Take a Chance on Me
I had initially planned to call this week’s blog entry “Ode to Joy”. After hearing a different tune this week from Mamma Mia, I decided take a less narcissistic approach to presenting the joyous news of my sister-in-law’s impending employment. You may recall that the name of my blog, Sweats to Suits, was her invention. After coaching her through this process for several months, it certainly feels like things have come full circle. I asked Katie (my sister-in-law) to elaborate on key lessons she learned over the past few months for my readers. Happy reading!
Guest Blog from the recently employed, Katie Gaylord
Let’s face it, the job hunt can be an incredibly frustrating and time consuming experience. However, through my personal search I found several things that assisted me in this process. And in my personal opinion, helped me to land an internship after several weeks of searching, and then a full time job after three months of searching.
NETWORK 
I cannot impress upon how important this is. I became aware of both my internship and new full time position from individuals within my personal network. Knowing someone at a firm, or company, is a great way to get your “foot in the door” and make you be more than a name on a piece of paper. I spent a great deal of time networking with family friends, relatives, neighbors etc. I usually would ask if they could take time to speak with me about their current position, and just come prepared with a list of questions. I would advise not to go into this with the concept of “find me a job” but rather expressing an interest in what they do. Inevitably at the end of speaking with someone, they would reciprocate the questions and ask about my interests, and then to send them my resume and they would pass it along to those who could help. You’d be surprised at how willing people are to help you (i.e. “take a chance on you”), and truly extend a hand in anyway possible
PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE
Searching for a job is a fulltime job, and I personally am not the best when it comes to patience. You have to remind yourself to be proactive on your end, but that at the end of the day, all of your hard work will also require patience. Know that in the end all of your effort WILL pay off.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
I initially thought that I could just have one master resume and generic cover letter that I could send out in mass quantities. Looking back this was quite naïve, but I feel like I wanted to do this because the time and effort it took to adjust my resume and cover letters was in no way appealing. However, after I realized that this would not work I reluctantly, but dutifully, began. There were so many days where I would spend hours tweaking my resume, or formatting my cover letter for a specific position. At the time it seemed exhausting, but I truly feel like paying attention to such details, and making changes as needed made a huge difference. This attention to detail extends in so many ways more than this. Facebook: make sure your profile is such that there are no embarrassing pictures, or comments on it. In all correspondence emails: make sure you are thoughtful of the structure of the email. Make sure that you review your work for grammar errors, and that you express your professionalism in an eloquent, yet brief and concise manner.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
When going into an interview, be sure to research the company to the MAX. With several of the interviews I had I tailored specific questions to my role within the firm, as well as doing research on those who interviewed me. I looked over their profiles on LinkedIn and addressed their educational background and how they wound up in their position. I was initially resistant to “stalk” my interviewers on LinkedIn, but Joy assured me that people put their profiles out there for a reason. Needless to say, most individuals were quite impressed that I took the time to become so familiar with them and the company. This shows effort, and a true interest in the position.
PREPARE YOURSELF FOR REJECTION
Following one interview I was crushed to receive word that I would not be extended an offer. At the time it came as such a blow. This is one position that I spent so much time working on from an application process, as well as preparing for my interview. However, looking back, my future position is a fit on both ends. I started to think about my “rejection” in a different light. Would I really want to work somewhere that I wasn’t a top candidate, or that the company wanted me? It has to be a mutual fit, or else in the long run, things will most likely result in the antithesis of a “happy ending.”
CELEBRATE
And when you do receive that phone call of a company extending an offer, I can tell you that you will be nothing short of delighted… I sure was! Take some time to recognize your accomplishment and thank others who helped you get there. Good luck, and happy job hunting!
Katie landed a Campus Recruiting Coordinator position at a professional services firm. She starts in two weeks and is currently accepting applications for roommate candidates.
Career Blunder of the Week: One of my classmates (let’s call him Peter) was particularly frustrated with the ambiguity of an assignment we received in one of our classes. In a moment of catharsis, he crafted a heated message to our professor, which he planned to revise and send after receiving the graded assignment. You know where this is going…Unfortunately, Peter accidentally (and prematurely) hit the send button. We have yet to hear of any implications of the message transmission, however, the lesson here is very clear. Moral of the story: DO NOT populate the TO field of an email until you are ready to hit the send button – to a professor, employer, or family member.