For those that don’t know, I recently got a new job offer. Landing a dream job offer right out of college was the goal but that doesn’t always happen. It didn’t happen for me and I wasn’t surprised. I graduated with a Bachelors of Art in Communications which is already a broad area to study and I wanted to go into public relations, something that needs a lot of experience to jump into a specialist job. From the get-go I knew I wasn’t going to have my dream job, I knew that it was going to take a lot of hard work to get to where I wanted to go in life. I didn’t lack experience but I didn’t have the experience that was needed for the jobs I wanted. Two to three years is what agencies are asking for and it’s hard to really jump into a role without entry through an internship or something of the sort. I won’t lie, I wasn’t 100% percent happy with my first job out of college. Who is? We’re given the expectation that everything is going to be great after we graduate and we can live out our dreams, that the hard work ends but it doesn’t.
Eight months of hard work and trying to prove myself got me to where I am right now. I was persistent and kept looking. My marketing assistant job wasn’t what I thought it would be. I wasn’t doing as much marketing as I wanted and the graphic design was taking over. I was not happy. I could fake it and act like I was happy but I wasn’t. There was no way I was happy when I spent months and months meeting and talking to recruiters, trying to find someone to give me a chance. Lucky me met a recruiter who did not give up on me and sent me in one day after we met. I went to my interview and I succeeded. Maybe it was my enthusiasm and lack of nerves but I felt comfortable as I talked about myself and my goals. I found a place within a company that wanted me before I got to them. That made me feel so good about myself. I felt like Beyonce in that room – all the attention was on me like I was the answer to the puzzle.
What am I going to be doing? Officially, I’m the Social Media Community Manager and I think it’s the perfect fit. The creative range is there and the role of strategizing is in place. I’m counting down the days until I walk into that building and take a seat at my desk. There comes a time when you have to move on from something and I had to move on from my old job. I gained experience and I learned a few things from my marketing director but there was no growth. One can not inhibit their growth. Don’t let anyone take away your chance to learn and grow. If I had stayed in that role any longer, it was damage to myself. Not being happy is destructive and setting myself up for my own failure if I didn’t work for something else in life. If you get a no, try harder. Don’t give up on yourself ever.
As young adults, it’s hard to keep focus and believe that our dreams are going to come true with the crippling student debt and high aspirations with entry-level beginnings. I can attest to the post graduate struggle – the moment where you try to figure out if your degree was really worth it. There’s so many curveballs in life, so many times where you are going to be knocked down to your knees but you have to keep trying. I tried and I tried and I kept faith, I found my new stepping stone. Don’t settle or let anyone belittle you, I did that the first month into my job and it got me down. One negative comment can ruin your mood, possibly your dreams but only if you let it keep you down.
What to take from this….
Your dreams will remain dreams until you put forth the work and believe in yourself. Whether you’re in college trying to get an internship, post-grad trying to get a job, or in a job transition, you have to not lose faith. It can get tiring but you know what you want to do and you succeed when you really believe in yourself. If I had given up on myself, I would still be stuck in my old job or working some job that I settled for. I promised myself I would never settle, I told everyone that I refused to settle and I didn’t. I didn’t settle and now I’m going to be working a job that holds on to part of my dream. Work hard, play harder in the end. Be passionate about what you do and I promise it won’t feel like a job because you’ll be so in love.
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