| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Beginner Issues > Topic: To All Recent Grads Looking For a Job |
Topic: To All Recent Grads Looking For a Job
| Author | Message |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/18/2007 9:55:58 PM | show profile | email poster I swear, its like the same person is starting all of these topics. By the way, I am a recent grad. A few pieces of advice: 1. Jobs at top places are usually found through a friend of a friend. If you would like, I have enabled my email..I am a recent grad with four internships, and currently have a job and some contacts. I'm not just giving them out to anyone though, but if you are truly at the end of your rope, give me a try. 2. If you are a minority of any sort...basically anything except white...you have a card to play, whether you're in high school, college, or graduated. You just haven't searched enough to find it. I've seen people do it in all three situations. 3. If you are offered two jobs, one of which is your dream job, take the dream job. 4. Listen to your grandparents more than your parents. This is a tough industry because an attempt at a revolution has not been made by your parents' generation. Your grandparents were responsible for the 60s. You should listen to your elders, but only the successful ones. We need to learn from them. 5. Don't listen to people who belittle you. They are jealous. Everyone wants to look young, and they resent people who do. They may not want to be young, because being young is actually hard. The funny thing is that they tell you that life should be hard. It is, but it shouldn't be as hard as it is. 6. A lot of people come out of school not knowing where to go or what to do. The average college student changes their major 3 times...and look at the threads full of 40+ people looking to change now. 7. Companies really want to hear a few things. I?ll tell you which questions my HR person at my current job asked me and exactly how I answered them (I remember because I rehearsed them for three years)?I?ll tell you what I can remember my interviews going like at my past internships. So, I think thats it. |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/18/2007 10:22:59 PM | show profile and to anyone who is 'older'...i am not responding to you in this thread if you are not what i consider civil, if your post is not relevant to this thread, or if you sound bitter. i am looking to help younger people. offer helpful advice, or move on to another thread. thank you. examples of violation of the aforementioned rules: point out my grammar/spelling.etc. mistakes while typing this thread. calling me 'kid', 'hun' honey', or anything else that would actually qualify you for a class action suit if companies defended young people as they did you. taking offense to anything that actually wasn't offensive. i know that this is subjective, but i have a feeling that those of you who do it will not know why i didn't respond to you. PS, all under 25-its better to email me than to respond to a post on this thread. these people (yeah, I said 'these people' just like 'these' people said they wouldn't hire anyone under 40) might have access to your resume, and know who you are. a few of them really will destroy you. watch out. |
| Jen480 | Posted – 12/18/2007 11:00:28 PM | show profile Your grandparents must be awfully young if they were teens in their 60s. That should put them in their 50s now. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 12/19/2007 1:00:47 PM | show profile Wow. There is so much about this post that is so funny I wouldn't know where to start. I am actually wiping little tears from my eyes ... laughing so hard .... thank you , thank you katestarr - you've made my morning. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 12/19/2007 1:40:05 PM | show profile I think wow says it all. Wow. If you're a reader of Carolyn Hax, you know what this means. |
| InternExtraordinaire | Posted – 12/19/2007 2:23:17 PM | show profile When I read posts like this, I get sick to my stomach. If you read the blogs, or peruse industry message boards, it's hard to avoid hearing about how young recent grads think they know it all and deserve the whole world at their feet. I'm a senior in college right now, and I feel like because of people like this, I need to work my ass off even more to prove that that's not the case. Sure, I want to be uber successful somewhere down the road... but that's a long way down the road, and I know that. How about some real advice? 1) If you're offered three jobs, none of which is your dream job, take one anyway... don't sit around waiting for the gig at Vogue or the PA job with Anderson 360. Take what you can get and make the most out of your experience... your first job is just that, your FIRST job, and half the time you're more likely to learn real skills that you can use later on so you don't screw up the higher profile job that you land next year. 2) Listen to your parents, unless of course, you're the product of a couple generations of teenage pregnancies, because then your grandparents would have been the ones listening to Dylan and Buffalo Springfield, smoking up in the back of a van... or marching on Washington, whichever was their fancy. Maybe both. But for most "recent grads," that was our parents... I know my grandparents are all dead... and as much as I loved my grandmothers, they'd want to make sure whatever position I was taking was something I could give up when it's time to raise my kids. My parents on the other hand are supportive of me and want me to follow my dreams (as cheesy as that may sound). And, while I'm at it, what does the 60s have to do with making this industry in particular so tough? 3) Not everyone that "belittles" you, as you may perceive it, does so because you're young. A lot of times young people are fat and ugly, so I don't really perceive people being jealous of that. More likely, people may be intimidated if you show real promise, but more often than not you can find some extraordinary mentors and people who want to see you succeed. If you're a young new reporter, you have a long way to go before you become a section editor, so those folks won't necessarily see you as competition. 4) Different companies want to hear different things. An interview with Fox News is going to be starkly different than one with CNN. One with the New York Post will be very different from one with the Washington Post. Rather than asking some random girl who just got out of college and based on all her internships thinks she knows everything there is to know about the business, read up on the company you're interviewing with, make sure you've read or watched their product zealously the week or month before your interview, and if you are lucky enough to know someone who has worked there or interviewed there before, talk to them about the experience. 5) Love what you're doing and work your butt off for it. If you really want to make it, you have to be willing to work terrible hours for little pay and few benefits. Be the first to volunteer to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the 4th of July. If you are serious about the business and passionate about what you're doing, you'll be willing to make those sacrifices. And when you do have to work those days and nights, don't complain. And a final note, sure-- internships are great, I've had my share of some really good ones. You gain a lot of experience from them and making contacts and connections really can be key to landing a job later on. But remember, people will only put in a good word for you in this business if you really deserve it. People don't want to be bothered with people who are in TV news as solely a means of gaining celebrity, or a person who is into magazines only because it sounds cool to tell their friends where they work. AND, just because you've interned some fabulous places, it doesn't guarantee your first job will be just as fantastic. Hey-- it might be, and if so, good for you... but you need to count on your skills and your passion to get you to the next level. It's just a really sad thing when people who are new to the business act like authorities on it, and it's no surprise to me that others look upon my generation the way they do. I don't claim to REALLY know anything, but these are just the little things I remind myself as I get ready to apply for jobs and enter into the madness of the media industry. P.S. you probably shouldn't be handing out your contacts too readily... sounds like with you attitude, you may need to go shopping for a new job when you realize they don't think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 12/19/2007 3:02:47 PM | show profile InternExtraordinaire, you sound like you have a really good head on your shoulders. I think you'll go far in your career with your attitude. |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 12/19/2007 3:19:18 PM | show profile I really, really can't believe this post. I hate to sound this way, but the poster sounds as though she's completely full of herself. Right from the beginning its as though the poster thinks that, because she' managed to find a job in the industry, that she knows everything. Yes, there are a lot of other recent graduates out there who have no idea what's going on, and it's fine that they're asking questions. Trust me, I've been out of college and looking for a job for two years. I, too have gotten a little bit tired of all the whining that goes on from recent grads about how they can't find jobs, but I'm not going to get on my high horse and start a thread about it. And although I've been out for all that time, I can't pretend I know everything, but I'll tell you what I do know or believe about this stage of our lives. 1. Yes, it's true that many jobs are found through contacts and networking. After all, its easier to hire someone that someone knows than some random person off the street. That being said, I have been in the "girl off the street" position before, but only because I've got a relatively good resume and I know how to market myself. Second, I think its awfully presumptuous of you to want to give out your contact information to people you've never met, especially since you don't know that many people in the media industry. 2. I don't believe that minorities have the upper hand. Yes, they're rare in the media, but they're rare in many other industries as well. Most of the time its simply not about your race but about how well you can do your job and how well you present yourself in your interview. 3. Sometimes, taking the dream job isn't always the best way to go. Sure, you'd be doing what you always wanted, but you have to think about practical considerations as well. Also, many top-ranking people started out with horrible jobs to begin with, but what I always say in interviews is that I'll do whatever it takes to make it in the media industry--even if it means scrubbing toilets. And you never know where that "lesser" job will take you. 4. Listen to your grandparents??? WHat kind of advice is that? My grandparents are in their 80s; both my grandmothers were housewives and both of my grandfathers put themselves through college on the GI bill. So they're not really products of the '60s or that whole "revolution." If anything, it was my parents who benefited from it the most and made it happen. So this piece of advice is completely ridiculous. Sorry. 5. Yes, a lot of people around our age know absolutely nothing about what they're getting themselves into. But they know that; you don't need to remind them. 6. So I want to know, Kate, how you ended up rehearsing HR questions for three years. Boy, I wish I had time like that on my hands. Also, interviews for jobs can vary, so you giving "advice" on how to interview is kind of pointless. You only learn about interviewing through practice. So my advice to you is to stop giving advice if you don't know whereof you speak. You give people our age a bad reputation, and its funny, since you probably have everything handed to you on a silver platter. So yeah, I'm getting off my soap box now. |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 12/19/2007 3:20:57 PM | show profile And kudos to InternExtraordinaire, who knows more about this stuff than I did at that point (or, at least, has better intuition than I do). |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:04:30 PM | show profile i didn't say wait for your dream job. i said if you're offered it, take it. for journalists, you guys don't seem to read so well. theres more to say, but i'm at my well-paying dream job right now and shouldn't be on the comp. |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:08:50 PM | show profile and anyone who says people don't want to look young...talk to people who dye their hair, get hairplugs, use facial cream...several industries wouldn't exist if that weren't true, so quit lying to yourself. |
| mkelly | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:22:49 PM | show profile Kate, hun, take my advice-- please quiet down and just stay focused on your own job prospects for the next 10 years. Leave the job-counseling to us old folks who, you know, actually have the good jobs, know where other jobs are, and put signatures on the paychecks. |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:54:58 PM | show profile the minority thing is also true. if they intern for you they don't broadcast it, but a lot of them get internships through special programs. if you're a minority of any kind, you qualify for a program that could get you a paying internship at time inc. and if what my friend tells me is true (this part i can't verify by a google search) it pays more than the regular internships do, like by about $4/hr. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:55:18 PM | show profile hoo ... wait ... stilll ... laughing .... You mean if I'm offered my dream job I should take it??? Wow. I never would have thought of that. I mean, when I was 25 and the New York Times begged me to work for them I would have told them to F off. Too much. Internextrodinaire & unemployed gal - you'll both do well. Hang in there. |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/19/2007 4:59:07 PM | show profile sorry about the broken up posts...i'll get back to some of you after i get home. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 12/19/2007 5:06:22 PM | show profile Well! My goodness, if your FRIEND says it, it MUST be so (even if you can't Google it!) I guess those of us who are actually in a position to HIRE people should just hush up and defer to your *weeks* of experience. |
| UnemployedNNJ | Posted – 12/19/2007 5:18:30 PM | show profile I don't know about any "special" minority programs... especially those where they pay you an extra $4 per hour just because you are a minority. Isn't that grounds for a lawsuit especially since it is being broadcasted by their own interns??? I really find offense in you stating "If you are a minority of any sort...basically anything except white...you have a card to play...". There are no cards!!! If anything programs like that are in existence because it is needed to provided EVERYONE with the same opportunity. Where I interned and where I worked had few minorities on payroll and I think it would be safe to say they are not getting an advantage (or higher pay as you may think) because they are a minority. Although I am sure you are attempting to give advice to those of us who have not secured our "dream job" right out of college, but your post is full of inaccuracies and supercilious advice. |
| kim780 | Posted – 12/19/2007 5:32:40 PM | show profile wow! this kate starr girl is really a freak! i hope she's not using her real name because that was just about the most clueless and self entitled post i have ever read. wow! just stunned. |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 12/19/2007 7:22:42 PM | show profile Who's out to get the under-25 crowd? Kate--and I'm seriously asking this--who is out to get the under-25 crowd? You are obviously part of a cutthroat market because I definitely don't pass over people because they were young or ugly or white or overqualified or underqualified. Heck, I'm an ugly bitch myself, but somehow I am employed as a managing editor. I'm seriously not knocking ya here; by all means opine away. I'm just wondering how you got to be so bitter about the over-25 crowd. Psst...it's those damn baby boomers you want to watch out for. The 30- and 40-something crowds are too busy worrying about how they can pay their mortgages, balance life, jobs, and kids, and fund their lagging 401(k)'s since the market is tanking. General Motors is hoping to get rid of 5,000 older (aka highest paid) workers and bring in a mobile, young workforce. I kinda have more sympathy for those who actually had a job and lost it rather than someone who hasn't yet worked for money. It's a whole lot further to fall when you lose your job at 45 than can't find your first at 22. |
| bookmap | Posted – 12/19/2007 8:15:34 PM | show profile This may come as a shock but... I actually value the advice given to me by the so-called elders who belittle us recent grads. I take all comments with a grain of salt and know that everyone is just trying to help with their personal advice. I definitely do not come on the boards to take advice from fellow recent grads like yourself...only to commiserate with one another. And we're not all cut-throat journalists either...we represent all forms of media. |
| katestarrr | Posted – 12/19/2007 9:18:35 PM | show profile Ok, I?m back. Jen480 I never said my grandparents were in their teens. Please re-read tip #4. InternExtraordinaire 1. I already addressed this one a few posts ago. 2. I didn?t literally mean YOUR parents, just their generation. 3. Already addressed the part of this one, too? 4. Actually I?ve gotten this advice over and over again from entrepreneurs and people with much more experience (and money) than me. We?re supposed to listen to our elders, right? 5. You don?t have to work long hours for little pay. I didn?t. I have a week and half off work for Christmas and new years. Unemployed-gal I don?t care that people ask questions. I?m offering help because when young people ask questions on this board, undoubtedly someone will make a snide remark. 1. I?m not giving contacts out to just anyone. And you don?t know how many people I know. 2. I addressed this one a few posts ago. 3. call me a dreamer, but its possible to get your dream job, and I don?t want to spend the whole week begging for Friday to come. 4. I?m assuming you?re in your twenties. Your parents were probably watching the flintstones in the 60s. 5. see my first comment. 6. I rehearsed for three years by interviewing for three years for my internships. Take a look at the house my parents live in, and you?ll stop jumping to conclusions about who got a silver platter. Neekah18 They don?t pay minorities $4 more because they?re a minority. The program requires the intern?s pay be at a certain level, which was about an average of 4 more than I?ve been paid and what I hear is the going rate for interns. And nothing was being broadcast-I asked my friend how she was getting all of her great internships. Its not something she would want to brag about for fear of sounding rude Sjr On this board aout a year ago, a poster by the name of ?mailbag? said that he would never hire anyone under 40, and dared them to sue him. And actually, I love everyone I work with?its this messageboard that makes me mad. Bookmap Its funny, you don?t want my advice ut apparently you read it? but go ahead and value their advice and eat your ramen noodles with your 16 roommates. |
| Tellit | Posted – 12/19/2007 9:46:37 PM | show profile I counsel many people in our field for a living, doesn't mean I know everything, but I'll throw my two cents in. If you think everything Kate said was wrong, you're wrong. Sure, some of it I'd disagree with, just like I'd disagree with some of what MKelly said, particularly the "hun" comment. Here are some things that I think would help young people: 1) Don't wait for graduation, start trying to freelance as young as possible if your talent's there. If I have to choose between a job candidate with a top college degree or someone with impressive clips, well, one has proof they can get results on a professional level, the other doesn't. 2) No one is better than you. I don't care if you have an interview with the CEO of a top publishing company, never act as if you won the lottery to be in their presence. Respect them, yes, but you deserve to be in the room with anyone and if you don't believe so it will hurt you your whole career. 3) Act your ability, not your age. If you feel people will discriminate against your youth then don't go out of your way to tell them your age, eliminate using the word "like" if you find yourself saying it too often and don't talk about partying till all hours of the night (doesn't mean you shouldn't do the last one, just keep it to yourself). 4) It's a numbers game. The more opportunities you try for the more chances you have to succeed. Too many young people let rejection stop them from trying every possibility because they can't stand to hear "no." Hearing "no" is better than not asking for a chance at all, because at least you know what would have happened. |
| InternExtraordinaire | Posted – 12/19/2007 9:47:14 PM | show profile I'm pretty sure none of us were really interested in a response from you... and your "rebuttals" are perhaps worse than your initial advice, anyway. I could go point to point against everything you said, but that'd really be a waste of time.... I'm really not here for a debate, just to clear up that your advice may not the best, and is certainly not the only to take. Thanks to everyone else for the kind comments. Also, to whoever said to take the comments/criticisms/etc. of older people in your industry with a grain of salt, amen... same goes for your peers. someone doesn't have to be older to think they know it all (clearly) or to be envious of you for some reason. All I know, is at the end of the day in this industry, more than any of these other things... I think half of it is just whether you've got "it" or not. Some people do, some people don't. |
| see-doo | Posted – 12/19/2007 11:06:19 PM | show profile Don't listen to them Kate, they all come off extremely bitter. Including old Manhattan Matt the one with the giant stick up his arse. Ha Ha Ha. |
| see-doo | Posted – 12/19/2007 11:07:36 PM | show profile I mean seriously look at it this way. You have your dream job and the're all belittling you. It has to be jealousy. They are so transparently biiiiittttttter. |
