A New Deadline

So with this new opportunity, I believe there must now be a deadline associated with this blog. A requirement, per say. Not just about finding a job, but my own experiences as well as friends and people I have contacted who know more about finding this job after college. So the requirement I'm setting for myself is to have 1 blog post a day from now until I feel the cup is full.

First off, I'll tell you how I came to get this opportunity with the paper. I decided to follow the advice of a career counselor I've been seeing by getting a bunch of periodicals, newspapers, and magazines and making a list of people to contact from these publications. Mostly editors, publishers, associate editors, writers, etc. were the people I contacted through phone and email. I just asked them whatever advice and/or recommendation they could give someone like me in order to break into the industry. And they responded.

I've gotten emails, people calling me, all asking what I'm looking for, what I want to do, what I can be doing, etc. and from this day I'm grateful that I had such a good response to the first flow of emails I sent out there. So now I'm collaborating and working with those people who did contact me to say they may have an opportunity for me to build some experience in journalism. For that, I'm extremely grateful.

So how this opportunity with the paper came with me following up with the editors of the papers from my local community. The papers are owned by Appen Newspapers, Inc. and their papers cover Forsyth County,  Roswell-Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and Milton. The editor who contacted me was from the Forsyth Herald. So now I'm writing articles for the editor of that paper - the Forsyth Herald. And I know I'm going to learn a great many things from this.

So for those of you who are doing what you can to get yourself out there - applying for jobs, going online to research, set up profiles, etc. there's one tip of advice I can give you after doing all this. Start calling and emailing them! Ask for their advice about what you can be doing to get into the industry you want to work for - and keep at it! Persistence is a huge factor to let people know you're serious about finding your profession in the field you want to work in. And keep up to date with those people you contacted from that list. Keep a record of people - and prioritize who's who.

I'll be seeing you tomorrow - whoever you are reading this.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY!

I am now on the threshold of a NEW OPPORTUNITY! After following up with an editor from a local newspaper - I am now officially going to start writing stories for a paper! Yay! Jump for joy! Get Excited! For now, I'm receiving assignments from the editor of the Forsyth Herald newspaper - and I'll get my own byline and published in the paper! I'm not usually one to brag, but I just couldn't resist sharing that bit of information! How thrilling is it to find out you're going to be published?

So now I've finished my first story - which I admit wasn't my best, but I know in time my skill will get better and better. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

Gosh is this a wonderful thing! Finally for the first time after leaving college in May 2010, I'm back in the thing I love doing: writing. Reporting is a fun thing too - work, but work I enjoy doing. Setting up interviews, asking questions, getting some research, grabbing my beverage from Starbucks, and sitting down at my desk to write the story. I love doing that.

This is going to help me get my foot in the door. For some decent advice I can give you all out there - take baby steps, and work your way up! That's what I'm doing! :)

My experience thus far

Well putting together the articles is going to take some time obviously. But while we're on the topic of finding a job, I've decided to share with you some of my own experiences in finding a job.

I'll admit - finding a job is not easy. Its actually a full-time job if you think about it in order to land that job that you actually want. It takes time, research, prowling on the internet for people, job descriptions, locations, salaries, all that goes into it, and at times, it can get to be - for lack of a better word - exhausting.

So here's what I've come up with after spending some "me" work, and of course what may work for me may not be the case for everyone else out there. But if you're trying to find you're way, might be in your best interest to see how someone else does it, and then try creating your own.

It's a schedule I've come up with, and I'm going to be dedicating at least a minimum of 40 hours a week on finding the job, so here it is:

1. Get up by 6 a.m.
2. Get yourself a healthy breakfast and shower
3. Go to your work desk by 7 a.m. and be ready to take on the day as if you were there at your job for the first time after receiving your degree from college
4. Check up on your Follow-Up list - who are the people you meant to call back, email back, or meet face-to-face for an upcoming interview? Make sure you have a list of these people, and a follow-up method of contact. Example: I called a Tammie Brooks, who was an editor of a magazine, to tell her who I was and that I was looking for a job in journalism. She asked that I send a resume so she can give it to the right people, and I did. The follow-up I made was the next day to make sure that she had gotten my resume. It's very important to make a follow-up to the people you actually spoke with when you were making your calls or emails the week or day before. Make priorities if necessary.
5. After your follow-ups are finished, start scoping the web and broadening the search you had originally started in the first place. Example: if your search like mine was just focused on magazines in Atlanta, expand it by searching magazines in Georgia - or if you'd consider relocating, search other states too to find out what they've got.
6. Draft a list of the search you've come up with, then find the contacts. Granted, finding the contacts can be the tricky part, but just typing in the magazine or place you want to work will only get you half-way. Conduct your research by finding people's names, emails, numbers, etc. on the web by finding out who's who in their organization.
7. Find their method of communication. That's right - stalk. It doesn't matter whether if they know you or not, you've got to get that job remember? The job priority is the most important. One person is one stepping stone to your climb up the ladder. One of the best ways I got people's names and emails is by just getting a bunch of free periodicals from Borders and writing down the names of the editors and writers within that magazine. If they didn't give an email address or nothing in the magazine, I went home and plugged their name into Google. And it worked.
8. Now here's where etiquette comes into play. Let the person know, in your best discreet manner, that you had found their name when you were researching, picked up an article, or however way you got a hold of their name. Tell them who you are and why you're emailing them - to find a job, internship, or to receive any kind of advice or recommendation from them about how to go about finding a job in your field. Remember - they've had experience longer than you, so let their influence do the trick.
9. Okay, so you've made some calls, done some emails, now it's time for a break. If you've either reached 10 or 11 a.m. without stopping, you are on a roll! Take your lunch break when you know it's time to eat. Don't make the mistake to work through lunch - otherwise you'll be cranky that you haven't had something to eat.
10. In my opinion, it's important to always have your email inbox open on 1 tab during your research. I employ tabs just so I can know what's going on in the different tabs I have up. Your email should be your 1st tab - that way in case you get a response from your first email, you can immediately read it and get back to them.
11. So you're back from break, now it's time to keep doing what you're doing, but again make sure you are EXPANDING your search by checking out new places to work, what their about, who their people are, etc.
12. Dedicate the rest of your day until 3 p.m. to finding that information about the jobs you want to pursue. Contacting people, sending emails, keeping follow-ups with the people that respond is very crucial and beneficial to finding that right job for you.

All in all, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. If in your first week you dedicated 40 hours, think about what you can do the next week or following week after that. Research and soak up as much information as you can...people will take notice that you're putting yourself out there to get a job.

Mr. Kenneth Little

Well its been awhile since the last post, but with weather conditions and holiday jostling, its been hard to just find a time to really sit down and write without being preoccupied. But the snow is melting, the sun is out today, and I'm sipping my caramel brulee in my favorite Starbucks in town. So it's time to write.

This morning I had an interview with a man by the name of Kenneth Little - who is an assistant director for the undergrad and graduate Co-op Program at Georgia Tech. He has been there for almost 20 years now, and sets up undergrad and grad students with an internship or part-time job for 1 whole semester. He helps place the students in professional jobs, in other words. And all of them, these internships or jobs they take to get experience in happen prior to graduation.

He also talked about Georgia Tech having the largest co-op program in the United States, which is an advantage when you conisder how many students graduating with either bachelor's or master's degrees will have jobs when they graduate. These internships help a student decide and get a feel for the field they want to work in.

The advantage lies with the employer as well. They have a student for a semester, and if things prove successful for both the student and employer, they can be hired or brought on full-time after graduation. If not, they can have another student sent in to see if their a fit.

Students can see the future with this training program too - if it works for them, great, they know what they want to do. If not, try something else. The other thing he said is that students who have experience in the field to which they want to work in is that they will be far more attractive to the employer that is seeking that fresh new college graduate.

The unemployment situation in the country is not really a problem, he also mentioned. It's usually dependent on the student and finding that niche that they want to do, and if their aren't many jobs in their field, students will bide their time, he said, to get prepared for their career path. In other words, more specified training can come in handy when you're applying for that long-term career.

Kenneth said they hold workshops about jobs and what students should be doing for the interview process and applying for jobs. That includes: research, interviewing, resumes, cover letters, etc. There is no good or bad employer, he said, because the company that might work for Bob might not necessarily be the right fit for Dave. As a student, you have to learn how to thoroughly research the company you're interviewing at, and he's right.

Interestingly, to mimic a similar quote to the other interview I had with Emily Bennington, Kenneth Little had said it is important to know the culture of the environment you are going to work in. Emily said you have to make sure you are a cultural fit within the organization. Culture of the Organization is a BIG FACTOR upon deciding if you're going to work there or not.

So, that leads me to the obvious Question: How do you seek out the culture of the organization?

I could go all day thinking up answers for that puzzle, but I won't do that just yet. Let's get back to what I was saying here.

An internship, Kenneth says, is probably the most important thing a grad could do to build that strong sense of the organization he or she is working for. You "absorb" as much information as you can when you're in there. You will get a better understanding of what types of jobs are there, and what it will be like. A lot goes into an internship, not just for you, but for the future you - the person you'll step into.

Well, that's what I have for now, the article will be up soon.