific cities like Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York and Boston.

Wide open spaces

Leaving the safety and security of Chico State is also part of the adjustment for graduates. Being suddenly placed in a city or some other situation that is not as supportive can be frightening for some.

Although she is not leaving Chico State until next year, Stacy Lynn, a 21-year-old liberal arts major, said she knows leaving the security of school and the college lifestyle is going to be a dramatic change.

"Chico is a safe haven. It's going to be like leaving home again," Lynn said.

Lynn is heading into the Chico State teacher's credential program after she graduates this month.

Lynn said her parents pay for her rent, food and tuition right now. It will be a culture shock for her when she leaves school and she has to do everything on her own.

"Oh gosh, you have to actually be an adult," Lynn said. "That's what freaks me out mostly is I have to be responsible completely for myself."

Her parents take care of most of her financial decisions, but she will have to take care of them on her own when she joins the workforce.

"I don't know anything about my car insurance and I don't know anything about health insurance," Lynn said.

Dave Hammons, a 24-year-old business major, is graduating this month from Chico State with a bachelor's degree in business, but the prospects out there for him are looking grim right now.

"If I had job right now, I'd be a lot less stressed out," Hammons said.

The last four months have been very stressful for Hammons, since job opportunities in construction management are scarce as a result of the slumping economy.

He has spent 14 months interning for two construction firms hoping the experience will land him a job right out of college. After the events of Sept. 11, construction firms in California started establishing hiring freezes to save money and protect present jobs.

"In the last six months, construction management took a real big dump," Hammons said.

Hammons said the construction firms in California were once hiring graduates with a broad range of degrees, including students with accounting and psychology degrees. But now, he said he is going to move to the bottom of the hiring list, since he is graduating with a business degree.

He said he was considering graduate school, but he needs to get a job and pay off the $20,000 he owes in student loans.

"If I can't get a secure position in construction management, I'm just going to have to work at Barnes & Noble or something," Hammons said.

He said the 14 months he spent as an intern were not a waste. His experience as an intern is going to help him with the daily grind of work, he said.

"I find it harder to get up and go to school at 9 a.m. than to get up and go to work at 5 a.m., because I know I get a paycheck," Hammons said.

Life after college

Despite the pre-graduation panic that some students might have, others on campus are more confident about life after college. There is not that much of a difference between life in college and life in the workforce, because college life can be just as demanding, said Donald Graham, director of the Psychological Counseling and Wellness Center at Chico State.

"The same thing that got them through a college career is also going to serve them very well in the world of work," he said.

The shift to a new town and a new community can be a big change for some graduates, but the majority will be able to get past this phase, Graham said. It will take a little time to adjust to the environment and a minority of these graduates might become depressed over the situation.

"If they did get depressed it would be a good idea for them to talk to friends and family and if necessary to go see somebody professionally," Graham said.

Graham said there might be some validity to the theory of a quarterlife crisis, but he thinks it is a little bit overblown.

Although some graduates might be uncertain about their lives and careers after leaving school, they just do what they need to take care of business, Graham said.

"It's like when you have those butterflies before kickoff," Graham said. "Once the ball is kicked in the air the butterflies go away."
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