I'm trying to get comfortable with this idea of not being good enough for a while. I'm trying to get into the job market, which is not quite the fun-filled adventure I might have hoped. As the issue is becoming more pressing (154 days and counting), it's time to get over my hang-ups and try a few things. The way I see it, I'll cut my teeth (and polish my resume) on some jobs I am hopeless for while I figure out what I really want to do. And why would I put myself through the ringer for this? Because I'm not sure what I think I want to do, and I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified for it anyway.
My first round of job searching is leading me to believe that I am going to need a lot of time to prepare myself and find the right opportunity. There are lots of jobs for Science Policy Directors or Managers of Policy, and a lot of them are in the WA DC (Virginia or Maryland) area. Jobs I can't get, and jobs I don't want. Wading through a LOT of those, I'll find the occasional job I think I could do, only to find I'm not qualified. Pouring over job listings seems like a good way to figure out what I want to do, although it is a bit disheartening. Fortunately I have many years of training in how to persevere. The thing to do seems to be get over the rejection, put myself out there a lot and use it as an opportunity to practice every step of the way- the cover letter, the resume, the interview... so that hopefully I can amass a lifetime of practice in time to land my dream job. You know, I'll be so glib and thoughtful, that the interviewers will overlook the fact that I have no relevant job experience, and totally give me a job they ordinarily reserve for someone with a masters in public policy, or at least a bachelors in political science.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I have to agree, trying to get a job right out of college sucks! I went through a TON of rejections too, and pretty much ALL of the jobs I applied to wanted 'experience'. My lessons learned: no one bothers with resumes over the internet, the only way I got call backs were from career fairs where you 'hand' the resume to the person, and when interviewing they were really impressed if you did some research on their company (say some random thing you know about them during the interview). Of course not sure if this applies to your field, but could.
Thanks, Jessie. I was debating whether to go to the Pitt career fair, but I think I should give it a shot- for practice at least.
Definitely Go! I was debating whether to go to a career fair in Detroit, but that one move changed my life forever. I got my job at Raytheon, met Noel, and started my Real Life. :)
Post a Comment