It was the worst of times, it was the best of times in these cities to which we, Gen-Y, are living and notes on The Alchemist later, this Gen-Y was hired. 
If I could write a letter to me… I would tell me what I’m going to tell you …
If you’ve been following me on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn — you’ve noticed something drastic and something just looks different…
You could probably figure out who I work for without any question if you didn’t try hard enough … but for obvious reasons stated in the About & Disclosure of the Little Pink Book, that name shall never be mentioned in association with me on this website. So now that {Confessions of a PRetty Social Girl} is coming to the end of a new beginning, let me impart some recent wisdom upon you my fellow Gen-Y on the job hunt who are considering relocation, new fields etc:-
- … it happens quick.
- … it happens when you least expect it.
- … no matter how bad you want it, no matter how prepared you think you are, no matter what you think — nothing works out exactly the same way you pictured it in your head.
- … the lessons of the past will play into your future, if you learned them properly.
“If life gives you
limes & some salt,
make margaritas
that sparkle.”
- ME ♥
Let’s see…
Day 1: …cried.
Day 2: …was frustrated.
Day 3: …wanted to strangle someone, something or stab with stiletto.
Day 4: …put in an application to apartment, mulling and second-guessing the meaning of life over pizza.
Day 5: …became apathetic and got angry with stupid man at Bloomingdales who couldn’t help with black Uggs.
Day 6: …got lease.
Day 7: …signed lease.
Day 8: …the excitement finally took root inside of me.
Day 9: …job started, lots of information, lots of people and sushi.
…
Day 10: … it rained ice chips.
Day 14: … the SNOWpocalypse came down from the sky and it looked like a snow globe all around me. So pretty…but it’s the slushing from the sky and on the ground I could do without.
So you want to relocate
for a job?
Are you sure? No, really are you sure? Like abso-freakin-lutely sure?
Then let’s talk.
Where do you want to work? Think hard about it. Sure I know people are always saying all you need is a foot in the door, but that’s a load of garbage if you ask me. If you’re relocating, you better be applying to places you want to be. You are lifting up your entire life from it’s roots to go there, so you better as hell want to work for them.
I put in applications for five solid months to cities I wanted to work in and no one ever got back to me.
Heck, folks I was in Business Week for crying out loud! One would think or at least hope a few people would come my way banging down my door.
I read Heather Huhman’s e-book Relocating for an Entry-Level Job, even though I’m not at an entry-level. The beauty about this book is that it doesn’t matter what level you are, the same information applies to individuals relocating in general…period.
Around mid-October 2009, the second month that I was aggressively searching, my cousin Billy suggested to me, that I take a trip for 2-3 weeks to the city I wanted to work in (in my specific case, this would have been New York City, NY or Orlando, Fla.,) and line up job interviews by telling the potential future employers that I was already in town should they wish to interview me.
I’ll be honest — I didn’t take him up on his advice until January of 2010:-
- One week = 5 working days
- 6 interviews (including 2 ‘exploratory’/'informational’ ones)
- As many applications as I thought I qualified for, I sent out there
- Reached out to my network in New York City as well as my home network in Miami
- Asked for contact information to introduce to myself to others. (***NOTE: Sometimes, people don’t feel comfortable referring you to someone if they don’t know you very, very well. So make life easy on them and grow a pair — ask them for the contact information of the person and introduce yourself.***)
- Did lunch dates
- Had extra custom-made business cards (***NOTE: This means a personal business card that represents YOU, not a company or associated with one.***) with me at all times
- Toted extra résumés everywhere I went
- I didn’t wear jeans or Uggs for 5 days in rainy, cold weather … it was dress pants, good shoes and cute sweaters — aka — I was dressed for potential employers every. single. day.
- … I was on a mission to get a job. That was my focus. The one ‘fun’ thing I did in my week of job hunting was go to the MoMA to see the Tim Burton exhibit. All my energy and focus otherwise was all business.
One week, to the day I was interviewed later, I was offered a job.
Should you change
career paths?
I was thinking about it. Maybe, public relations just wasn’t for me. Then, again, my ever so wise, cousin Billy told me, your degree doesn’t dictate your future, don’t limit yourself by it creating a box around yourself.
He was right.
I’m a girl who has a BSc in Public Relations with a concentration in International Communication and a minor in Dance as well as a Master of Arts in International Administration with a concentration in International Communication, who ended up working for a well-known public relations agency inside of their digital advertising division (which happens to be a sort of separate company.)
*whew!*
In other words, I’m a public relations graduate working in advertising doing bits of social media etc.
Get it?
Keep your ears and mind open.
The possibilities are out there, you just need to stay focused and aim for what you want in the future, rather than the present.
If you aim for the future, the present will follow suit.
Take Jennifer Nettles’
advice,
“I Ain’t Settlin’!”
I did it too. I took other jobs along the way just to get by. Believe me, I get it. I too, have the crazy amount of student loans on my name. Let’s face it, one degree, let alone two degrees, aren’t cheap.
But for the love of all that is holy, spiritual and Time Lord Victorious in this world, do not settle.
My daddy always told me, keep the main thing, the main thing.
He was right. Take his advice.
Take the jobs that suck; the ones that make you cringe for many reasons. You need them to get by. But that’s all you need them for: to get by.
Don’t put yourself in harms way and leave if you must. Take it from my personal experience, your mental health, physical health and all-around health are exceptionally important.
Keep applying yourself to what you really want to do along the way.
That’s your focus; that’s your goal; that’s what you are meant to do.
Nothing can stop you, but yourself.
If you believe you can do it, you will. Period.
Do. not. settle.
Short + Simple + Sweet
=
You CV/Résumé
& Cover Letter
Never do
this.
Never. Ever. Ever…Ever.
However, do, do this. One of best pieces of advice I read on how to write a proper cover letter was from the Harvard Business Review. It was an article published in early 2009 by a man named David Silverman called “The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received:-”
To illustrate, here’s the best cover letter I ever received:
Dear David: I am writing in response to the opening for xxxx, which I believe may report to you.
I can offer you seven years of experience managing communications for top-tier xxxx firms, excellent project-management skills, and a great eye for detail, all of which should make me an ideal candidate for this opening.
I have attached my résumé for your review and would welcome the chance to speak with you sometime.
Best regards,
Xxxx Xxxx
Here’s what I like about this cover letter: It’s short. It sums up the résumé as it relates to the job. It asks for the job.
I started following the advice and changed my original cover letters to suit. Believe it or not, it worked.
Here’s the thing, the potential employer may not know you. Actually, chances are the potential employer doesn’t know you at all and your cover letter is a way to get them to know you. It’s doable in this format. It’s totally doable in this format.
I altered the letter to suit and you should too.
Be concise and smart.
Leverage Social Media
It’s free, you can do it too.
Me?
- Personal Website.
- Blogged.
- Facebooked.
- Tweeted.
- Gave away Google Wave invites.
- Networked, communicated & engaged.
etc.
On that note, I leave you this with one piece of advice: God is great, beer is good, & people are crazy.
… and most of all, don’t forget to thank your references and those who helped you along the way
Be confident in
your abilities,
be cool, be smart,
*remember yourself*
&
don’t look back.
- You may also be interested in “How To Rent An Apartment in NYC.”
–
Sasha Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida with a minor in Dance (’07) and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami (’08). She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her @SashaHalima or get a copy of the ‘Little Pink Book’ delivered to your Kindle.
Copyright © 2009-2010 Sasha H. Muradali. All Rights Reserved.
