In the past couple of months, I have become a Career Services junkie. As far as I am concerned, Peg Brunelle is God. I have been endlessly attending Career Services boot camps, Career 101 talks, CV and cover letter writing workshops, and job-hunting sessions. Thanks to them, I now possess a handshake as firm as Donald Trump’s and one sexy CV (in the Desautels resume template of course). Yet, here I am, two months into my internship search, and nothing, nada, zilch.
A few weeks ago, I attended a session labeled “For anyone who does not have a summer job yet…” In seeing this, I almost peed my pants. This was me! I instantly canceled all of my plans for that night and made my way to Bronfman 151. There, I found myself sitting in a packed auditorium, so full that people were sitting on the ground.
Sitting there amongst the unemployed of Bronfman, I thought to myself, what is wrong with us? Sitting next to me were my fellow peers. They were the same people I saw burning their eyeballs out, staring at their Macs while ferociously editing their papers until 2 a.m., on the second floor of Bronfman. They were the same ones I networked with at cocktails while spending our weekends doing case cracks, the people who spoke four languages and regularly multitasked. Plus, I am sure there were a few from the Arts faculty, wondering why they weren’t in Management.
I still don’t have an internship for this summer. So, while I do value each career finding tip that Career Services have given me to be as good as the Ten Commandments, I have a few things I need to say to all my fellow job hunters.
Firstly, I think that we all need to get off of our high horses. They teach us in Frosh Week to yell, “Someday we will manage you.” At this rate, the only thing we are going to manage is our allowance (thanks Mom). You need to get down to your very root areas of expertise – be it communication, technology, or writing, and leverage those skills to your advantage. If anything, there is one thing that I have learned from all of the workshops I have been to: our skills are malleable.
So, while I am not a biblical prophet coming down from the employment gods to take you down a path of wealth and prosperity, I believe that by pursuing your passions – as an entry-level average Joe or future CEO, you will be happy. You have a greater chance at being successful, proving your skills, and developing yourself professionally if you are working in a position for which you have passion, interest, and engagement. While having the drive still might not get you hired, I would rather die trying while pursuing my passions.
Let me close by saying that finding a career, an internship, or just an entry-level job is not a passive activity. You can be like me and go to endless workshops, but this still will not get you anywhere beyond being employment ready. Now that you are ready, let the pursuit begin.
