Landing that "Grown Up" Job in the "Real World"

I took a year off in between undergraduate and graduate school because I didn’t decide to apply to grad school until I was almost finished being an undergrad. Once I made the decision to apply, I formulated what seemed like a simple plan at the time: move to location of desired grad school, find a job in a field of interest and continue working while taking classes. Armed with a bachelor’s degree and a strong desire to work, I thought it would be relatively easy to find a permanent, full-time, entry level office job. The past two years have taught me that a degree is not a free pass into the working world: dues must be paid to the gods of drudgery, boredom and coffee runs before the job with nameplate, paid vacation/sick time and health benefits is landed.

Although it’s not directly related to anything I hope to be doing in the future, I believe my job has given me valuable experience dealing with clients, co-workers, stress and the frustration that comes with being a cog in a corporate machine. All kidding aside, working in the “real” world has made me realize how important it is to have goals beyond getting a job that will pay the bills. I am happy with my job for now, but this is largely due to the fact that I know that I have other options and my “permanent” job is only temporary in reality.

If you are like I was and working in coffee shops, restaurants and clothing stores during your time in grad school doesn’t appeal to you, you may be wondering how to find that “grown up” office job with benefits. There are no hard and fast rules, but here are a few tips that helped me obtain my current job:

· Consider temp work. It may seem degrading, but working through a temporary employment agency is one of the best ways to gain experience and make connections at companies that may prove useful in the future. I was a temp at various companies before landing a position without the aid of a staffing agency. Some of the national temporary staffing agencies are: OfficeTeam, Kelly Services, Adecco, Randstad, Aerotek and Staffing Now.

· Listen more than talk during the interview process. Once I gained enough experience temping that my resume stopped falling into a black hole every time I applied for a job on Monster and CareerBuilder, I started going on interviews. After several failed meetings, I learned that successful interviews are not so much about answering questions as they are about carefully listening to the interviewer and clearly articulating responses that include their descriptions of the position, the skills required and the company.

· Write professional, personalized, thank you letters. My mother, along with every job hunting book I read, kept harping on the importance of writing a thank you letter after each and every interview. They weren’t kidding. The personalized thank you letters that I crafted to each one of the three people that interviewed me for my current position are largely why I was hired. My employers were impressed with my writing abilities and the initiative I took to reach out to them. It’s as simple as thanking them for their time, expressing an interest in the job and giving reasons why you are the best candidate.