Location and Education

It has occurred to me during my continued job search, as of late, that 2 issues have risen to the top of my mind.

The first is the question of strategy in terms of location. Location is an extremely important consideration for my job search. No doubt, I must be open to taking an opportunity where I can find it, but there is no question that there are certain cities I am more drawn to.

Thus, my strategy has been to reach out to complete strangers and ask to meet with them, and then visit my cities of interest and talk to as many people as possible in a 1,2 or 3 week period.

This approach has been successful in terms of securing interviews, but no offers yet. I take the responsibility for not performing to my potential in some interviews, but overall I have interviewed well and cannot expect perfection of myself. I have found that many companies I have interviewed with decide to put positions on hold or choose another candidate, telling me that they had many outstanding candidates to choose from.

Though I have been close to offers, I believe, on several occasions, I am certainly questioning whether or not to move to one of my cities of interest. Some think that this would increase my chances of receiving an offer, while others believe that I need to continue to do what I’m doing and that where I am living is not a make or break deal.

From a financial point of view, it is not practical for me to move without first receiving a job offer. I am willing to take an internship and work a second job, but if finance was not an issue whatsoever, I would undoubtedly move to a city for the sole purpose of networking more consistently. On the other hand, if I move to a city in my current financial situation and work 1 or 2 stopgap jobs, I seriously doubt the time and energy I have left will be sufficient to secure a job of interest.

I continue to grapple with this issue.

The other major issue on my mind has been education. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in English and many people have told me that a Master’s Degree in PR or Communications is not a substitute for experience. Many have said that if a hiring manager sees a Master’s Degree on my resume, but no long-term full-time experience beyond internships, that I will be at a disadvantage because it will seem that I require more compensation than other candidates.

Lately I have been seriously considering an MBA-Marketing. There are several top 30 MBA programs that offer this specialized MBA in Marketing. While the number of MBA’s is increasing, it remains an advanced degree in higher demand than an MA or MS. This seems to be the consensus among people I have talked with and the opinions I have read online.

Probably the most interesting viewpoint I’ve encountered on the MBA is that one should not consider it as a last resort when they cannot land a job. I think there is a lot of value in having a concrete reason for pursuing an MBA, mainly so that you can tell a hiring manager the specific goals you wanted to achieve by earning an MBA.

An MBA without a well-thought out career path may be a risky option.

However, for me and many others like me going through an extended job search, one has to look at all options on the table. If an MBA is a better option than a Masters, which it appears to be, I see no reason why I shouldn’t take the GMAT and be prepared to apply for MBA programs of interest. In all honesty, I am sure that I can think of specific reasons that I decided to earn a Marketing MBA. I know right now that because my background is in PR and journalism, it would make me more versatile.

The question of volunteering may be for another post, but it is something I am seriously considering.

The reality is that there is no ideal choice that is completely within my control–the job or internship offer is what I need, and any company that gives me that opportunity won’t be sorry.

 

 

 

Birthday

When I was 10 years old, I printed a calendar called “July 2010.” Basically, I used the calendar to predict what I would be doing when I turned 26. I remember a few of the predictions: “Got a dog,” “Got married,” and “Bought first house.”

On my 27th birthday, I feel as though I have a much better idea of how life really is! Seriously, though, growing up is really about losing some of our idealism. Hopefully we don’t lose all of it, but it’s sort of a painful process, gradually learning that you don’t get everything you want in life, all at once, in a nice package.

I received a birthday card from a friend with a quote on the front from David Joseph Schwartz:

“All great achievements require time.”

I received a card from a relative which reads:

“There is greatness within you.”

Both thoughts offer a healthy way to look at the job search. The first, a reminder that, as anxious as we get, we can only work as hard as one person can work, we can’t spend our time only on the job search if we care at all about mental stability, and, in the end, the result we are looking for takes time. How long? We aren’t supposed to know.

The second quote offers a humble way to view self-confidence. It’s powerful to think about the greatness that we have within ourselves that comes out when we give it an opportunity.

Maybe we feel as though we have so much to offer and that others seldom see any of it. Maybe we feel like we are going into interviews and talking about our attributes and getting blank stares. That can be frustrating. But we absolutely have to remember that we all have something unique and “great” to offer, and that we will have many opportunities during the course of our lives to use our gifts to positively impact others.

I guess that’s my way of looking at faith during the job search. In a way it’s what keeps me going, because I’m not just looking for money to buy a house. I hope that will come, but ultimately I care more about what I can offer to the world, and having the chance to shine.

Options

I spoke with a friend this week who compared our lives to floating down a river in a canoe. We can steer and control our direction to some extent, but ultimately the current will take us where we are supposed to go.

During a job search, we might tend to feel as though we are a bit helpless, that sometimes we paddle feverishly in the direction of a terrific opportunity, only to find that the current moves us away from it. And we might tend to feel also that we are dependent on the current to allow us to eventually close in on one of those big breaks.

During these tough times when so many find themselves in a similar position, it’s important to keep steering toward those opportunities, no matter how many times the current pulls us away. Of course it’s going to get discouraging  after a while. What if it seems like we will never be able to grasp what we are looking for? We will, but what about in the meantime?

These are the anxious times, when we feel dependent on getting that big break, and we are giving it all we can and coming up empty. Since we don’t know when it will happen, we are forced to look at all of our options. As overwhelming as this can be, it’s a necessity, because we have to keep moving forward, and it’s impossible to know when the right opportunity will come.

Graduate school is one of those options for many of us. We have to consider the benefits and the costs, and try to determine the probability that it’s going to lead to an opportunity. What about going out and working whatever job we can find, making connections with people and networking to the best of our ability? That is certainly one way to go. Perhaps some aspire to start their own business. Or just waiting it out and continuing to push for those chances when we see them, having faith that eventually we’ll grab onto one? Maybe that’s fine too.

People will confront this in their own ways and that’s the way it should be. There are going to be risks and downsides to all of these options–moving to a new place without a job, or taking out loans to pay for school, for example. That’s why it seems that we are dependent on a company to give us a chance and seemingly eliminate these risks.

Ultimately, the current is going to allow us to grab one of the opportunities we’ve been seeking.  However, it could be what we do in the meantime that allows us to move closer to what we are looking for, or takes us in a completely different direction than we could have ever imagined.

Family

One of the nice things about coming home to focus on my job search has been spending time with my family.

My parents have always been amazingly supportive. They have given me the resources to help me reach my potential. They have supported me even when I made decisions that they did not understand, such as moving to Seattle without a traditional motive, and then deciding to commit to 10 months of volunteer work in England.  Some would say that they had a right to be confused, and regardless, they were there to stand behind whatever decisions I made.

When I was younger, I had to go through a period of separation from my family in order to gain a sense of independence as a young adult. Now that I’m slightly older, it is surprisingly affective to spend time in the place where I grew up with the people who raised me. I appreciate the fact that I am now able to act the same way toward my parents that I do toward my friends. My parents are going to treat me like a much younger person at times because that’s what parents do, and I have accepted that.

My grandmother is visiting from Florida. She is 89 years old and helped to raise me. She is still fairly lucid and I had a nice conversation with her this afternoon. I told her that I planned to have my wisdom teeth removed, and she told me about the time she had hers removed in 1954. She doesn’t remember some things, but she remembers details that you wouldn’t expect her to remember, and it’s fascinating. She is a sweet woman and I’m fairly sure that I get my sensitive, reflective and thoughtful nature from her lineage.

Spending time back at home is one of the big pluses of the job search. It can indeed be rewarding to look back at where you came from. It can give you a better sense for how far you have come, and sometimes even where you want to go.

Self Improvement and the Waiting Game

The waiting game. Anxiety. I have been told that the average time it takes to find a job is 6-8 months.

I’ve grown over the past 6 months in ways that I can’t always express in a phone interview. Toward the end of last week in Boston, I began to tell people at hiring interviews that I was “really starting to have fun with this.” Although that could be interpreted sarcastically, I meant it 100 percent.

I used to be the kid that had trouble going to parties, that was shy when meeting people, that had difficulty “putting myself out there.” Sure, it’s a process and I’m not “cured” as of yet. But this extended search has given me the chance to put that mindset behind me. I have to be grateful for that. It was nice when I stopped being apprehensive about interviews and started to approach them as conversations, as meeting different kinds of people, as an adventure, etc.

What helped me to have this attitude is actually that I haven’t yet received an offer. I cut down on the self-criticism and stopped expecting results. I realized to not take this lack of offers personally, as I continued to hear again and again:

“We aren’t hiring right now, but that could change at any moment.”

As I began to stop viewing my job search as a failure because I wasn’t getting the desired result, I have been able to loosen up and enjoy the process of meeting with people. Everyone is different. Everyone has a story. Many of the people I talk to have been in my position before, and want to help.

I’m lucky to be in the position to look for a job in the way that I am. Sure, I’m on pins and needles waiting for potential offers from a few companies, but my anxiety is tempered because if there is no offer, there’s more travel, more cities, more interviews, more adventure, more growth. Either way I’ll be fine.

Boston 2011

I just returned from a memorable trip to Boston on Friday night. First off, I want to thank Brian Heffron at Conover Tuttle Pace for recommending that I start a blog.

After 2 years of living and working in Washington, DC, I have been taking an aggressive approach to my job search in the public relations and communications field for the past 6 months. The purpose of this blog will be to document my experiences and thoughts as I continue to go through this formative time in my life.

Beginning in December 2010, I have networked and interviewed with many public relations and strategic communications firms by traveling to New York, Boston, and Chicago. Pending the selection of candidates for various jobs for which I am currently being considered, I also plan to travel to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Denver, and possibly Seattle and Portland, OR.

I am currently open to full-time permanent positions at communications agencies and in-house corporate communications roles in any industry. Though I have multiple internship experiences under my belt and am ready for the next step in my career, the current state of the job market has made it advisable for me to be open to paid internships of at least 6 months, with at least a reasonable possibility of transitioning to a permanent role.

My current plan is to continue to reach out to companies in the cities I mentioned, travel and meet with contacts and explore job prospects until I receive an offer or until the end of the year. If at that point I am still unemployed, I will then likely move to Boston, where I have been accepted into the Master of Science in Corporate in Organizational Communication program at Northeastern University. The program is highly respected, very flexible, and offers paid Co-ops during the second year of study. My reasoning is this: that I have done almost everything reasonably possible to find work during the past 6 months (keeping in mind that I am not a robot), and that, if I continue doing what I’ve been doing for another 6 months, well… if you do your best, that is all you can do.

Boston is a terrific city. Criticized by some as small, I don’t see that as a negative, though I suppose it depends on personal preference. The mix of modern skyscrapers, historic gems, and cryptically organized streets gives the city a definite European appeal. Don’t get me wrong–this is a 100 percent American city. Perhaps it’s the original American city, or it just seems so because its history is so well-preserved, from Boston Common to Fenway Park.

Before the week of June 6, 2011, I had never spent more than one day in Boston. My most vivid memory until last week was my visit to Fenway 6 years ago to watch my beloved Cincinnati Reds get devoured by the defending World Series Champions in a rematch of the ’75 Series. That being said, my view of Boston was fuzzy until I had the chance to spend a week meeting with some of the people who define the city.

My direct approach of researching companies via Linked in, contacting select executives and/or HR managers at each company and asking for 20 minutes of their time has resulted in more informational meetings and interviews than I could have anticipated. And during the process of finding the right fit at the right time, I have had many interesting conversations. Of the first 5 trips I have taken, the conversations I had in Boston stood out. I never quite knew what to expect going into a meeting. I sometimes felt off-balance but never bored. One moment I was flattered, the next I braced myself for some constructive criticism. As one Senior VP put it, “We’re a mixed breed.”

Having  multiple interviews per day is a roller coaster ride, especially for an emotional, sensitive, creative person like myself. I believe the growth I’ve experienced over the past months was summed up by last week, in which I had to keep going if I felt downtrodden, and tried not to let myself get smug and overconfident if things were going well.

While I am hopeful about receiving an offer in the next couple of weeks, I know that the experience I’ve picked up in the past 6 months is going to give me a better chance going forward. Plus, I don’t believe this ride I’m on is all about results. It’s about going through the ups and downs and growing as a person. Eventually the right position will come up, and I’ll be more prepared as a result of what I’ve done. I’m grateful to have the resources to take these fantastic networking trips. In future posts, I’ll do some thinking out loud, describe my exciting new position, or detail my preparations for my trip to Minneapolis.

Thank you for reading!

Lee