Three months following my graduation, I have finally arrived at my destination. The road may have been tedious and lengthy but dedication, patience and motivation propelled me to enjoy the fruit of my labor.
I never really documented about these things in this blog before, but here I am now writing about the many miles I travelled in this journey including the myriad of lessons I learned along the way. With free time in my hands, I can finally get these thoughts off my chest. So here it goes…
It wasn’t long ago when I flipped to this tedious chapter entitled “The Great Job Hunt”. Looking for a practicum site was already tiresome, what more with the first full-time job upon the conferral of my college diploma? As is the norm amongst jobseekers, I sent my resumes online via email and jobsites (i.e. Jobstreet, Indeed, Kalibrr). Many of my applications resulted to either the black hole or a rejection letter in my inbox for they have found the perfect fit for the position.
As we speak of rejection letters, I’m pretty sure all of us have been passed over for a job at least once in our life. Nobody, including yours truly, wants to read those gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, hairpulling emails wishing you the best in your job search. Nobody wants to open a message with the subject “Thank You” or “Position Closed” because it only means close but no cigar for you.Above all things, nothing stings more than getting declined from what you thought was the perfect job.
We’ve all been there: head up in the clouds because you nailed the interview which further increases your chances at close to 99.9% only to receive a no or a string of crickets in the end.This leads me back to the time when I found an opening for the position of content writer in August. Oh wow, I could finally write for a living! Everything in the job description met the criteria I desired in the ideal job. So then I applied, passed the video interview and finished it off with a writing sample on local organic food.
Things were going so well I until one Tuesday over lunch when my phone beeped to an email notification over a lunch consisting of noodles and roasted chicken. Slowly I opened my inbox to read the entirety of the incoming message.
Waves of disappointment crashed down as soon as I read these words: “We regret to inform that you have not been selected for the position. There’s a high volume of applicants competing for the spot…”
There are a few events I could think off from the top of my head that illustrate this heartbreak perfectly: Titanic, an eighteen-wheeler falling off a cliff, that infamous Game 7 featuring the Bruins vs. Leafs, the LA Clippers in Game 6 vs. the Rockets, last year’s Sharks collapse after being up 3-0 in the series, and some Tamaraw hitting a buzzer beater over the Green Archers to reach the UAAP men’s basketball finals last year. The pain was extremely excruciating a stream of tears rolled down my cheek as I tried to concentrate on an infographic I was working for my remote internship.
Between revisions of cover letters and career advice from LinkedIn was a litany of questions. Will I land a job that I really want - one that will give me career progression, high morale, acquisition of a stronger skill set and a jovial working environment? Is there a company out there who’d be glad to take me in? Will I have the same level of success in my job search just like the few who were fortunate enough to land a job a month or two after graduation?
Quite frankly, these desperate times made me wonder, “How am I good enough when I’m almost always passed over for a better candidate?” What came with the staggering pile of frustrations was the doubt reeling over my abilities because I couldn’t get the nod at the final hurdle. Part of me wanted to throw in the towel since the results were underwhelming so far.
But you know what? God placed me in these challenges to help me grow not only as a jobseeker but also as a person overall. Faith, perseverance and patience were all it took for me to come back stronger and move on with the rest of my job search. All these shortcomings were His way of telling they’re not in the cards for me and that He has better plans in store. Little did I know, the big man upstairs was indeed preparing me for something greater than my expectations.
Last week was filled with trips around the metro, copywriting exams, qualifying exams more difficult than the the average college entrance exam, interviews, traffic rushes and mobs out of nowhere from recruiters down the street. Everything happened at the spur of the moment even as my internship duties, preseason hockey, 5 AM alarms, prayers and happy thoughts were thrown in the mix of my hectic schedule. If you ask me, six interviews in four days is no cake in the walk considering the venues were a bit distant from each other and there’s no excuse for tardiness. However, I never gave up even when my knuckles hurt from drafting copy at copywriting exams for over three to four hours. At the end of each interview / exam day that week, I whispered to myself, “There’s a job for me out there, all I have to do is to do well and trust God with His plans.” Believe me, it worked - and in the most unexpected way possible.
Last Thursday was my interview for a marketing position at Viviamo, the creator of the fabulous Belle de Jour Power Planner I’ve been enamored with since high school. Questions about my skills and experience were asked and the management elaborated on the company’s culture and the position’s responsibilities. I grew more enchanted and thrilled as time went on. Thirty-five minutes later, one of the heads uttered these life-changing words:
“We’d like to give you the job offer now but we think it’ll be best if we send it via email instead. We’ll text you once we’ve sent it to your inbox.”
Four hours later, I opened my email account with a grin on my face.
After three months of botched cover letters, unspoken lines at interviews and endless career advice, I finally heard the words I’ve been waiting to hear since forever.
I GOT THE JOB!!
Tomorrow will be my first day of work. Almost a week has passed since the initial offer but I still get excited over it. I am sure I’ll love this. What a journey it has been. I’m grateful for God and my loved ones for the unwavering support they’ve given me during the job hunt. I couldn’t imagine what would have been if it weren’t for their support throughout this stage of my life.
On another note, I’d like to express my gratitude to the entire team of picVpic for granting me the opportunity to be one of their digital marketing and copywriting interns the past eight weeks. They gave me the necessary training for a future career in digital media, editorial and marketing and communications - a few of the things I see myself succeeding in for the next five years or so. This internship helped me maximize my potential and I can’t thank them enough for everything during this experience.
Last but not the least, what’s a story without insights gained? Don’t compare yourself to others because each one of us is running at our own pace in this long, winding road to success. Social media can be distressing at times especially when it seems everyone has gotten a job but that shouldn’t be the primary indicator of how you perceive your life. Each one of us is entitled to succeed in our own pace; hence, it’s never too late to land the job for you. Failure is a foundation of success and experiences like these should motivate you rather than destroy you. Most importantly, NEVER GIVE UP. All good things happen at the right time when you continuously display tenacity in everything you do.
And that kids, is the story of a rollercoaster ride called the job hunt. I couldn’t be any happier.
