When Serena Whitecotton, 22, walked into Bank of America last month, she encountered a high school classmate working as a teller. It was another reminder that she could not find a job. "I was just embarrassed," Whitecotton said. "The worst thing is having to explain why I'm in Burbank and why I don't have a job and why I'm at the bank at 1 in the afternoon." Since graduating last May with a grade-point average of 3.5, experience working at her school newspaper and a degree in communications from California State University in Fullerton, Whitecotton said she has applied for more than 400 journalism and public relations jobs.