Work

After 6 weeks of working, I’ve decided careers are pretty cool-I work on projects semi similar to what I did in college (nice work, ETSU!), plus I get to be around super smart people and soak in everything they’re saying/doing and then watch how their actions unfold and make mental notes on if I should handle similar situations in my future like they just handled their situation.  And the best part is, I’m getting paid!!!! 

But what’s most important is that I’m learning.  I’m learning and experiencing and thinking. 

I’ve also come to the conclusion that what someone does (aka their job title) is not what they DO.  Whether it’s working retail, delivering packages, raising toddlers, managing a Fortune 500 company, or teaching college students, we’re strangely all doing the same thing, which is functioning society.   Work is a lot less about duties, and a lot more about interacting with people and being positive and creating a nice energy.  I really like that. 

Since moving to New York, I have also been reminded of how truly lucky I am to have such an incredible family and to have formed such amazing friendships throughout elementary school, high school, and college.   I know this is where I’m supposed to be, but I do miss you all very, very much.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man” – George Bernard Shaw

Newness

First of all, Happy New Year!  Everything feels so fresh and…new!!  I’m not really a resolution maker, but I do like making goals for the upcoming year.  So far I have two specific goals for the year: 1. Go to trapeze school! (http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/) I saw a trapeze school session last summer and absolutely fell in love! Ok, and the trapeze episode of Sex and the City may have had a small influence on me.    2. Add more stillness to my life.  (I know, could my two goals be more opposite?!) In November I had the chance to meet and become friends with Gabrielle Bernstein.  Gabby is a super cool entrepreneur (she created http://www.herfuture.com/, http://gabbyb.tv/, and wrote the book Add More ~Ing  to Your Life). She is all about inner peace and oneness and all that stuff.  I’m all about creating good energy and being kind to yourself and others, but Gabby has introduced me to a whole new level…a year ago I couldn’t even make it through a yoga session without bursting into laughter (for some reason balancing on one foot and chanting “hummm” is really funny to me). Despite my past ability to take yoga and meditation seriously, I believe that we all have incredible brain power, we just have to take time to access and listen to it. So, I’m making it my personal goal to take time to be still each day.  I’m going to need all the brain power I can get with my new job!

Speaking of my new job, today is my first day. I am sooo excited! Obviously, my blog is going to be taking a bit of a new direction and instead of talking about interviews and cover letters, I will be talking about 401ks and Roth IRAs (Ahhh  new vocab, so exciting!).  As a side note, I am EXTREMELY PASSIONATE about all of YOU listening to your intuition and following your dreams, so if you’re still on your job search and want some advice or insight PLEASE  reach out to me and I’ll be happy to help you! Thankfully, during my time in Tennessee over the holiday, my wonderful family gave me tons of encouragement about starting my new job and I read the book New Girl on the Job by Hannah Seligson.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is new to the workforce-lots of great advice!

“”Now” is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is just a method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your dream. You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating.”
                          -Barbara Sher

Lessons Learned From A Recent Grad

A couple of months ago, I started thinking about what advice I would give someone who was in my shoes.  Since quite a few of my friends are graduating in the coming weeks, I decided now would be the perfect time to share my thoughts on the notorious feeling of ‘I graduated, now what?!?!’

I hope you guys find my insight helpful.  If you have anything to add, feel free to contribute!

Lessons Learned From A Recent Grad:

For the first time in our lives we are not given a syllabus that tells us exactly what to expect over the next few months or even how to go about starting the process of “launching a career”.

 Throughout my life I have always been crafty, driven, and for the most part extremely lucky, but over the last few months I have found myself questioning my abilities and good fortune.  I believe that I am not alone in this postgrad perplexity, so I am going to share some of the lessons I have learned on this journey to find my place in the world after college.  My hope is that this advice may assist you in the coming months and put a little ease on your stress of finding a job, because you are not alone my friends.

1.)    Be great at whatever you are doing right now.  Yes, you may not have your dream job yet, but that does not mean you should slack off.  Staying positive and working efficiently will do nothing but help you on your path to success. 

2.)    Stay current in your industry.  Hopefully you already know this, but chances are when you go in for an interview the interviewer is going to ask you how you feel about current happenings in your chosen field.  Make sure you do your homework beforehand. 

3.)    It may take a kick in the pants to make you soar. If you do not end up landing that position that you had your heart set on, move on as quickly as possible.  The sooner you set up another interview, the sooner you will stop basking in your sorrow and start regaining your confidence. Also, a kick in the pants is a huge reality check that the world is not always as kind as our professors.

4.)    Have fun, but do not be lazy.  Enjoy the fact that you no longer have papers to write and tests to study for, but make sure you are setting aside ample time to research companies and apply for jobs.  And yes, it is ok to make an occasional appearance at a college party for old-time sake, but try not to make a habit of it. 

5.)    Look at everyone as a teacher and every experience as a lesson.  If you allow it, you can learn more about yourself and the world in the coming months than you ever thought possible.  Listening and embracing your present situation are key.

6.)    Be true to yourself-Your happiness is most important.  Don’t feel like you have to sell yourself short because the economy is not at its best.  Stay persistent in your search and determined to find the right job for yourself. 

7. )  Make a move. You are never going to have this much freedom again in your life, so go after your dreams!   There is no regret in trying, and besides, most of us do not have much to lose at this point anyway.

Goodbye Resume, Hello Career

It’s been 218 days since I graduated college, 70 days since I made my permanent move to New York City, and 4 days since I accepted the job offer at the ad agency!!!  I cannot believe that I FINALLY get to say farewell to my resume, careerbuilder.com, praying that a get enough babysitting gigs to pay my rent, and having peanut butter be my primary source of protein. These past few months have not been a piece of cake, but they were SOOO worth it!  When I graduated college my goal was to start my career in NYC either at an ad agency working on a big brand or doing in-house marketing for a big brand AND HERE I AM DOING EXACTLY THAT!

Fear & Money

Last week I made a really, really hard decision.  Long story short, I have been interviewing at 2 different companies over the past 3 weeks.  One of the companies is a large ad agency working on a big brand (aka pretty much THE opportunity I came to New York to pursue); the other company is a corporate event planning company that pays well and has really nice employees.  About two weeks ago I got an invitation to come in for yet another interview at the ad agency (I was soo excited!) and the very next day I got an offer from the event company. I had one week to accept the offer from the event company, so I rescheduled my interview at the ad agency for an earlier date and hoped that the best possible scenario would occur-I would get two offers.  My interview went really well at the ad agency but because it was a short week (because of Thanksgiving)  it was impossible for them to actually make me an offer or not.  So, I had to make the decision to accept the offer from the event company (which had a larger starting salary) or take a risk and hope things work out at the ad agency.  It was honestly one of hardest decisions I’ve ever made.  I went back and forth the entire week seeking advice from my family and friends.  Finally, I woke up Thanksgiving morning with complete clarity-I was letting money and fear get in the way of what I moved to New York to do–get big brand experience.  So, I turned down the job offer at the event company (I know, some of you probably think I’m crazy!).  I think I’m a bit crazy too, but my Dad gave me great advice a few days ago when he told me that in his business anytime he didn’t go with his gut was when he ended up not making the best business decisions.  Intuition is a strange thing, but I believe when you listen to it, great things can happen…I sure hope I’m right!

I’m sure many of you can attest to the feelings I’ve had over the last few months of negativity and feeling like nothing was ever going to work out while on my job search, but I’ve been trying to remind myself that God WANTS me to succeed.  It’s so amazing to feel the support and love from all my friends and family both far away and local.  I’m far away from home but somehow have ended up becoming roommates with one of my amazing childhood friends, having one of my very best  friends also pursue her career here, one of my other best friends living in PA which is only a train ride away, and also making a new network of  friends here in New York since my very first summer interning here. 

As for the ad agency…no news yet.  But either way, I know everything will work out beautifully.

“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” -Buddha

Brilliant Delays

Well, this is the end.  That is right my friends, I believe this may be the finale of the Kelly Marlow Quest for a Career Starting Job.  Nothing is set in stone, but I have a feeling that the time has come.  I just looked back at my past blog posts starting with graduation and it is CRAZY to see how much I’ve learned and grown over the past 6 months.  This past weekend I was told, “Before you can truly be successful, you have to come to the end of yourself.  Humility brings knowledge, and it isn’t until you feel useless and spent that you become useful.”  I could not agree more.  These past 6 months have not been a piece of cake, but I would wait another 6 months to embark on the incredible opportunity I’m hopefully about to begin. 

Looking back, these are the things that I attribute to not going completely crazy these past few months and hightailing it back to TN.

The Top 5 Reasons I Survived the Job Hunt:

1. I accepted that I was poor.  Being poor has sucked, BUT not running out of money has sucked less. 
2. I realized that rejection would happen and learned not to take it too personally.  Whoa, that first rejection stung, but honestly it got easier the more no’s I heard.  Moving on as quickly as possible has been KEY! I learned that I didn’t even have to be completely healed from my past rejection to still do awesome in my next interview.
3. I found an AMAZING “meantime” job that I REALLY ENJOYED and paid my rent, yet still allowed me to job hunt and go on interviews. 
4. I tried, above everything else, to remain balanced.  This was not easy, especially since I’ve been trying to get settled into my new home, have had to deal with all the crap that comes along with job hunting, and have had a very limited budget.  After two months on an emotional rollercoaster I have realized to remain truly happy I have to make time for myself, make time for others, exercise, and remember to breathe.
5. I accepted the fact that I was going to go through some suffering.

Most of all, I had an amazing support system, tried to remain patient, and EXPECTED MIRACLES!!! 

The Brand of You (Interviewing Advice)

So, I’m starting to feel like I could write a book on interviewing, but I’m going to write a blog post on it instead.  I’m not an expert (if I was I would probably have a job right now…funny, but not so funny) but I think this advice could help.  If you think of anything I left out please feel free to contribute.  We’re all in this together!

Bring Along Tangible Proof:  While in college, I was lucky enough to have a professor who put a lot of emphasis on learning how to sell yourself.  I thought I was doing a great job by bringing along several copies of my resume printed on nice paper with my super savvy business card attached (created by my EXTREMELY talented designer friend) to my interviews.  Recently, after some heartbreaking rejections, I discovered that I was not showing enough “wow” to truly stand out from the crowd.  I upped my appeal on my last two interviews by also attaching two letters of recommendation to my resume/biz card combo, and also created a “brag book”.  I always thought brag books/portfolios were for the kids that were trying to get design/creative jobs, but a recruiter gave me the advice to go ahead and bring writing samples and projects (even if it’s just the text of project) to interviews.  I took his advice, and I must say it has really helped to be able to show proof that I actually did do an entire industry analysis in college or really did come up with a marketing campaign for a small business. 

The Elevator Pitch: In my last two interviews I have been asked the question “Why should we hire you?”  I know this isn’t that odd of an interview question, but I honestly hadn’t taken the time to truly think of three outstanding reasons I should be hired.  In past interviews, I talked about my past internships and my education, but when I really started thinking about it that wasn’t why I was different from other candidates.  Unless you went to Wharton or had an apprenticeship with Donald Trump, it’s probably not how you stand out either. 

Don’t Piss Yourself Off When You’re About to Try to Sell Yourself: Today I went on a 2^nd interview with a corporate event planning company.  At the beginning of the interview, my interviewer commented that I was acting a bit more nervous today than I had on my first interview.  I wasn’t actually more nervous, but my feet were killing me because I had chosen to wear some “oh, so chic” heeled boots. When I got home after the interview, I was super annoyed with myself for not shining like I had in my first interview.  Then, I started thinking about it and I did the same thing last week during the two interviews I had at an ad agency. The day I wore those stupid boots I did not sell myself as well as the day that I wore comfy but cute heels.  Note to self:  The shoes aren’t going to get me the job!

Do research!:  For goodness sake, I should not have to go into detail about this. 

Have Questions!!!: At every interview I’ve gone on the interviewer has asked me if I have any questions.  I always make sure that I have a couple of questions prepared, but I found this article last week and it has been a life saver!  Check it out:  http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2411-Interviewing-9-Interview-Questions-You-Should-Be-Asking/

Send a Follow-Up no matter what:  Always, always, always send a short and sweet follow-up email after the interview.  If you really want the job, send a handwritten card as well. 

I hope this advice helps, my job-seeking friends!  Keep trekking; the right job is out there!

Things to Do and Read

The last few days have been really, really good.  I had a fantastic interview on Thursday, so as always time will tell!  It’s been pretty amazing looking back to see how each time one opportunity didn’t work out another even better opportunity has come along.  Although everything hasn’t gone exactly my way in the past couple months, God is definitely on my side.  For instance the first two jobs that I really wanted but didn’t end up getting are NOTHING compared to the position I interviewed for this past week.  Also, thank goodness the apartment that I really wanted back in August ended up falling through because the place I live now is a million times better.  And just to think, I thought the world was ending when I didn’t get my way…hindsight really is 20/20.

Since I’ve moved to New York I’ve read a ton of books because I have quite a bit of subway time every day, so here are a few of my recommended reads:

For a cute/airy read: The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

This book is adorable.  It’s about a woman in her early thirties who gets fired from her job and goes on to create her own unique company.  Melissa, the main character, is comparable to Bridget Jones and you can’t help but love her!

For the brutal truth: He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

Yea, I know you’ve seen the movie a million times.  I don’t care, RUN to your nearest Barnes and Noble (or library if you’re a cheapo like me) and get this book.  I almost did an entire blog post on this book but I decided not to.  I will share my three favorite pieces of advice from the book though:

1.) “If you date, you will meet your share of weirdos and jerks.  That is as sure as death and taxes.  The only thing in your control is how long you allow these gentlemen to take up space in your life.  In case you’re not sure, it should be about ten minutes from when they first display their completely unacceptable behavior.”

2.) “Does he make it clear in his actions every day that your happiness is important to him? If the answer is no, cut him loose and go find a man with higher good count.”

3.) “Life is hard enough as it is without choosing someone difficult to share it with.”

Now, go get the book and pick out your own three favorite pieces of advice! And remember my friends, you are exceptional and deserve someone great!

For a reality check/inspiration for your abnormal thoughts: Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod

Ok, so part of the reason that I love this book so much is because Hugh talks a lot about the start of his career, which he started in New York, so I could really identify with him.  BUT even if you don’t live in New York, you should read this book.  I guess it’s considered a leadership/business book but it doesn’t feel like it at all.  I found myself laughing and taking lots of notes, which in my opinion means it’s an outstanding book.

This past weekend I went to Bryant Park to look at all the shops that are set up for the Christmas season.  There is this lady in the city that takes Polaroid pictures and does this weird “peal the picture apart while it’s still developing” thingy. I thought I’d lost her forever because she used to have a booth set up in Union Square but then she disappeared.  Anyway, I found her again last night in Bryant Park and was sooo excited about it!   If you live in New York, go to Bryant Park and check out her stuff.  If you don’t live in New York go to http://www.studiomanhattan.com/

The Empire State Building from Bryant Park. Even though I see this every day, I still get goosebumps

The other thing that I think you should do is to go to the store and buy Coffee Mate Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer.  I bought some today, and can officially say my life is complete!

Making Changes

Last night I found this awesome article about women entrepreneurs : http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/2010/08/18/20-amazing-women-entrepreneurs/ (check it out!)  One of the entrepreneurs featured is the founder of a company that I had an informational interview with yesterday, and while I was there I found out they have an entry-level account position available!!  I cannot stress enough to all my job-seeking friends the beauty of informational interviews.  I’ve been on several and I always learn a TON and this one may end up landing me an awesome job that I would have never known about without an informational interview!

One of the other entrepreneurs featured in the article created an AMAZING social networking site for girls.  It’s called  http://www.herfuture.com/ and I highly suggest making a profile whether you’re still in high school or in retirement.  It has some very inspirational stories and motivation.  Some of the stories are super heartbreaking because I can remember feeling the same way in college, not knowing what I want to do with my life.  BUT the beautiful thing about life is that you can try on as many hats as you want and go down as many paths as you want.  I don’t understand why so many people think they are stuck where they are right now forever. Seasons change, semesters end, your child gets older, yada yada yada.   As for the things that you can personally change, go change them! I cannot express how liberating it is to be doing exactly what I want to be doing!  I don’t really even understand my happiness right now considering I haven’t found my career starting job and I’m broke BUT I AM SO HAPPY.

Fashion & Freaks

The past two weeks have been pretty busy. I’ve worked two different fashion press previews with companies out of LA. (I officially love people from CA; as a whole they’re super nice and laid back!) The press previews were really cool because I got to meet editors of really awesome magazines like Nylon, In Style, Ok, O…you get the point, PLUS I got free clothes! This was extra nice considering I’m about to go crazy trying to live a shop-free life in New York! Working the previews was like trying on the careers of people in fashion PR for a few days which was an awesome experience. My favorite part of the experience was talking with the founders/CEOs of the two companies and learning about how they turned their visions into successful companies…super inspiring!

I found out about a week ago that I didn’t land the position that I was hoping for, so the job hunt continues. I got some great advice awhile back when a friend told me that the best way to get over not landing a job is to go on another interview as quickly as possible, so that’s what I’m doing. I allowed myself one day to be sad about it, and the next day I made the decision to move on with a day full of babysitting and a night full of celebrating Halloween. I always forget how much I love Halloween until the day actually comes and ends up being super fun.

Although my life is anything but easy (if you want an easy life don’t live in New York) I absolutely love being here.  The Village Voice put it pretty perfectly in a recent post: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/11/50_reasons_to_b.php

Halloween!

The Swag Table at the Press Preview! Yep, I got to take these goodies home!