Thank you all so much for the advice and info. I really do appreciate it. This definitely makes me feel less alone on the issue. I'm sure everyone has similar struggles, but I got it in my head that I was probably less-equipped for the job search. It's all about persistence.
Don't worry if the worst happens and everything else failed, you can still come back to this and it will always work.
sell pest control door to door. If you get good enough to sell 10 a day you're gonna start making the big bucks.
Go to job fairs. The school I graduated from had some companies that you didn't want to work for but, give those jobs atleast one year and a lot more opportunities can open up for you. A lot of companies are out there that hire for entry level sales. Get in good with any kind of entry level sales job and do well and you'll have an amazing amount of jobs that open up to you if you're successful after a year or two. You can take your experience to a job board like medreps.com that post great jobs in the medical industry. It seems like these days, if you don't have an accounting or engineering degree that most of your job opportunities lie in entry level sales. Or, you could join the Navy/Airforce/Army/Marines. You get paid more and have a higher rank with a degree and a lot of times signing bonuses that help pay off any school loans.
Just a few tips: CAREER DOCUMENTS 1. Resume- develop your resume so that your education section comes first and your work experience follows, unless you have held positions as a creative writer. In your education section, under your degree title and university, put Major Writing Projects and list 3-5, with a brief 1-2 sentence of each written work. EX: Major Writing Projects: + "Night Falls Softly"- a short story detailing the adventures of ... + "The Confidence Game Part 2" - a poem that illustrates .... ** A portfolio will be provided upon request. 2. Portfolio- put together a portfolio of your creative work- poems, short stories, one-act plays, etc. Only send for a job ad if it is requested- many will ask for this, though. Always bring to the interview. 3. References Page- most people just write the name, job title, phone number, and email address for each reference- the standard list. If you really want this to stand out, you can create a 2-column document- on the left, include the standard name of reference, number, email, etc. On the right, give a 1-2 sentence description of your relationship with the reference. I can't do the column format in this box, but it would be something like: Left Column 1st Reference John Doe Professor, XYZ University (555) 555-5555 johndoe@aol.com Right Column Dr. Doe was the instructor for my Creative Writing 101 class in the Spring Semester of 2006. He can provide information regarding the quality of my short stories and other creative pieces, including my ability to develop memorable characters. Or take quotes off the letters of recommendation from your references: Right Column "Steve was an excellent student in my class. He created richly detailed short stories that truly captured my attention.." - John Doe, Letter of Recommendation It's not something for everyone, but it can be an extremely effective tool if done the right way. As long as you have the list of references, you're fine. This is just a nice touch to add. 4. Thank You Letter- send a thank-you letter after EVERY interview. 94% of job seekers neglect to send a TY letter following an interview, and the 6% who do position themselves ahead of their competition. 5. Cover Letter- if you have the time, include a paragraph about what you know regarding their organization- and the part of your background that relates to this: "In researching your organization, I learned that CyberEdit.com is most interested in creative work tailored towards a young adult audience. The majority of my creative pieces, including XXX and YYY, are centered around the trials and concerns of ...." Although this is from a different field, insert this paragraph in a letter that reads something like: (Date) Mr./Ms. A. Recipient Title Company name Company address Dear Mr./Ms. Recipient: I am writing in regards to the advertised Nurse Practitioner position. As I am passionate about the health care field, I am truly excited about the potential opportunity to join your nursing team. Therefore, please accept my resume for your review and consideration. Before I came to nursing, my undergraduate work was in Microbiology. I spent four years at the XYZ Research Center studying viruses in a basic science lab. Working as a microbiologist at the XYZ Laboratory in the Virology/ Serology/ HIV/Chlamydia section, I performed testing and outreach teaching to county health departments for rapid HIV testing, earning commendations from my supervisors for my efforts and dedication. My training at XYZ University has provided a diverse arena for preparation towards my nursing career. I have gained experience and skills working in a variety of different situations, including the following: * Complex, elderly populations at XYZ for the Elderly unit; * Northwest XYZ nursing home and assisted living rounding; * Primary care experience across the lifespan at XYZ Family Practice; * Pediatrics at XYZ Associates in Tacoma; * Rotations in Women’s Healthcare at Planned Parenthood; * Urgent care at XYZ Urgent Care in North Bend. Now, I look forward to a future of learning and improving my skills through clinical practice and interaction with other health care professionals. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to speaking with you soon. Sincerely, JOB SEARCH: a. Like the other poster mentioned, go to your career center. They can help you with job leads and other job search endeavors. b. Job sites- you can post your resume to Monster, Career Builder, or Hot Jobs, but that usually generates a .05% response. Apply directly to ads- in the cover letter, tell them why you are the ideal candidate for their consideration. Be confident, but not arrogant. ** If you are asked to copy-and-paste your resume into an online form, you can't use a Microsoft Word document without potential incompatibility problems. You have to create a Plain Text version. When your resume is complete, open it up, click Save As, save as a different file name (e.g. johnson, bob resume PT), and save as a Plain Text document (in versions older than XP, Word may call this Text Only, but in XP, 2003, and 2007, it is Plain Text). This version is the only kind that is 100% compatible with online copying-and-pasting. Now, if they ask you to simply upload your document, use the MS Word version. ** If you do post on Monster, make sure to go back after 30 days if applicable and click on Renew. Here's why- when employers prepare to view resumes posted on Monster, they have 2 options: View All Resumes View All Resumes Posted within the Past 30 Days Guess which one they choose? If your resume is posted on Monster for more than 30 days and you don't Renew it, it's going to get little-to-no views. c. Do searches on Google for Creative Writing Jobs or Writing Jobs. Since many of these will not require you to relocate, you don't have to type Creative Writing Jobs in Houston, TX. d. Like someone else said, keep your options open. Apply for anything that requires writing- marketing and sales departments need copywriters, non-profit organizations need newsletter writers/producers, etc. Google is your best friend because you can be creative with your searches.
http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/ Try to find some freelance writing jobs. I imagine if you want a career out of college in writing, you will need some clippings to share with prospective employers. Good luck.
This is very good advice. And to make it a little more specific, you might look into Paralegal positions. I was also an english major and when I graduated this looked like one of the more interesting, well paid jobs, that I had a decent chance of landing with a BA in English and a strong writing background. I ended up entering a masters program instead.
Worst case scenario you could always become a technical writer or technical editor. I have several friends with creative writing degrees who have gone this route. There are still plenty of technology jobs out there, and not just for software people. Software guys are notoriously bad communicators, so it's an important need. (a technical writer for one of the places I've worked at has written a couple of episodes of Friends... it was kind of fun talking to her about how she ended up working for us) Another friend of mine who is an exceptional writer and editor is working for the people who make the TAKS test (or whatever they call it these days) to ensure that the questions are clear, correct, etc. Maybe not as much creative expression, but probably more availability in terms of steady jobs you could get strait out of college.
Just so you know I've been researching every field mentioned in this thread, and it's opened my eyes to a lot of things I would never have thought of. Thank you! Also, dandorotik - awesome advice on the resume. I know mine needs re-vamped.
One quick note to all you kiddies applying for jobs. Proof your cover letters. Proof them again. And ask a friend, who is good at grammer and spelling, to proof them again. Then proof them before you send them out. If you're using a template, proof twice as often to ensure your mail merge or "find and replace" didn't miss a field. You wouldn't believe the number of applications we received with spelling and/or grammer errors. Others where "company b" remained in the document even though we were "company c." These resumes go straight to the bin. Sounds simple and obvious....but you'd be surprised how often it's not followed. Good luck.
One other quick note to applicants: Be nice and polite to whomever you speak to in the company. Especially the receptionist. Especially in a smaller company. We rejected more then a few otherwise stellar candidates when the receptionist told us they were rude or unpleasant on the phone. And she will tell!
Use the career services at UH. Those people do know what they are talking about. I had been gainfully employed for over 5 years since getting out of undergrad, and having the UHCL head career guy go over my resume during grad school last year was a VERY useful experience. There are a lot of simple tricks to make a resume more effective.
i am under simliar pressure, applied to probably over 70 internships, only a few have arranged interviews for me thus far. i am about to go ballistic, even lost some of my hair (granted its rather long right now). im graduating in another year or so, and i am getting a degree in english along with another major and minor. like someone said, resume is the most important thing, it has to look nice, but not myspace trashy, definitely brush up on that. in addition, since you are a creative writer, have you thought about advertising companies? they are ususally looking for bloggers, or people who can think of witty stuff to say. maybe try paralegal? really, most people with a major probably dont stick to that major when getting a job. just think openly, dont constrain yourself to too few openings.
I think technical writers make alot of money. you should look into that if you want to sell out i think they just write documentation for software all day orrr have you thought about writing for TV or cartoons? That could be really fun. Just create some screenplays on your own to throw in your portfolio you have a ton of options! good luck
The one thing college taught me is that it doesn't matter what you choose to do, it just matters that you choose to do it promptly. Law or medicine or journalism or business or academics are not skill-intensive fields until you get to the very top. That is, all you have to do is put in the time, study, and show up where you're supposed to show up (extracurriculars and research) and you will be able to reach the next level without fail. But see, putting in the time is not easy when people in college are telling you "Relax, explore your options, go abroad, focus on what interests you" because that is just the worst advice you could ever get. I decided finally to pursue my field at the beginning of my junior year, and I paid two years post-graduation for it where many of my peers went immediately from college to the next level. In business many people have done internships from their freshman summer forward, and in pre-med those pancakes are doing research and volunteering in their freshman year already. Something I see a lot of English grads without much background do is go teach for a couple of years. Teach for America's applications are closed for this summer, but there are plenty of other groups that sponsor teachers to work on a two year commitment. And it beats the Peace Corps.
I know for a fact my resumes never have any spelling or grammatical errors, I pride myself on that. The crappy thing about my resume is that I have very little to put on it. Past job experience: car hop at Sonic! Cashier at Jason's Deli! I have a feeling potential employers will laugh in my face. I feel your pain. I applied/sent resumes to/called at least 50 or so. It's disheartening. A lot of students get internships because their parents know someone. I'm jealous of everyone who just gets these internships handed to them. But whatever, that's life. Honestly I'd never even thought about paralegal jobs before I read it in this thread. It's intriguing and there seems to be a lot of entry-level opportunities out there. I'm very wary of public relations/advertising jobs because most of the "firms" on every site I go to show up on the scam sites. I don't know why that is, but I'm worried about the marketing jobs listed online.
yeah theres a lot of scams out there, but my school uses nacelink search engine, and its been really good to me so far. the one company that i might intern with (they won't even pay me lol..only transportation stipend), i researched them a bit, they got great credentials. its a small advertisement company, and they needed a writer with a bit of PR knowledge. hopefully everything works out. best of luck with your search, just be persistant, im sure you will find something.
Our fields are different, but my personal experience is that it's actually worse to list job experience unrelated to the job you're applying for, particularly if those positions are minimum wage, skill-less jobs like working at Sonic. (no offense) I've worked at Astroworld, Franklin-Covey at the mall, lots of places on campus when I was in college (burger flipping, janitorial work, etc.), and also for my uncle in the air conditioning business, but none of those things are or were on my resume when I was looking for a real job out of college. People just don't care about that kind of stuff, and I think it actually makes you look worse because it's like you're trying to dream up something to put on your resume. The best thing you can do is customize your resume for each potential employer, that way they know you've put some thought into it, especially if you can work in something that is company specific so that they know you've done some research. Obviously it's harder and it's a lot easier if you have an "in", but it's pretty effective.
