Senior Year’s Final: Job Search
Probably the most stressful part of your senior year of college is finding a job. There are plenty of resources on campus (especially on the Boston University campus) to help with the search, but who has time to make an appointment?
I have only begun my search. I have used the websites listed on Career Services’ website, however, I am lost.
Every company uses a different title for its Public Relations professional. Obtaining the full breadth of job opportunities on job search websites is quite impossible (at least how I am finding it). Plus, most of the positions are not entry level; this makes finding the right job for me nearly impossible.
To avoid this dilemma, my friend decided to apply for internships instead of jobs. She hopes to obtain a job that way. I have to hand it to her, I think that is a smart plan and hopefully it pays off for her in the end. However, I need a salary. With student loans on the horizon, I will not survive life without a salary (unless I go home). That is NOT an option. I only want to move forward, not backwards.
The culmination of rent, bills, student loans and living expense has me wishing I were a junior. Is the real world really this hard? The fantasy world of fun (also known as college) has kept me oblivious to how the real world actually pans out. Looks like it will be a challenge. Hopefully I can conquer.
The two hardest parts about applying to job are writing the individualized cover letter and choosing what cities to apply within. Although I know creating a new cover letter for every position will positively help me in the end, it is time consuming. A lot of research must go into the writing the letter. Especially since my goal is to apply for 80 positions, I will spend most of time writing cover letters.
However, I believe choosing a place to live is more of a challenge than writing cover letters. Should I apply to many jobs in a few places? Only apply for one city? Or apply to any job that I am qualified for? These are hard questions. I think I want to apply to Boston, NYC and LA. But, I am open to any place that will hire me.
During the next few months, I will experience plenty of stress. I hope that all my networking will pay off. Apparently, 70% of job positions are obtained through networking. Crossing fingers.
Let me know if you have any advice and what you are doing on your job search. I would love to hear it.
