A 21-year-old new grad, Katherine Diep, has been on her own job search for nearly a year despite facing rejection from over 200-300 jobs. Diep graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a degree in business economics and is currently seeking events marketing jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area and remote positions in the Midwest.
Diep’s confidence wavered as she began to rack up rejections, wondering if her character was wrong for not landing a job. However, she has since adapted to the grind and remains optimistic. “I probably get, like, one rejection each day,” Diep says, which no longer bothers her much.
To stay busy, Diep volunteers at Emboldly, a nonprofit focused on empowering women in leadership roles, and works on marketing for her own startup, Lynne. Her approach is to keep applying until she finds a company that recognizes her worth. With the labor market flooded with recent grads and AI increasingly replacing jobs, Diep has pivoted to events marketing, believing this field is less susceptible to automation.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/25/21-year-old-college-grad-has-applied-to-200-to-300-jobs-since-fall.html