In this video, Betsy and I are giving you insight on how we landed jobs right out
of college and moved to Los Angeles. We know that the post-grad job search
can be really stressful so we wanted to give you our best tips to help make
yours a little easier. Be sure to stick around until the end of the video for a
free download. What's your post-college job search
advice? Let us know in the comments below.
Hi Contessas! Welcome back. I'm Betsy the graphic designer for Career Contessa, a career site built just for women
And I'm Jacq a video producer here at Career Contessa. Be sure to like and
subscribe because we drop videos every week. After we graduated college we got
jobs soon after and we moved out to Los Angeles as well. So we know it sounds
crazy but the post-grad job search doesn't have to be super stressful and
that's what we're gonna help you do today. Let's do it.
Tip number one: networking. Unfortunately, you cannot meet people just sitting on your couch. This is
a great opportunity for you to explore your new city. Search social media or
just anywhere online for any networking events near you, and it's also very
important that you don't just stick to traditional networking. I've met so many
clients just a grocery stores, at concerts and at gallery openings for
artists that I wasn't even familiar with. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. And, I would
add that if you do want to try to meet people from your couch, LinkedIn is a
great place. I joined a bunch of alumni groups from my college and I actually
like found people that were in the industry I wanted to work in and I asked
them for informational interviews. So you can do that that way you just have to be
more proactive about how you're reaching out and following up and what you're
actually asking for. So you're not gonna like ask for jobs you're just gonna say
hey I would love to meet up with you or hop on a call for 20 minutes or less and
people will be willing to meet with you if you do it that way I found. But your
alumni group if you went to school is a great way to get started in a new city.
Tip number two: self-reflection. We're trained to think oh these are my
skills this is what I studied these are the five jobs I can try to get, but I
think it's more important after you graduate college to take a seat and
think what are the things I like doing what are the things I don't like doing
what do I think I want to try next and taking a break to really reflect on what
you're good at and what brings you joy and what makes you happy when you're
doing it. You're gonna have to do things in any job that you don't love but I
think that taking the time to really think okay I just graduated what do I
want to do next instead of trying to force yourself into a plan. I know
there's a lot of pressure because everyone says what are you doing after
you graduate what's next but it's okay to say I don't really know. I'm gonna
think about it. And also post college can get slightly lonely because you're not
seeing the people that you see at school every day so it's good to take advantage
of that time to like really be introspective and ask yourself what is it that
you want not just what your friends are doing. Or not what's expected
of you. Right. Tip number three: Fiscally plan. So when you first move to a new
city like we did things can become a bit unpredictable. So it's important that you pinch pennies
and you're very careful and mindful of where you're allocating your money.
Plan for the worst to happen if you don't have a job lined up anyways and I know that that sounds
pessimistic but this also gives you opportunities to again like use your
network. I— when I first moved to LA I was lucky enough that I lived with my best
friend's parents and they would not allow me to pay them rent. So I'm not
saying that that will always be true for every person but maybe you have a
distant family member who you can develop a relationship with or you go to
a church or a networking event and you meet somebody who's looking for a
roommate or something like that but also looking for opportunities and that also
helps with like loneliness and stuff too is figuring out ways to save money but
also to be networking at the same time I think helps. Tip number four use cover
letters to explain your experience. So in college I worked at the advising office
and I know that a lot of people would come in and say like I don't know how
I'm supposed to be explaining what I do or how am I supposed to get a job when I
don't have any experience and I would first say that it's not true that you
don't have any experience and that goes back to the
self-reflection but think about the things you've done the things that
you've volunteered for or if you have worked then you do have experience and
kind of converting those things into skills that can be used universally or
applying specific things that you've done to specific roles and kind of
making those connections. So I would say just reflect on the skills that you do
have and the experience that you have and be able to tie those connections in
your cover letter because your resume won't say it for you. Tip number five: try
to find the company you really believe in. If you find a job that you just find
yourself not really be interested in. It's gonna make you resent the job
itself and also just I don't know, feel burnout a whole lot quicker. Whereas if you find a job that you really believe
in, you're gonna want to go to work every day. You're gonna look forward to doing the tasks that
you do every day. And I don't know, just be happier.
And I think, too, if you're invested in the company's mission or what the company's purpose is you'll
also be looking for opportunities to continue to grow your own skills at that
company. I think that that also allows for you to grow as an individual but
also as a contributor on a team because it's a steep learning curve when when
you first start somewhere especially out of college you're first nine-to-five
job but I think that if you're invested in what the company is doing it makes
everything more meaningful and you're more willing to do it and do it well.
Tip number six: research everything. This is one of the tips that I wish someone
had told me and I had heard them. I'm sure that someone did tell me this and I
was like yeah yeah I got it I'm an adult but I think it's very important to
research everything especially when you're moving to
new city so I mean commute I mean cost of living. I'm from Michigan. I went to
school in Northern California but LA like milk and gas are still way more
expensive. People tell you that but you don't listen.
Looking at the nearest grocery store is looking at where the coffee shops are
looking at what area what neighborhood you're living in and the things that
you're interested how far away those are. All these kinds of things they don't
have to line up perfectly with what your plan is but I would say it's very
important to do your research and have a good idea of where you're moving what
you're doing and what you can expect in the new city and outside of researching
where you're going to live I think it's also important to research where you're
going to work and I mean the work culture. My very first job out of college
was a cubicle, windows that don't open, law firm. I very quickly realized that
that was not my vibe. Not conducive to my working style so researching what the
work culture is like what the company values do they give benefits do they
give flexible hours what's important to you and what does a company offer and I
think having I know it's hard when you are first out of college because you're
like what do I have to offer Who am I to ask for that but you do have skills and
you are a valuable person and you have things to offer so you need to make sure
that you're able to offer those and make sure that you have a work environment
that's conducive to that. Tip number seven: don't put yourself in a box apply
to what you're interested in. So when I first moved out to LA I made
the mistake of only applying to graphic design jobs and I was really limiting my
opportunities just because I thought I had laser beam focus off when I got my
degree in but I had experience and branding strategy and art direction so I
even started applying for like junior art director jobs and stuff like that so
you'll be very surprised at how many job descriptions you can look at and just
realize that you have a lot of good skills. It's all about the job
description. I wouldn't say that you really need to focus as much on the job
title yeah I would definitely agree because - I feel like especially with
like the Millennial culture but like people can be doing the same exact job
and they have seven different job titles and so when you're researching and you
find that company that really speaks to you and you're invested in their mission
click on any titles that look semi remotely in an area that you can be
invested in because when you read the responsibilities or the job duties or
the qualifications you might actually be excited about those positions or really
qualified for those positions and you wouldn't have even known. That's it for
our job searching tips for now. We hope that some of these tips can help
We know that job searching after college can seem impossible but we have a
checklist to help you find a job that you love in a new city. Download our free
job search checklist using the link below this video for a leg up on the
competition. What's your best job searching tip? Tell us in the comments below.
And be sure to like this video and subscribe to
our channel because we drop videos every week.