Finding a career

swerve

Hey everyone,
I haven't posted in a long time, but I've been busy. I am finishing up school next summer and I am currently trying to begin my job search. I am getting a degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. While I have no formal experience in journalism, I have been fortunate enough to take the lead on a team that is developing a campaign against dogfighting in chicago. The experience has been absolutely incredible, and I cannot even describe the feeling I get when telling others about it.

i trust everyone's opinion and advice here, so i just wonder what i should be doing. should i be sending my resume out to a ton of companies? do i apply for jobs now? do i just try to establish contacts within companies? do any of you have any advice that may be really helpful.

i know i've made threads about my employment issues in the past, but right now i am at best buy and i just have finally said that it is just an hourly job and it is nothing to get worked up over. i go and get a paycheck then leave. i'm really looking forward to getting into the industry i have been studying/participating in over the past few months and getting out of retail.

let me know if you have any suggestions,
adam

Jstas

It's never too early to start looking. Unfortunately, for a guy just out of school and lacking experience, the shotgun approach will work well. Just don't overdo it. Apply for jobs that you would like to do. If this is going to be your "career" you'd better like doing it. Don't take the first thing that comes along either if you can get by on Best Buy. Unless of course it's a job you want to do. In other words, don't settle.

But find jobs you like and start applying. Don't apply to a job you aren't going to like because you'll burnout quickly. It's a process and it can take anywhere from 2-10 months, maybe longer, to find a job. You are also going to get 10 rejections before you get 1 interview. Granted you shouldn't be counting but you get the idea.

Also, money is a good thing but remember. The jobs that pay the highest are often the jobs that people don't want so they have to attract the talent somehow.

Kris Siegel

Not sure if it'll help but I'd suggest joining www.LinkedIn.com. It's a website that links professionals together and has been very helpful to me. When you link up to others, people linked to them see you giving you some exposure and after a while job requests will filter down. I'm in the technology industry so I'm not sure how much LinkedIn would help in Journalism but you never know.

Also, if you can get an intership it'll help with the lack of professional experience. After I had my internship at Polk I went from getting declined at every job interview to getting offers at every job interview. I don't mean to come off cocky as I know I still have quite a bit to learn but after Polk I've received a job offer at every place I've interviewed at.

dorokusai

Serial Killer.

bobman1235

Don't forget to check out your school's career center. You didn't pay all that tuition money for nothing, and a lot of people overlook the connections that their school has into the job market.

cambir

+1 for LinkedIn - professional and personal networking is a great way to go if you have the time and patience

+1 for not settling

I also used a great search site called indeed.com - search by zip and key word and it pulls a list of job postings from other searches/sites (monster, jobdango, etc)