I thought I'd start off, as most blogs do, and give you a little background information as to who I am. My name is Liz and I am currently a senior at the University of Dayton, located in Dayton, Ohio. I'm majoring in Communication with an emphasis on Public Relations. The dreadful/happy day I will graduate will be May 5, 2013. As of right now I am still in pursuit of a job and/or internship following graduation.
Finding a job right after graduation was not my initial plan at all. I wanted to join a volunteer organization and travel across the country (preferably to Alaska) and put off real life for another year or two (who could blame me?). Then reality hit me over winter break that I really do want to have a job and start my life after graduation. I'm tired of waiting.
My sister is getting married this coming November (yay!), which was also another deciding factor in getting a job over volunteering. I wanted to finally be close to home while everything was going on since I've been about 7 hours away for the past four years. Because my sister is getting married in New York City I thought, "wouldn't it be nice to find a job a NYC? I can totally find a job in NYC."
Mistake #1: Thinking I could easily find a job in NYC.
As many of you already know NYC is a tough city to break into, especially in the field of PR. Not only are internships basically considered entry-level jobs for PR but they're also really really difficult to get in NYC when you go to a kind of small Midwest Catholic school. People looking at my resume are probably just laughing at this small town girl looking to get into the big city (I pictured that phrase with a bit of a hick accent). Don't get me wrong, I love my school, but East Coast people despise the Midwest. Even through all of that though I decided to just try to apply to internships in NYC instead of jobs.
Mistake #2: Thinking I could easily find a full-time paid internship in NYC for graduated students.
Have you ever tried looking through internship descriptions as someone graduating in May? It's depressing. No one wants to pay you. They just want to give you school credit and send you on your way. Granted, it narrows down where I'm applying to a lot but if they don't specify that in the description you end up with a lot of rejection letters.
Through all of this though I am really improving my cover letter writing as well as my professional email writing skills (always have to look on the bright side, right?). I know I'll eventually find something whether it's in NYC, New Jersey or even Pennsylvania (but definitely not Ohio, sorry Midwest but I need to get out of here).
This blog will be about my journey of applications, rejection letters, graduation, moving out of college and starting my life as a real person. Along the way I'll be posting all of the advice I receive from various sources (everyone has an opinion) so for those of you also looking for a job or internship hopefully this blog can be of some help to you!
xxLiz
