For many of us that are seniors, we have begun, or will begin soon, our search for employment after we graduate. I’ve been working the career fairs and every avenue that I can to attempt to get an “in” to the job market. It has been proving to be more challenging than I first anticipated, but this journey has been with its benefits as well. I am learning how to better sell my skills to employers and how to present myself as the right person for the job. It has been an experience that I hope will come to fruition soon, but it has not been done alone.
Over the past week I have been given the change to interview with Safeco Insurance, was contacted by a recruiter at Microsoft, and was contacted by a former Informatics graduate working at Avanade. All of this didn’t happen because I knew people in all of these places. I am fortunate enough to have been in the right place at the right time for some of this to happen, but the others came about because people were looking to help me find a job. These people were not looking to get me the job circumventing all processes, but they would put a word in for me to get the ball rolling.
But, when I look back on how this all came about I think about how much help I have really had. I have had help from friends, graduates, advisors, and my parents. This help didn’t come because I was desperate (ok, I still need a job), but I’m not on begging knee asking for all of this help. They do it because they want to do what they can to better equip me or help me with my job search. I have yet to really turn away this help, but it is also hard to want to seek it out as well. But, I was taught a long time ago to take help when it is offered and to not be afraid to ask for it when you need it. For me, it has been paying off to listen to this advice.
It is hard to take or look for help sometimes. For some things it might be possible to do them alone, but I feel that any help that someone is trying to offer should be looked at seriously before turning it away. I am not saying that you have to take the help from people when/if they offer it to you, but I have found in my own experience that the result has only been positive. I have been able to meet new people and experience new things because of this.
Now, some people might think that this is not really me working to find a job or that since I am taking help I am somehow circumventing the system. I really don’t see it that way at all. I think that it is natural of people to help others and I think that more times than not it proves to be beneficial in one way or another. Now, if someone was like, “Ryan, I have a job for you and if you say ‘Yes’ it is yours”, I would probably feel that this is circumventing the system, but that is the nature of business and having contacts/connections with various people. They are there to help you out.
The only reason that I decided to post this was because I wanted to share something that has worked for me during my job search. Yes, not everybody has contacts or people to turn to when finding a job, but don’t shy away when someone is there to help. They are simply doing it to be helpful, not because they don’t think you are not able to do it yourself.