For all those using GWork at the moment and have found something, please let the rest of us know what certain key words you are using or what companies you have looked at. Because so far, all my friends and I have found are positions looking for those with two to five years of experience in the working world. Other positions include Target sales representatives. As my friend and I conversed online the other day, we voiced our frustration with the GWU work situation:
Friend, on Gwork: “I suppose, just one more place to look for jobs I won’t get. I’m getting sick of this ****. Just give me a job offer.”
Me: “That’s the spirit”
Friend: “You know me, always optimistic. Here’s my question: We are top 20 or 15% GPA wise in our class, we both have good resumes, experience and connections…so what the ****?”
The majority of students at GW have great experience and connections. I find that the majority of people I speak to work while taking a full 15-16.5 hours of classes. Sometimes we, the students, complain that we do not have as much fun as state school students. We only missed out on stuff, we didn’t miss out on opportunity going to school in DC. But, where is this opportunity going to take us now?
The Career Center needs to get its act together. The Action Plan consists of picking one’s ultimate goal/function, otherwise known as the position you want. From there, you pick your target industries and “geographic parameters.” Turn the page of your Ultimate Action Plan and you find a nice table with fifty slots. What are these fifty slots, you ask? Only the list of companies you choose to apply to. Where do I find them? Look up one company’s competitors online, and then their competitors, etc. etc.
Fifty companies?!? Thanks GW, but I think I can handle looking for myself instead of wasting my time with fifty companies that may or may not have to do with one another. No one said career searching was going to be easy, but there has got to be a more constructive way to apply to jobs. Maybe the Career Center should get a clue.
1 comment:
I don't want to sound insensitive, but I'm a 2006 graduate and I just NOW got a job in my field that pays enough for me to cover my own expenses. Job searching is a full time job in itself. It is difficult, stressful, and demeaning.
Try broadening your search. Create an RSS feed of your search criteria from a webstie like indeed.com which searches many other job sites.
I truly understand your frustration. It took me three and a half years to get anywhere near where I wanted to be. I understand your need to vent, but I wanted to make sure you do understand how bad the employment climate is. Don't be hard on yourself if you don't have that comfy swivel chair and shiny nameplate right out of college. Don't be hard on yourself if you have to take a lesser job for a while. Don't be disappointed if you have to work retail or wait tables for a year or two...you learn more about working with people and being professional in a restaurant than you would think (plus if you frame it right, having had that direct customer service position that you excelled in can be what makes you the choice between two evenly qualified candidates).
My biggest advice though is get letters of recommendation from your professors, internship advisors, or bosses that you have gotten along well with now. If you have an interview 6 months from now and call them up to be a reference, their memory is not going to be anywhere near as sharp as it is now.
Best of luck. You WILL find something, just keep doing your best and reaching out to as many people as you can in a positive way.
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