Author: Alyssa Newman
I know from first hand experience that today’s job market is the one the most down right frustrating things to learn how to conquer, and sometimes it can be a harsh reality check. As a twenty something you go from this amazing college bubble that you’ve lived in for the past four years, and all of sudden someone pops it, tells you it’s time to graduate, and time to learn how to become an adult, it’s downright scary!
When they say that the Public Relations field is a hard one to get your foot into, they aren’t lying. I graduated from college last May with a degree in public relations, and have been looking for a career for about seven months… after taking the summer off to delay being an adult for a little bit longer. Being a broke recent college graduate with student loans to pay off, and a little bit of shopping problem, I realized I needed something to pay the bills. I ended up landing a part-time “paid” internship at a small agency outside of Philadelphia, and decided to ask for my college nanny job back for the other half of the week.
After getting over the fact that I was still going to get paid a little over minimum wage while having a college degree, I realized that taking another internship after college was a good idea. While in college the only PR experience I received was working for a National Hockey league team. Being the huge sports buff that I am, I loved my internship, and can honestly say I didn’t even care that I was working for free. So I stayed at that internship for about a year. The only problem with this is that when I graduated college last May the only PR experience I had was working for a hockey team… and right now the only sports jobs that are being offered are in sales, and that’s not something I can see myself doing.
I never expected to be an intern out of college with a degree, but it turned out to be a great experience. I learned that I enjoyed working in an agency setting and working on something new every day was exciting to me. I learned that working with consumer and lifestyle clients excited me, while working with technology and healthcare clients put me to sleep. I finished my internship at the beginning of March and can say I ended up loving every second of my internship because it painted a clear picture in my head of what I want to do with my life, and any twenty something knows a little clarity these days is something hard to come by.
As far as my nanny job, it’s a great way to make some extra cash. It’s not the best-case scenario, but its actually good money for the time being, and when I was in college it was a great way to pay for my college lifestyle. I also know that if I ever need to fall back on something, people are always going to need a nanny or a babysitter.
So where am I now in my job search? I’ve had some great opportunities recently such as getting the opportunity to intern at NYFW for a few shows, and have had some great freelance opportunities. I’ve realized two things: I would love to work in the fashion industry and I would love to live in New York City. So those are the two things I’m focusing on now… I’ve even had a few interviews recently in NYC, so fingers crossed!
My words of advice to college seniors: Try to get all the experience you can get. If you know what you want to do with your life – that’s great, but if you’re still unsure what you want to do than try out new things. You never know where life may take you! Secondly don’t ever think that you’re too good for a job… This economy isn’t great, so if you get offered a half decent job – even if it isn’t what you want to do – take it because you’re going to be broke coming out of college. Lastly remember everyone starts on the bottom, so if you have to be an intern out of college, be the best intern you can be, because people are always watching you even if you don’t think they are. If it takes a while for to find a job, just remember – it’ll happen eventually… some fields are just much harder to find jobs in.
