As the world chimes in with the year 2024, I was faced with the excitement of starting my final semester of university, but also the daunting task of securing my first full-time job post-graduation. As a public relations communications major, I knew the industry was saturated and competitive and I needed to stand out to secure a job.
For months, I’ve been watching the economic woes, with a steady stream of headlines announcing rising inflation and companies. dismiss Hundreds of thousands of workers. I was stunned to see TikTok videos of 2022 and 2023 graduates who had submitted thousands of applications and still had no job offers.
So at the beginning of January, I rolled up my sleeves, spruced up my resume, and began what I expected to be a long and eventful journey to securing a graduate position. Three months later, 450 applications later, I received an offer.
I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones, but it was still an exhaustive process. I would like to share what I have learned and tips I have tried for anyone who is going through that process or who is about to go through that process.
You should gain non-academic experience long before you graduate. In fact, candidates with internship or extracurricular experience will stand out, especially in saturated industries like marketing and communications. I joined the Suffolk Journal at the beginning of his freshman year and wrote articles frequently. This allowed me to learn journalistic writing styles and build a portfolio of writing samples.
Throughout my internship search and graduate school job search, I was frequently asked to write samples. All past internships and current job openings I’ve had have asked for writing samples, and I’ve sent staff profiles from journals. This is not a shameless invitation to join The Journal, but an easy way to build a portfolio of quality writing samples that will help you jump-start your professional career by participating in extracurricular activities like The Journal. The emphasis is on what is possible.
Regarding internships, I had two internships in the summer and two during the academic year during my four years of university. They not only helped me find out what kind of roles I like and what kind of roles I don’t like, but also provided me with valuable experience that I can refer to during job interviews. . It proved that I can successfully apply my skills in a professional environment.
Once you begin the application process, create a spreadsheet to track the roles you’ve applied for and keep your searches consistent. It’s unusual in marketing and communications to hire someone months before they start working, but you never know who will wait for your graduation date, so I started applying for him in January. . It’s also a good idea to check if you can get an interview. If you don’t get accepted, you may need to rework your resume. Additionally, we recommend that you attend as many interviews as possible to get used to them.
I applied for dozens of jobs every day. I set up LinkedIn job alerts for roles and keywords I was interested in and combed through them every night to see what I wanted to apply for. I applied for the position even though I was somewhat less qualified. We recommend that you do so. I interviewed for several roles that required her to have 1-2 years more experience than me.
I think the most important thing is to be realistic. Everyone wants to have a great job, but it’s unlikely that you’ll land your dream job right out of college. You often have to do several different jobs to get there. Everyone wants to work for a Fortune 500 company or a popular company, and these positions often receive hundreds of applications.
Still, I applied for jobs at these well-known companies, knowing that my chances of getting the role, or even getting an interview, were very slim. I’ve had much better luck with smaller, local businesses in Boston and Massachusetts.
As everyone expected, job hunting was very tiring. It’s not easy. There were days when I was so exhausted from school that the last thing I wanted to do was apply for the 20 jobs I had saved up for my girlfriend. Filling out applications with the same questions over and over again felt monotonous most days. And I sent out so many applications and never received a response or even a rejection.
But with persistence and strategy, it is possible. We understand how frustrating it can be, and we understand how it can feel hopeless when you’ve sent out hundreds of applications to no avail. Despite the challenges of my job search, I am thrilled with the role I have secured and can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life after university.
