Congratulations! You’ve graduated!!! The persistence, all-nighters, office visits and networking events paid off…or did it?!? As you sit in your parent’s living room, you can’t help but wonder. Mind you, I said your PARENT’S living room. It’s technically not yours. Despite the fact that you don’t finance it, you’ve been away, living your life for four years, thinking you’re grown. However, after the four years, here you are, jobless, perusing Idealist, CareerBuilder, Monster and any other sites that offer the hope for employment. From time to time, to break the monotony, you may work out a bit or catch up on Law and Order and Living Single reruns…or maybe that’s just me…I digress. Even if you’ve been submitting 20 resumes and cover letters a day, whatever you do, don’t give up.
I know this may sound nauseatingly cliché, but trust me on this one. Don’t give up. I’ll even share an anecdote. (Disclaimer: I have not disclosed the names of people and organizations involved in the following story. I have enough loans to pay. I can’t afford legal fees as well).
Waiting in what resembled an abandoned church, I recounted notes in my head. A friend’s mom mentioned that an organization I greatly admired was interviewing for an Executive Assistant position. While the position itself didn’t appeal to me greatly, I knew it would be an amazing opportunity working for such a company, and it certainly beat tweaking cover letters and watching Synclaire and Overton’s goofy relationship (please see Living Single reference above). It was the day of my interview and I had a good feeling about things. The interview went extremely well…so well, in fact, that I was asked to start the same day. I had been hired on the spot before, but I had never been asked to start the same day. I didn’t protest, however, because I was grateful to finally have a job and excited to begin.
After two days of work, both of which were over OVER time, I learned the following:
· Most people are lazy. I did everyone’s job for my first two days. From the Executive Director to the Head of Maintenance…no one felt uncomfortable delegating their tasks to me, as they took extended lunch breaks or came to work late. Some were bold enough to hand off their tasks while they hung around the office and chatted with colleagues whose work I would be completing next.
· If you graduated from a decent university and no one else in your office did, they may bring it up ALL THE TIME. I didn’t even bring up the college thing, despite mentioning it in my interview. Nevertheless, I was constantly reminded that I went to such and such school so I probably thought I was smarter than this person…or I went to school hghgjhg, so inherently, I was superwoman and could accomplish 15 tasks in 15 minutes. The constant educational references distanced me and didn’t help make me feel part of the team.
· If you at all value order and your sanity, working in a disorganized office with obstinate people is impossible. After only two days, I not only realized the potential of the organization but the fact that it was stagnant potential. People were not committed to the mission of the organization, and it killed me knowing that if all those people quit/got fired, I could replace them with recent grads I knew, who would do their jobs with more fervor and bring the organization to new heights. No one even knew where files from last month were and there was no working system, so….
I quit.
I decided that I would rather sit in the living room with my laptop, job searching. It sounds crazy, but knowing how much you can tolerate is extremely important. Be realistic in your search. The right job will come along. Sometimes it takes a ridiculous job experience to realize this.
To wrap things up for now, I was back to my usual, submitting my resume to 20 places per day, when I decided to be responsible and go to my annual visit to the optometrist...(stay with me for a second). I went to the optometrist and he asked me what I was doing with my life. Then, he inquired about my interests and voila! Turns out one of his best friends was a partner at a law firm in Manhattan. I submitted my resume, went through a grueling interview process and secured a job before the summer was over.
There are opportunities everywhere. During these times, human interaction is a great way to get yourself out there. Talk to everyone about your passions and what you truly want to find and trust me, it will manifest itself.
Now, do I love this job? Not quite, but I tolerate it ;) I’ll save the details for another post.
I know this may sound nauseatingly cliché, but trust me on this one. Don’t give up. I’ll even share an anecdote. (Disclaimer: I have not disclosed the names of people and organizations involved in the following story. I have enough loans to pay. I can’t afford legal fees as well).
Waiting in what resembled an abandoned church, I recounted notes in my head. A friend’s mom mentioned that an organization I greatly admired was interviewing for an Executive Assistant position. While the position itself didn’t appeal to me greatly, I knew it would be an amazing opportunity working for such a company, and it certainly beat tweaking cover letters and watching Synclaire and Overton’s goofy relationship (please see Living Single reference above). It was the day of my interview and I had a good feeling about things. The interview went extremely well…so well, in fact, that I was asked to start the same day. I had been hired on the spot before, but I had never been asked to start the same day. I didn’t protest, however, because I was grateful to finally have a job and excited to begin.
After two days of work, both of which were over OVER time, I learned the following:
· Most people are lazy. I did everyone’s job for my first two days. From the Executive Director to the Head of Maintenance…no one felt uncomfortable delegating their tasks to me, as they took extended lunch breaks or came to work late. Some were bold enough to hand off their tasks while they hung around the office and chatted with colleagues whose work I would be completing next.
· If you graduated from a decent university and no one else in your office did, they may bring it up ALL THE TIME. I didn’t even bring up the college thing, despite mentioning it in my interview. Nevertheless, I was constantly reminded that I went to such and such school so I probably thought I was smarter than this person…or I went to school hghgjhg, so inherently, I was superwoman and could accomplish 15 tasks in 15 minutes. The constant educational references distanced me and didn’t help make me feel part of the team.
· If you at all value order and your sanity, working in a disorganized office with obstinate people is impossible. After only two days, I not only realized the potential of the organization but the fact that it was stagnant potential. People were not committed to the mission of the organization, and it killed me knowing that if all those people quit/got fired, I could replace them with recent grads I knew, who would do their jobs with more fervor and bring the organization to new heights. No one even knew where files from last month were and there was no working system, so….
I quit.
I decided that I would rather sit in the living room with my laptop, job searching. It sounds crazy, but knowing how much you can tolerate is extremely important. Be realistic in your search. The right job will come along. Sometimes it takes a ridiculous job experience to realize this.
To wrap things up for now, I was back to my usual, submitting my resume to 20 places per day, when I decided to be responsible and go to my annual visit to the optometrist...(stay with me for a second). I went to the optometrist and he asked me what I was doing with my life. Then, he inquired about my interests and voila! Turns out one of his best friends was a partner at a law firm in Manhattan. I submitted my resume, went through a grueling interview process and secured a job before the summer was over.
There are opportunities everywhere. During these times, human interaction is a great way to get yourself out there. Talk to everyone about your passions and what you truly want to find and trust me, it will manifest itself.
Now, do I love this job? Not quite, but I tolerate it ;) I’ll save the details for another post.
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