I’m a 25-year-old recent grad in Virginia facing a tough job market. Here’s how I’m strategically taking advantage of opportunities in my field while I wait it out.

• The Unemployed States of America takes readers deep inside the decimated American workforce.
• Eric Witiw is a 25-year-old recent master’s graduate based in Arlington, Virginia. 
• He was in the middle of applying and interviewing for jobs when the pandemic hit, and is now working part-time as a research consultant in food sustainability. 
• After testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies months after the fact, he found out that he had coronavirus in early March. While his fear of the virus itself subsided, Witiw’s biggest worry is spreading the virus to his family if he gets infected again.
• This is Eric Witiw’s story, as told to Business Insider. 
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

When the pandemic hit, I was still a student working as a TA and doing some part-time consulting.

The job market has been tough since.

I was in the process of interviewing and everything hit a standstill. I’m still applying, interviewing, and hoping to find employment soon.

Luckily, I’ve been able to get by with help from my parents and a few extra dollars I saved up. While I no longer have rent or food costs, I’ve pretty much cut all other spending and am focused on job applications.

I actually had the coronavirus very early on in March.

I was out of town on spring break and I had symptoms that weren’t known for the illness yet, so I thought to myself that there was no way I could have it.

I had red, dry eyes, and a dry throat, so I laid low for a day or two and I actually went to see a doctor who checked my vital signs. The next day I felt worse, kind of like a bad cold, but none of my friends or family believed I could have had it, so I was unsure. 

The internal pandemonium of whether I had it or not was a lot worse than the illness itself.

At the time, they told everyone to stay home unless you had life-threatening symptoms, so I figured that I would be putting others or myself at risk if I tried to go to a hospital and did not get tested.

Funny enough, I had to go to a pre-scheduled interview on video call and deliver my final presentation to my class on Zoom while I was sick.

Once I flew back, the school advised everyone that could leave campus to go home. I packed up my apartment, left my keys with a friend, and after waiting a few days, officially went home. 

I was on a hike with my mom and brother when they smelled something that I couldn't. I realized that I had completely lost my sense of smell.

I got tested for antibodies and it came back positive.

I have not really seen many friends since coming home. Even though I wasn't super-worried after knowing I had the antibodies, I felt like it wasn't the right thing to do.

If I get it again, I know how to deal with it, but I really don't want to infect my parents. 

I spend at least a few hours a day both looking and applying for jobs.

I've had some interviews, but it's moving very slowly. I'm honestly just worried that I won't get a job in my field.

I might not be right, but it feels like jobs are almost planning for another possible year of lockdown when they're hiring someone with my level of experience.

My background has been at the intersection of food and the environment, a relatively new space. That was part of my motivation for attending grad school: to bet on the opportunities being more plentiful upon graduating as opposed to when I finished my undergraduate degree. 

Unfortunately, I happened to graduate during a global pandemic, which certainly hasn't helped things with the job market.

I've interviewed with some places that I thought went really well and just haven't heard back for months, even when I followed up with recruiters.

I've definitely broadened my search, but it can be tough when I've set myself up with relevant internships and research for the specific field that I was so passionate about staying in.

I have a couple of more recent opportunities that I am cautiously optimistic about, but I don't want to get my hopes up, given how everything else has gone so far.

I'm hopeful that the right job will come, but I'm definitely having to be patient with how things play out.

I can't make any major life changes until I get a job. Everything is on hold until then.

I've been doing part-time work, which has been great. I've been able to do a lot of virtual networking with people in food sustainability and get advice on how to get my foot in the door.

It honestly feels really good to be doing any work, period, but being in the space that I initially wanted to enter makes it even more enjoyable for me. 

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the subject and were part of a survey conducted by Business Insider.