My Post-Grad Life

As many of you know, I graduated from San Diego State a few months ago. I thought I had graduated with a post-grad plan. I actually thought I had it all figured out (crazy, I know!) After graduation, I was going to apply to every single public relations agency with an awesome company culture in San Diego and get hired. I had 2 years of internship experience, so why wouldn’t they hire me right? I thought the job search was going to be easy and stress-free, but boy was I wrong.

As soon as my dream entry-level job sent me that rejection email it all went downhill from there. I started to doubt myself. I started telling myself that I wasn’t qualified for the many jobs I saw posted on LinkedIn (especially when they required 3-5 years of experience). During my interviews, I knew that recruiters could tell that I wasn’t confident. If I wasn’t confident in myself how would recruiters think that I could do the job?

I knew I had to take the job search more seriously. I had to do my pre-interview research, practice interview questions, but most importantly I had to learn how to sell my skills and expertise in the interview. It wasn't until I connected with old friends that I realized that I had to see myself as the expert. They were interviewing me because they needed my skills and expertise.

The job search drained my energy but I had to keep going if I wanted to land a job before summer ended. A job interview was nothing like an internship interview, casual and fun. No, I had to take math and writing tests they even tested me on my Spanish speaking skills. The interview process was weeks long, and some places even interviewed me 3 times before they made their decision.  The whole process was tiring. 

Although I am learning a lot in my new position, there is still so much more to learn. I plan to take full advantage of my current position, as this will be my stepping stone to my end goal because I know I’ll get there one day.