But the absolute worst experience has to be while getting a teeth cleaning in the dentist chair over winter break. I was reclined, with my mouth full of tools, when the hygienist politely asked THE question. It wasn’t the prying or the flossing that paralyzed me from answering – it was the question itself. Because in four months I will graduate… with a journalism degree.

“So what do you plan to do after you graduate?”

The problem isn’t that I don’t have a career path, but that my answers just won’t make sense to my baby boomer relative, my high school speech coach or the friendly hygienist. What am I supposed to say?

“Hi, I’m Abbey and I want to be a multimedia journalist-slash-marketing specialist-slash-social media strategist-slash-political guru-slash-blogger extraordinaire.”

That won’t quite fit on a business card or come out in one breath.

I could mold my answer to the recent job postings I’ve come across:

“Oh hello, I have a degree in broadcast journalism, but all of the current openings require me to be a skilled ‘producer/video journalist/web writer/bureau chief/live truck-op/fill-in anchor-but-only-when-I-teleprompt-at-the-same-time/media person.’”

It’s not that I can’t do all of those things, because I can, and I am happy to do them. But with that answer people may look at me like I’m not sane, let alone able to handle employment.

I have deemed this disorder “the dilemma of the slash.” These days it’s hard to find an opening without the prominent ” / ” - constantly reminding journalists that one skill is never enough. Sure you can report, but what else? Symptoms of the slash are commonly found in recent graduates who realize the job they set out to do is actually 5 positions combined into 1 confusingly worded job post that makes it impossible to describe over Christmas dinner.

Give me 3 items and I can show you what I want to do after graduation. With my camera, my computer and my iPhone, I can shoot something, edit it on my laptop, tweet it while the file is exporting, and blog about it after posting it to the web.

Just don’t ask me what that “something” is yet. Especially in the dentist chair. Because the drool spilling out of my mouth won’t be worth the answer I don’t have. And rather than waste your time with explaining all of that, I’ll just tell you this.

“The job I want to do doesn’t exist yet.”

Thank goodness teeth cleanings only happen twice a year.

Job posting images courtesy TVjobs.com.