Weekly Job Search Update
Monday- Temporary Job Interview
I told the recruitment agency I’d be interested in accepting temp jobs while looking for something fulltime, if it would provide relevant work experience. So I got a call on Friday about interviewing for a potential 8-week gig but didn’t know much about it. I did my company research and went for the interview on Monday afternoon. I was really nervous because I hadn’t had any interviews since June of 2010 but I felt like I rocked it. Although the interview went well, I learned more about the opening and it just didn’t feel right, I asked the interviewer what transferrable skills she thought I’d take away from it and she said “Dealing with the public, you’ll get a lot of experience working with all sorts of different people from different cultures across the country”. In no way do I think I’ve learned all I can about people but I need to grow my skills more specific to marketing and the work I want to do long-term.
I could make $16 an hour for 8 weeks ($5,120 minus tax) but I’d be in a cliché dry office environment working 8:30-5:30 Monday-Friday on a project that doesn’t excite me or provide much relevant experience towards my goals. I think working those hours on a less than inspiring project would be draining and I’d likely get home and just be too worn out to make any progress on my search for a permanent job. I took some time to think about the money I could make compared to the potential opportunities I might miss out on in those 8 weeks. It was a tough decision but after talking it through and getting some support from some loved ones (Mom and my boyfriend) I turned it down. It was hard! $5,120 is a lot of money (especially when my current income is $0) but I convinced myself to think long-term and I think I made the right decision.
Wednesday- Marketing Internship Interview
I had another interview come out of the blue for a marketing internship position I applied for at the beginning of September. Set up the interview for Wednesday, so Tuesday I did a lot of research on the company (I even bought one of their products to try so I could speak from experience on my opinion) and went through a good long interview prep session writing out answers to potential questions I might be asked. Went into the interview super excited because it sounded like a company and position I’d love. Once again, I felt like I nailed my part of the interview but the more I learned about the company and their expectations of the intern, the less interested I was in the position. My pre-interview impression was that they were an innovative company and developed and marketed innovative products and aimed to build long-term brands. I came to find out they’re more interested in copying existing products and using marketing to differentiate them enough to make some quick cash before their parent company makes a competing product and they lose their distribution power. While I understand the purpose of business is to make money, I want to be a part of innovation and long-term at least somewhat meaningful brand building. So after more deep thinking and discussions with loved ones, I said thanks but no thanks to this position too.
Job hunting is like shoe shopping
I was pretty discouraged, two interviews in a week and neither worked out to be something I wanted to be a part of. Was I being too picky? Was it stupid to turn down two paying jobs, even if they were just short-term? There was a lot of self-doubting but I knew I was being true to my goals. Shortly after I sent the thank you note taking myself out of the running for the internship position I got a call from the CEO of the marketing agency I’d met with my contact, E, to discuss last Friday. She wants to meet with me on Tuesday to get to know me and talk to me about what they’re looking for at their company. I am ecstatic about the opportunity to learn more about her marketing agency and see if there’s a potential spot for me there.
It has been a full week, full of potential and then disappointment and then another exciting potential opportunity. But I think that’s how job searching goes, it’s kind of like shoe shopping, you see a pair you love and think they’re perfect but you try them on and they feel like they’d give you blisters so you move on to the next pair. This pair fits great but gives you cankles so those won’t work either. Then you see another pair and before you try them on you get all excited that these could be the perfect shoes, exactly what you’re looking for. So that’s where I am, I’m getting ready to try on the next pair of shoes and see how they fit and how they look on me. Hopefully this is THE pair for me.
I think the Guinness shoe is just perfect
Recent University of Edinburgh MSc Marketing grad and UNCWilmington Communication Studies alumus. Fascinated by branding, event, social media, and interactive marketing for business. Works at Eleven Mass Media
Compelling Momentum 
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