<p>Not to brag, but if my daughter could just get her foot into the door she would get hired. She is a fast learner, personable, posed, and cute We always joke that she is someone that would get a job due to her in person interview, vs her brother, who would be better with a phone interview as his presence is not the best. </p>
<p>Tomorrow is another day; I just don’t want her to give up. I did see a list of notes she was working from and it seems today’s work was email some contacts she had received the names of in the last week. It seems her full time job right now is looking for a full time job! Too bad she doesn’t get paid for her search!</p>
<p>Scout, has she joined NACAC? They sometimes have job postings. Also, the annual NACAC conference will be in Baltimore in September, and that could be a good place to network. There area also regional ACAC organizations that she could look info.</p>
<p>NACAC is one of the sites she checks daily; as far as joining, I don’t know about that. I would assume you need to be employed by a member school, but don’t know that for a fact.</p>
<p>Went to the NACAC site and looked up membership categories.</p>
<p>“Also, individual membership is open to retired members and students who are seeking careers in counseling, admission or financial aid services.”</p>
<p>Sounds like she could join. Usually, there is a reduced rate for students/recent graduates.</p>
<p>One thing about networking–it takes time for things to happen. Nothing will seem to lead to results and then you might get 2 or 3 things going at the same time. Tell your D to be patient and not give up.</p>
<p>IMO, this is a mistake. As folks said earlier on, no one takes resumes seriously from kids outside of the area. My best friend now runs a large PR agency. We also graduated from college in tough times. I remember her pounding the pavement, working temp jobs and living on money borrowed from her parents in NYC until she got a break. </p>
<p>It’s an investment. Kids live cheaply , 4 to one bedroom apartments often here in NY.</p>
<p>I myself worked in admissions at my alma mater between undergrad and grad school. I had been a work study student in the office prior. If she’s serious about college admissions, maybe that’s where she should volunteer. Most seem to have laid off staff in this endowment mess.</p>
<p>It’s probably a good time for her to decide to pursue one or the other and go where she needs to be. There are not many ‘lifers’ in admissions offices, pay is low, lots of travel as a junior person staying in cheap motels, visiting endless high schools and giving the same talk over and over–my best friend’s adventures at a big PR firm, on the other hand, were a blast, much more glamorous and set her up for an amazing career. Then again there’s Michele Hernandez and a few others who made major careers out of a few years in admissions.</p>
<p>This has nothing to do with the topic, but the real world is increasingly becoming scary. I never even thought you would face competition for jobs. For some reason I kind of thought you apply and get hired.</p>
<p>^^^ Uh, job competition has always been fierce. No one “hands” you a job unless you’re the one they’re looking for (qualified) and/or have connections (know the boss personally, etc.).</p>
<p>I’m not that well informed about the current job market other than that it is orders of magnitude tougher than in many decades.</p>
<p>It used to be that a temp job could be an entree into an organization, because they got a free look at you with no obligation. I think maybe today’s temp agencies have contracts with clients that make it more difficult to hire the temps permanently, but… its clearly something that should be investigated. </p>
<p>It also used to be that you could get a government job by being good at test taking, which moved your name up on the list. </p>
<p>I would lower my sights and criteria in this environement. Its a lot easier to get a job if you already have one, even if its not the one you most prefer.</p>
<p>Temping is something she is looking into. I think this last week she really changed gears and is looking at any and all avenues. I think she is looking a bit deeper at assistant/secretarial type jobs at prep schools in hopes that once in the door, an admissions or college counseling job will become available over time. </p>
<p>I do still wonder about her not being in NYC for PR jobs, but a new contact just became available. I am not holding my breath on this contact, but he offered to introduce my daughter to a few people and pass her resume around. While she would move to NYC in a heartbeat, we are going to wait a while and see how things work out. Because she also has contacts in a couple of other cities, I really don’t want her to move to NYC and then get a great offer from DC. We are not in the position to foot the bill for 2 apartments, and she would never want to leave a roommate in a bind. She would feel guilty about committing to rent in one city and then later leaving before her lease was up. </p>
<p>Due to one of her internships, she has a few contacts in non profit, which she really does have an interest in. At first my daughter only wanted to work with the non profit she interned with, now she is willing to explore others.</p>
<p>I know it looks like my daughter is looking into too many different avenues, but she truly would be happy with any and would be an asset to any organization that hired her; spoken by a proud mother! College admissions is a tough job and she is aware of the burn out. While she believes she can handle it, she also understands that she would most likely move on if not up.</p>
<p>Tell her to keep working her connections – I’ll probably be where she is next year! I really think you should encourage her to somehow finagle her way into an address in the city – many of her carefully crafted cover letters and resumes are getting trashed because people don’t want to bother with trying to negotiate relocation. Whether that’s renting a place (I can see why that would be difficult) or using someone else’s address – may give her the push she needs.</p>
<p>When I graduated in the middle of a recession I really wanted to head back to Boston. Everyone in Boston was telling me “don’t come here, there are no jobs.” Right now there are “hot spots” in the country where there are jobs in PR and Communications, perhaps your daughter needs to figure out where the jobs are and head there for a year or two to get the experience and then move where she wants. The other option is to find a company that will let her “intern” or volunteer in her field of interest which she could then parlay into a job as well as get connections. Public museums, non-profits, etc. are always looking for communications, development an PR support where she could get her hands dirty and get some experience. I also agree with the entry level - admin job for PR or Communications, it’s a very common track and yes the person generally is promoted or moves on in a couple years, but that is expected.</p>
<p>Not sure where you’re from, but many kids pass in and out of the apartments young college grads share in NYC. Most don’t sign leases. It’s a month to month thing and you can usually replace yourself in the apartment within a month. You pay your rent until the replacement is found.</p>
<p>Such apartments usually exist within the school networks.</p>
<p>To be frank, I don’t understand how families invest so much in college and then think a kid can launch themselves from Boise. My DD had a good friend trying to find a job in NYC from Oregon, where her parents were insisting she live at home until she found a job. Finally DD asked us if she could move into her room in our NYC home. She found a job in two weeks after looking for 7 months.</p>
<p>If your DD chooses a city (and NY is a great choice if she wants a career in PR) then she works to find a job there. Chances someone is going to offer her a great job in DC or wherever she is now are remote. It just usually doesn’t work that way in business when you’re just starting out.</p>
<p>A friend who does a lot of hiring in DC once told me that when she looks at a resume and wants to interview the person, she wants to do it ASAP. Are you located within one or two days’ drive of NYC or DC? Remember, many companies won’t pay for interview expenses especially at entry level jobs.</p>
<p>LOL; this sounds like our family. H has his Ph.D. in the sciences and I’m a chaplain! D1 graduated a year ago with a degree in PR from a very reputable program out East. She came back to the Chicago area and found the alumni network for PR was almost non-existent, and she was also competing with all the grads from Northwestern who already had contacts in the area. During the summer she actually had a couple of things lined up and was working, but nothing was permanent. So she decided to move out to Boston where many friends from school had moved to, and the alumni network was much stronger. Unfortunately, she did all that in October, right as the economy fell apart. She landed an internship at a PR firm and has been there since (non-paid for the first six months and now is getting a very minimal salary). However, she’s already had more interview success since being in Boston, where the alumni network is stronger, and she already has friends working in the industry.</p>
<p>She has had several phone interviews, which have all led to in-person interviews. The feedback has been very positive in most cases, and she knows of two companies that would like to hire her if/when the economy improves (one being the PR firm she is currently working at). Since we are obviously still supporting her, H and I have had this conversation many, many times - when do we cut her off, etc. At this point, we feel the experience she is getting at the PR firm is more important than landing just any old job.</p>
<p>We’ve also spoken with several people who have a different opinion of kids taking jobs way beneath them. People who are hiring are aware that these kids are willing to take any job they can get, while still looking for something better, so they tend not to hire someone who they can’t rely on being around in three months. The money put into hiring and training isn’t worth it when the door keeps revolving. And there are plenty of applicants who are aptly qualified for the job who they know are interested in the job long term.</p>
<p>I’m using the word beneath to mean someone is overqualified for a particular position. And I stand by my beliefs that people aren’t going to hire someone overqualified if they suspect they will continue to job hunt for another job that meets their qualifications.</p>
<p>I agree. I also believe having a job you were over qualified for on your resume can hurt. If I could swing it, I’d absolutely support my kids in unpaid internships through this recession. They will get the quality jobs when things turn around. I’d see it as another educational expense.</p>
<p>“I also believe having a job you were over qualified for on your resume can hurt.”</p>
<p>While my own experience in hiring is very narrow and specialized, I have never heard of any employer who considers any kind of real life work experience a negative.</p>
<p>You have now. In my business we get a lot of resumes from people who couldn’t get in the door, try something they see as related and then try again. Those people become less interesting to us, not more. They have pigeonholed themselves in our eyes.</p>
<p>I know this is also true in other fields. In law if you take a job at a lesser know law firm it will be hard to transition to a top firm until you’re senior and have established your at the top of the field.</p>
We always joke that she is someone that would get a job due to her in person interview, vs her brother, who would be better with a phone interview as his presence is not the best. </p>