Story of a Job Search by Rachel Gibson

Thought it might be both helpful and interesting for you to read of someone else's job search. Helpful in terms of ideas that might be useful to you. And, interesting in terms of a "misery loves company" sort of perspective.

What follows is an introduction to part one of a series of notes I will share with you from the recent job search conducted by Rachel Gibson, our newest Career Counselor.

"I’m a planner. I attempt to anticipate and organize everything. From the minute to minute details of a vacation schedule to the color coded hangers in my closet, I like to coordinate every detail. Naturally, the thought of embarking on my very first long, confusing, overwhelming job search in which I had no control, terrified me. Although, now sitting a little more comfortably from the other side with a job, I realized I gained a lot more than just a job through the ups and downs of the process. 

As I quickly learned from talking to my classmates, every person’s experience is very different and no matter how many people are going through the same thing, there are those times where it feels like you are the only one in the world struggling. People find jobs in different ways, usually in ways that relate to their personality. Some people find jobs through connections, some through relentless determination, some through impeccable organization and planning, but all with a little bit of luck. The most important advice I could give would be to set up yourself up so that when you do find yourself in a lucky situation, you can take advantage of it. This was my experience. It is definitely by no means the “right” way to do things but I hope it gives you some ideas. At the very least I hope it gives you some comfort to know someone’ else’s process, complete with its ups and downs."

Check back in tomorrow for Phase 1 of Rachel's job search.

~jan