When I was a little kid, my dream job was to be a superhero. It wasn’t because of the cape or the superpowers, but because superheroes always seemed to have a calling. They woke up every day knowing exactly who they were and what they were meant to do.

As a senior at DePaul graduating this year, my definition of what a dream job looks like no longer involves spandex. I want to be a public interest lawyer, mostly because I feel like I can use my mind to help people, a different superpower. Ideally, I want to work before law school and am in the process of finding a job to help me gain experience.

In this current job market, that may not be realistic.

When finding any job feels difficult for new graduates, finding a dream job can seem nearly impossible. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 42% of people 30 or younger who are college educated in the U.S. believe it’s a good time to find a job, down from a high of 70% two years ago. 

Alyssa Westring, a DePaul professor and chair of the department of management and entrepreneurship, says having that purpose at a job is an important factor in what makes people happy at work.

“When there’s an alignment between the values that are important to you and the values that are important to your organization people tend to be happier,” Westring said. “They are more satisfied in their role and much less likely to leave.”

The job market my fellow graduates and I are entering may have other plans. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, the new graduate unemployment rate in 2026 is at the highest rate since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. 

That means I may not get a job that gives me the exact experience I want. The most important thing is securing a paying job at all. Westring agrees.

“If you don’t have job security, a living wage or necessary benefits, all the meaning in the world is not going to create a sense of well being because you’re basically fighting for survival,” Westring said.

Jannely Sanchez, a graduating senior at DePaul, has felt the impact of the job market when looking for roles.

“When I was applying last year, it was really just whatever I got,” said Sanchez, who’s graduating with a business degree with a concentration in marketing. 

After a long process Sanchez felt lucky to get a marketing job she was fairly happy with. 

“I didn’t want to end with an option that I didn’t want to take and feel like I was forced to do that,” she said.

 While I have realized I may not get my dream job right now, the first job out of college is only the beginning. It’s important to recognize that a first job can be a stepping stone to a larger future.

Westring says that even an imperfect job can have its benefits over time — even if that means  sacrificing work-life balance early on. 

“For their first job, they may pick some kind of job that would require them to work many, many hours and make a lot of sacrifices,” she said. “They’re making a short-term trade off for what they perceive to be a long-term benefit.” 

I have come to realize that I will have to make sacrifices early in my career to chase my bigger goals. Whether my dream is being a lawyer or Captain America, I am not giving up on it. I will just have to choose what I am willing to sacrifice to make that dream a reality.

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