While all our scholars are currently interning at various companies, many of them are beginning to look for full time positions to acquire after graduation. “I just graduated from college and am beginning to look for jobs,” one scholar said. “How did each of you find your first job?”Meghan responded with her personal career story, emphasizing the importance of continuous networking. “You never know who you are going to run into. Networking really is a round the clock job, and the person you need to meet for the next step in your career could be anywhere.” Meghan opened up about the uncertainty she felt upon graduation. “When I graduated, I didn’t have a job secured as yet,” she shared. “The day after my commencement at a graduation party, I met a woman who worked at Goldman Sachs. From speaking with her, I was able to get an interview with Goldman Sachs the next week and from there, accepted a job. This job wasn’t what I studied for and was not what I had set out looking for, but it was a great learning experience and jumping off point for my career.” Each person’s job search experience is different, so it is important to keep all your career search tools in mint condition. Shota spoke about how his LinkedIn profile helped get him his post-grad position. “I reached out to everyone and anyone I could get in contact with,” he said. “However, the first company I started working for actually reached out to me through LinkedIn. The stronger your LinkedIn profile is, and the more keywords you utilize on your page, the higher your chances are of being contacted by a recruiter. Recruiters actually use LinkedIn as a serious hiring tool. You should also always ask people for their business card after meeting them. You never know the next time you might be in need of a job, so it is a good practice to stay in contact with people who may be able to help you out in the future.”
“Speaking of first jobs,” another scholar chimed in, “I’ve heard a lot of people express fear about taking jobs that aren’t really in the direction they wanted to head with their career path, but are the jobs that they could get at that moment in time. Do you have any advice about how to approach working in jobs you are not entirely certain about?” Marlena shared a personal anecdote about her time with Macy’s in response. “It really depends on the job itself and what you ultimately want to do with your career,” she said. “You have to stay true to yourself. The way that I got my job was through college recruiting. When I got to Macy’s, I never expected to stay here for five years. I thought I would feel it out and switch companies after some time. Once I started however, I was able to find a number of different opportunities within the company that have kept things very interesting. I’ve actually had about seven jobs within Macy’s. Sometimes those placements weren’t exactly what I wanted – some were roles I specifically said I didn’t want. Nevertheless, after accepting the positions, many of them turned out to be great fits for me and valuable learning experiences even though they were never roles I initially thought I would be going after. Going into a job with a one-track mind can hurt you in the long run. Being inflexible can prevent you from being able to discover new areas of the industry you never knew you could be interested in. In the end, some jobs end up surprising you. You might surprise yourself with what you love. Don’t be afraid of taking jobs you are apprehensive about. This too shall pass. You are just starting out; spending a year or two in a role just to learn is okay. Use it as a jumping off point for the rest of your career.”
Internships are a remarkable learning tool for our scholars, and reflecting on past experiences in these positions can help shape career paths down the road. One scholar asked our alumni panel to discuss some of their personal likes and dislikes regarding their previous internship positions. “I always really wanted to go into fashion,” Meghan said. “I studied fashion merchandising in college and was set on going into buying. I worked at LeSportSac with their buying team and loved it. I was able to be hands on and get deeply involved in the process. However, I also learned that buying was not for me. My direct supervisor taught me so much, and is still one of my mentors to this day. I wrote down everything that I learned while there, and used it to help me with school projects, and with life. I would advise you to write everything down and ask every question that comes to mind.” Shota went on to add some of the lessons he gleaned from his internship experiences. “You should remember that you are not necessarily married to a specific internship position,” he advised. “I started working at a company that ran hospitals for my first internship. While I knew I didn’t want to stay within that industry, I took the job because it was there, and ended up actually thoroughly enjoying it. Internships are for getting experience. No one is going to think that you are only good at working in one industry because you were employed there for eight weeks one summer. Recruiters look for potential. If your past employers feel you to have been a great worker and recommend you, you have the potential to work anywhere. For this reason, never burn any bridges. You never know whose help you are going to need, or what other areas people are involved in. Never burn bridges.”
Making the leap from student to employee can be a rather stressful endeavor. Discovering how to navigate this new world of work is a challenge. “How do you balance excelling in your work with maintaining your personal wellbeing?” a scholar asked. “Give yourself downtime. You are all very hard working and shouldn’t slack off, but you deserve downtime,” Shota replied. “You have to be able to process all of your work and the things happening in your life. If you’re not happy, that means something needs to change. If you’ve been unhappy at a job for a long time, it might be time to look for a different place of work. Work, life – it all goes together. You have to find a balance,” he explained. “You have to ask yourself ‘why’,” Marlena added. “Why do I like this? Why do I want to be doing this? Be extremely honest with yourself. If the answer to your ‘why’ is that you think this is what people expect of you, or because you are looking for status, and not because you wake up so motivated to do your work each day, it may be time for change,” she said honestly. “You have to be able to stop comparing yourself to others. If you are always comparing yourself to other people, you will never be happy. You are all obviously very talented- that is why you’re here. What is important is to not let what others are doing make you feel as though you have to follow the exact same route in your career path. The pressure to preform well will never go away, but the way you fight that off is by continually asking yourself what makes you happy and what goals you have for yourself.”
Alumni’s Words of Wisdom:
Networking is a round the clock job, and the person you need to meet for the next step in your career could be anywhere.
Stay true to yourself.
You might surprise yourself with what you love.
Never burn any bridges.
If you really love what you are doing, it won’t feel like work.
Work, life – it all goes together. You have to find a balance.