After months of failed attempts to get a job in her professional field, Kate Bautista is still waiting for her bright future to come while keeping her old part-time job, now her main source of income.
By Felicitas Baruch
In 2005, Kate Bautista got a job waitressing to pay for her university education. Although she wasn't excited about it, Bautista knew it was a temporary effort to build a better future.
Four years later, with a degree in Spanish from the University of Massachusetts, Bautista, 34, is still waiting for her bright future to come. After a few months of failed attempts to get a job as a translator, she is happy to keep her old job as a waiter, now her main source of income.
Bautista is not surprised at the delay in her professional take-off; about bad economic times has become the main topic in the news. The nation's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, has suffered its biggest drop since 1982 by falling at an annual rate of 6.3 percent in the last three months of 2008, according to the Department of Commerce.
By February, 33.3 million jobs had vanished, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, bringing the unemployment rate to its highest point in 25 years.
In this scenario, young professionals have been forced to put their career dreams on hold and get part-time jobs unrelated to their fields to pay their bills. The number of part-time jobs reached 8.6 million in February, one of its highest points since 1994, according to the Labor Department.
"I'm not depressed," Bautista said, referring to her working at a pizza restaurant in Kendall Square . "When I started at the restaurant I said: I don't want to be here forever. But I still have a job. So, it's not that bad."
Bautista combines her wait tables with babysitting. She takes care of her niece and gets paid for it. These two jobs keep her pretty busy and now she has found it difficult to look for a job in her professional field.
Searching for a job
After finishing her bachelor degree at the end of 2008, Bautista started networking to get a job to apply her Spanish, but she was rejected in many places due, she believed to her lack of professional experience. She failed to get a job as an editor for a publishing company. And when Bautista applied for a position as a translator at an educational organization on the South Shore, "They just said, okay, thanks for your interest and we will let you know," Bautista recalled.
To help overcome her lack of experience, Bautista looked into volunteering with non-profit organizations that help Spanish-speaking immigrants. "I offered to volunteer at Centro Presente, but they didn't respond to my e-mail," Bautista said. "I think that part of my problem was my schedule, at the time," she said.
However, Bautista said she now needs to keep her two paid jobs.
Besides covering her living expenses, Bautista said, she needs to make some extra money to travel regularly to Mexico, where her husband is working for the time being.
Surviving in the real world
Bautista has been forced to adopt a survival plan to make the most of her money. She pays a reduced rent by living at her parent's house. "I can still save money. But I wouldn't be able to make it and travel to Mexico if I had to pay a $500 0r $1000 or a rent on my own."
Bautista makes an average of $90 working as a waitress during most lunchtimes; up to $125 on good days. "But those days aren't frequent lately," she said.
Bautista sticks to her saving habits. If she still has some extra money after paying her bills, she puts it in her bank account to gain some interest. Although she paid her tuition through loans, she is almost done with them. "So, that's not a problem."
Doing her best to keep her jobs is the key part of her survival plan. But Bautista hasn't quit her dream to work in her own professional field, and she plans to go back to school for the fall and spring in order to get certified as a translator.
Bad financial times are a good moment for young adults to acquire a deeper knowledge or pursue graduate studies, said Abu Jalal, finance professor at Suffolk University. "Going back to school is always a good option," Jalal said. "It improves your chances of reaching a higher professional level and eventually, a better income."
Bautista's plans to go back to school, along with her two jobs will keep her safe for another year. And hopefully, she said, things will be better by then.
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