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My dear fellow (and soon-to-be) Emersonians,

I write today to tell you that there is life (and gainful employment) waiting for you… as soon as you finish your thesis and/or capstone project!

After graduating from Emerson’s IMC program in 2010, I landed a job at Google’s Finance Vertical, working closely with major financial advertisers to provide integrated, cutting edge, and effective digital marketing campaigns.

During my time at Emerson, I focused my study on marketing professional services and wrote an extensive directed study on the financial industry’s use of social media (best practices, missed opportunities, and next steps) in a post-crisis world.

My research became the most important credential in my job hunt (and a unique leave-behind for interviewers). Knowing exactly what niche of my field I wanted to work in definitely helped to hone in my job search, and identifying exact strengths and interests is the first step of the job-hunting process.

While I certainly do not have any secret formula for finding a job, I can impart these simple bits of wisdom that I hope will help you on your own journey:

1)      Leverage your network and connections. Never underestimate the power of networking, and not only in the  sense of chatting up everyone you know—from the dentist to your landlord—to see who knows about job openings. Yes, it’s important to let people know you’re on the lookout for work, but it is equally important to get your in front of the right people. . Always be on the lookout to make new connections, but also maintain strong relationships with coworkers and colleagues you’ve met along the way. (It’s not just about how wide, but also how deep your network is.) If you meet a fascinating person at an industry event, don’t file away their business card if they can’t offer you a job that very moment. Continue to stay in contact with them—email periodically, share articles you find interesting, and ask them if they would like to be an informal mentor to you. If and when they hear about a cool job opportunity, not only will you come to mind, but they can vouch for you personally and professionally.

2)      Be a human sponge for information. Be insatiably curious about everything. Don’t disqualify learning a certain skill or talking to an individual just because it is not directly correlated to what you ultimately want to do. You shouldn’t look at the job hunting process as a means to an end—along the way you will meet interesting people and learn new skills. Either of these could open the door to your future job. Job hunting is pretty random that way; you never know what lead or path will be your big break.

3) Be a Renaissance (wo)man. I always functioned under the assumption that if I was vying for a specific job, so were at least a handful (if not hundreds) of people with resumes that looked just like mine—similar education, similar work experience, etc. So what could I do to stand out? Well, I include a robust “Additional Skills/Information” section in my resume. You know that part where everyone writes they can use PowerPoint and email? What a waste of space! Here you can talk about all the things that occupy your waking hours when you’re not working or getting a masters degree. Do you guest write for a blog or compete on a crew team? These may seem like random, irrelevant tidbits to include on a resume, but they speak to your commitment, teamwork, and ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously. Not to mention it just makes you sound like a really interesting person.

4) Do some soul-searching. Before you write the first cover letter or send your resume to anyone, you should sit down and clearly define what you want. Ask yourself—

a.       What aspect of the business or industry you want to work in? (i.e. textbook publishing, marketing agency, sports journalism, etc.)

b.      What kind of job in that sector you want? (i.e. editor, market research, etc.)

c.       What you personally can offer to that job on day one? (i.e. previous experience in the field, amazing analytics skills, etc.)

d.      How will this job further your career? It’s never too early to start planning your next step, and most employers understand and encourage that kind of forward thinking.

You should be able to answer these questions for both yourself and a potential employer. I promise they will come up in an interview! Good luck out there!

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