diaries of the candidates - jennifer
Profile | Resume | Diary

| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 |

Week 9

I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone so far! This past week has definitely taken the cake for the busiest week of all. I’ve had multiple interviews, meet and greets the night before, two papers, and tons of reading. I don’t think the madness is going to end until Winter break! Hopefully it will all be worth it though and by then I will have a job lined up for next year and just be able to relax at home over the Holidays. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I can always dream. Right?

I’ve only heard from one company so far, and unfortunately it was that one favorite of mine, the large retailer in California for a merchandising position. I was informed this week that all of their prior summer interns filled all of their positions for next year’s program. That’s good news for them because it makes their job easy, but sad for me because I really wanted that job. There is always the possibility that someone may change their mind and a position could open up, but unfortunately it looks like the chances are pretty much slim to none. I gave it my best shot though so there’s not much else I can do. Regardless, it’s never fun to hear that there are no openings.

Moving on now to a happier topic! My interviews at UofM have been going pretty well so far. I’d be lying though if I didn’t tell you that a couple of behavioral questions stumped me a little bit. After taking a little time though to gather my thoughts, in most circumstances I developed a pretty decent answer. Not as perfectly organized as ones that I may have prepared for, but acceptable nonetheless. I’m sure interviewers understand if you have to take a little time to gather your thoughts, and are primarily just looking to see how quickly you can think on your feet and develop a well executed answer. We’ll find out in the next couple of weeks if I impressed them enough to get invited back for second rounds.

I’m sad to tell you all that this is my last journal for the semester. My experience as a Candidate has been amazing. First of all I got to make some great new friends that I always looked forward to meeting and sharing stories, problems, and ideas with every week. Hopefully through all of this you all have taken as much away from The Candidate as I have, and I was able to provide you with some advice on your job search as well as let you know that you’re not the only ones out there frustrated with the entire process and putting in countless hours. We all just have to remember that we have worked hard in school for so many years with a goal to eventually get a great job. Now it’s crunch time to work even harder, and hopefully when we graduate we will all have that perfect job.
Good luck everyone, I know you will all do great!

Week 8

Job searching can often times be a daunting task. Therefore it’s imperative that every person develops strategies to attack the process and remember to take it one day at a time. Especially with the Internet, there are so many different possible ways to go about finding a job. A few strategies are for a person to post their resume and browse numerous job bank websites, network through personal contacts, or use the University of Michigan’s own personal MonsterTrak website, MploymentLink.

I have personally found MploymentLink to be a wonderful resource. Although at the moment the majority of companies recruiting on campus tend to fall under consulting or banking, I have still had pretty good luck gaining contacts and interviews in the career areas I’m interested in pursuing. Since one of the areas I’m extremely interested in relocating to is California, unfortunately MploymentLink is not really a good source for jobs out West. Due to this predicament, I’ve also relied on the Internet and personal networking.

In regards to using the Internet, my method has basically been to simply type my requests into various search engines to see what companies and opportunities are available. In doing this I have realized that most large companies have websites that have an area devoted to careers where people can submit their resume. I will admit that even though I’ve attempted to follow up with these companies through phone calls, I really haven’t had a tremendous amount of success with doing this. This is understandable though since companies probably receive countless resumes every day. Even though this is most likely the case, I’m trying my hardest not to get frustrated and continue to be persistent, enthusiastic, and motivated.

This past week gave me a glimpse of what the next month is going to hold, and I am already anticipating being extremely busy. Not only am I slammed with papers, exams, and reading for classes, but many companies are currently conducting their first round interviews. I got a taste of a couple of interviews last week and I have more approaching in the upcoming month. This is definitely one of the most stressful times in my four years in college. It’s finally crunch time to apply everything I’ve learned in school to reach my primary goal of getting a job for next year. Hopefully the economy is on an upswing and us graduating seniors will be the first to reap the benefits!

Week 7

I am back from sunny California and shocked back in to reality at how cold it is here in Michigan! I love the clean, crisp air of fall, football season, and the colored leaves. But I could definitely do without the freezing weather and horrendous winds. Oh well, I guess that’s to be expected while living in the Midwest.

Two days before I had my interview in California for a position in a retail merchant training program for a large retail company, I had a mock interview at the Career Center. It’s kind of difficult to get onto the schedule at the moment, so if you’re interested in signing up for a mock interview it would be best to call as soon as possible. This is definitely a great experience, and something I would recommend everyone should try and do. The session is taped, and although it is slightly embarrassing to watch yourself it’s a perfect opportunity to evaluate your body language, tone of voice, and responses to questions. One feature that the career counselor noticed about me was that I clasped my hands together, so it looked like I was trying to hold back from speaking with my hands too much. I didn’t even notice I had done this, so I was conscious to avoid this unnatural gesture during my real interview.
I feel that my interview in California went pretty well. I researched a lot, mainly on the Internet, before I left and then studied the information on the plane ride there and the morning before the interview. I also drafted possible responses to typical interview questions that I thought I might encounter. After all this preparation, I felt pretty confident when I entered the interview. The woman who I met with was also very friendly and encouraging, which helped calm my nerves and put me at ease. I am waiting to hear within the next couple of weeks if I am invited back for a second round interview. This is definitely my dream job, and I think it would be a perfect fit for me considering my past work experiences, passion for retail and analyzing trends and numbers, as well as my personality. If it’s even possible, the interview made me even more excited about the position, so everyone please keep your fingers crossed!

In addition to that interview, I am currently preparing for a few more interviews for companies recruiting at UofM in the next couple of weeks. They are for advertising/marketing and merchandising positions. This semester has already flown by and the rest of the semester is going to be even busier. Hang in there everybody; Holiday Break will be here before we know it!

Week 6
Since I’ve been back from a relaxing five days at home for Fall Break, my life has been a whirlwind. I arrived in Ann Arbor Tuesday night and then I am leaving Thursday to Tuesday for a trip to California. Last week I e-mailed two large retail corporations in California that I am pursing a merchandise buying job with to let them know I would be in the area and would like to set up a meeting if they had time. My efforts proved to be beneficial, because I have an interview at one of them on Friday! I am so excited for my first interview, but also extremely nervous since I have so much preparation and research to do in only two days. Hopefully things will go well!

As I mentioned before, my first career choice is to be a merchandise buyer. I came to this realization by doing a few informational interviews with people I know in that field, as well as people in the advertising industry, since that is my second choice for a job. Through a connection of my former roommate, I was able to speak with a merchant who went through the training program three years ago that I have applied for. I asked her general questions about the company such as what her typical day is like, what she enjoys most and least about the company, to describe the work environment, and whether there is much room for advancement or switching between brands. I also asked her specific questions about the training program that I want to be hired for such as how many people typically get hired for it, what qualities they are looking for in employees, and any advice she could offer me. Overall the informational interview helped me to gain a better understanding on the company and the merchandise buying training program. This particular merchant has also recently passed my resume and cover letter on to people in human resources that I am waiting to hear from.

I also received some other good news this past weekend as I was chosen as a pre-select for an advertising firm that I submitted my resume to on MyploymentLink. The interview is the end of October and I’m really excited about the position. Researching and preparing for that interview is just another thing I can add to my ever-growing pile of things to do. I am definitely beginning to feel the stress of balancing life, school, and job searching. Luckily my class load isn’t too demanding this semester and I’m not working, so I can devote as much time as possible to finding a job. Unfortunately though my savings is quickly dwindling, so hopefully I will have a job by winter so I can make up for it by working a lot next semester. It definitely has been a hectic semester so far, but also a ton of fun being a senior and exciting trying to decide what I’m going to do with my degree and where I will be living next year.

Week 5

This week I have been completely swamped with exams and papers that all my professors seem to want to squeeze in before Fall Break. Although it’s been a little stressful, it will be nice to go home for a few days to relax and not think too much about school. Not to mention give me more time to concentrate on my job search that has sort of been pushed to the back burner this week as I concentrated on my classes.

After the job fair I e-mailed thank-you notes to the people I spoke with that I wanted to keep in contact with for potential opportunities. At this point, I figure it’s best to keep all my options open and try to build as large a network as possible, because you never know whom you’ll need help from in the future. I wrote my e-mails over the weekend, so they were in everyone’s mailboxes first thing Monday morning. The next day I received a call from one of the companies that I am seriously interested in for a career in sales. I have to apply online to their company, and then they want to schedule a pre-screening interview. It was really exciting to receive a call from an employer, and hopefully it won’t turn out to be a dead end.

I went to my first company presentation this week, and was really impressed. Not only did they have delicious, catered food, but their PowerPoint and verbal presentation were also excellent. All the employees were really enthusiastic about the company, friendly, and extremely willing to answer questions and be as helpful as possible. Before the presentation, I wasn’t that excited about the job. But after learning more about the career path and a little background on the company, I am definitely going to pursue this position.

Another exciting thing happened this week with a large retail company that I want to work for as a merchandise buyer. I spoke with a merchant about a month ago, who I was referred to by a friend of one of my old roommates (yeah I know it’s a long chain of people) about the company and their college graduate training program. She recently forwarded my cover letter and resume, along with an excellent letter of recommendation, to a recruiter for the program I want to be hired for. Unfortunately the recruiter is out of town for the rest of the week, but I followed up with her with an e-mail introducing myself, so hopefully I will hear from her some time this week.

Overall the job search is progressing slowly but surely. I am going out to California next weekend, so I am going to try and contact some companies this week that are located out there and see if I can set up some meetings or interviews. I am anxious to get the ball rolling and the interviews started, so that I can accomplish my goal of having a job by Winter Break!

Week 4
My life definitely seems to be picking up this week. Along with papers and exams, I’m squeezing in as much time as I can to job search. For the past week, I have primarily been attempting to follow up on resumes that I have submitted to companies that are not recruiting at UofM. I must admit that I am slightly frustrated with how my follow up calls and networking have been progressing. For companies in which I have no strong contacts at my plan of attack has been to call them, ask to be transferred to the human resources department, and then typically I have been directed to an answering machine. At times I can’t help but feel like I have submitted my resume in to a black hole, never to be read. This is exactly why I feel it is necessary to follow up with a phone call and reiterate my interest in each company. Unfortunately I haven’t had the best of luck with this so far, but at the least the human resources department has heard my name again and knows that I am persistent and interested in their company.

I also went to the job fair last Thursday. I was initially a little bit nervous and overwhelmed, but after a while I must admit that I sort of had fun chatting with the representatives and learning about their companies and the opportunities they offer. I went to a handful of booths, got business cards, handed in my resume, and tried to make a great first impression. I am going to follow up with the companies I liked the most, and apply online for jobs that require you to submit an application that way. Even though I wasn’t that excited about the job fair because I didn’t feel like there were going to be many companies there in my areas of interest, it was a great experience and hopefully will prove to be quite helpful.
Although the endless circle of answering machines has been the usual scenario, I did have one exciting thing happen to me in the past week. A large retail department from the West Coast, who I submitted my resume to, called me to talk about their merchandise buying program. Unfortunately I was in class at the time she called so she just left a voicemail for me. I have called her a few times since then, but have not had a chance to connect. College relations people in the human resources departments of businesses must be extremely busy at this time of year, so I will continue to pursue calling her and hopefully we can speak soon. Since I could not get a hold of her though, I e-mailed another person in the human resources department that initially replied to my applicant submission. She immediately replied that they are reviewing resumes in the next two weeks, so it sounds like I will find out shortly if I have an interview for my dream job!

Week 3
I anticipated job searching would take a little bit of time, but I never even imagined that it would be this time consuming! I spent the majority of last Sunday tweaking my resume and cover letter to apply to jobs on MploymentLink, in addition to advertising and merchandising jobs in Chicago and California. Not many companies from California come to UofM to recruit, especially in the areas I am interested in, so this is definitely factoring in to the amount of time I am spending on job applications.
Currently I feel like I have a pretty good grip on what types of jobs I want to pursue, however my communications major does grant me a lot of flexibility with regards to career options. In some respects this is a bonus, but it can also be slightly overwhelming when it comes time to narrow my job focus. Therefore I decided to take the Strong Interest Assessment through The Career Center to help me determine my passions with respect to types of careers. The test only took about 30 minutes and it was really simple to follow on the Internet at my apartment. This week I met with a career counselor at The Career Center to go over the results. My highest interest was in enterprising, which encompasses selling, managing, and persuading. Following in a close second was social, which includes helping, instructing, and caregiving. The overall results were pretty much in line with what I already felt my interests were. It was nice however to be reassured, and the booklet I received was very interesting because it listed possible careers, some of which I had never considered, for me to pursue in the areas where I excel.
After taking the assessment and applying to businesses that are not recruiting at UofM, I had a little time left to begin researching companies that are attending the job fair on October 2. The list of participating organizations is online through the career center website. After browsing the list and writing down companies that interest me, I began to research their websites and I intend to explore their opportunities more in depth before Thursday. I’m really excited about the career fair because it seems like the real kick-off to the whole job search process. Although I’ve already begun researching and applying for jobs, I haven’t had much contact with employers yet. The career fair will be a great opportunity to interact with companies on a personal level. Of course that also means it will be my first time to get nervous, but I suppose that’s all just part of the deal.

Week 2
I’ve never spent so much time writing, editing, and rearranging a single piece of paper. Currently though, my resume is an extremely important document. How is it possible to transform a blank sheet of paper in to something so remarkable and enticing that an employer would want to interview me? Businesses probably receive thousands of applicants for the same job. Somehow I need to ensure mine rises to the top of the pile.

My resume has definitely matured over the years. In high school it included such things as Dance Team Captain and Barry Bagels employee. As college progressed, I began to acquire more jobs and internships relevant to my major and career aspirations. Employers hiring for entry-level positions have no choice but to expect that recent college graduates may not have the most experience in a job field. However, my passion and hard-working attitude compensate for my lack of experience. I always find it frustrating though when an interesting job I may want to apply for requires a few years of experience. How am I supposed to gain experience if nobody hires me in the first place?

The past year has really helped me build up my resume. First of all, I took English 229, Technical Writing, which is an excellent course that covers many different writing formats including cover letters and resumes. With the help of my professor, and many office hours later, I emerged from that class with a halfway decent-looking resume that I used to get hired for my past summer internship. Another tremendous help was my previous roommate who graduated from the business school in 2003. With her guidance, I adapted the typical business school format for my resume. Although it’s not very flashy or creative, it is easy to follow and overall it is very aesthetically pleasing.

I’m counting on my cover letter to entice recruiters enough to look at my resume. A cover letter is an excellent way to introduce myself and highlight my qualifications and aspirations. The resume can serve as sort of a backbone and quick reference guide, whereas the cover letter provides a little more depth and insight in to my life. Hopefully the sacred piece of paper known as my resume, will be just what an employer is looking for and give me the opportunity to interview. Then I will have to move on to the next step of worrying, researching, and preparing for an interview.

Week 1
I’ve only been in school for two weeks and I am already feeling the stress of being a senior. Everyone around me seems to be constantly discussing their plans for next year, whether they may be applying for graduate school or seeking full-time employment. I’ve been sporadically researching companies on the Internet and at bookstores this past summer, and now it’s crunch time to actually start applying for jobs.
A communications major grants me a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing a career. With that in mind, I am considering applying to three areas. My first choice is merchandise buying, second is marketing/advertising, and third is a career in pharmaceutical sales. Chicago and the San Francisco bay area are the two locations I am mainly concentrating on for my job search. These cities both offer a variety of jobs and even have a few branches of the same advertising firm, which will make the application process a little bit easier. My focus right now is mainly on large corporations because they seem to have the most opportunities for recent college graduates. A big company is also a great place to start a career because there are ample opportunities for internal advancement.
This past week I mainly spent time researching companies, primarily in the two cities I mentioned, trying to determine where I want to send my resume and cover letter. Unfortunately, many of the companies I want to apply for do not recruit at the University of Michigan. Consequently I have spent a lot of time researching these companies on the Internet and locating contact information such as phone numbers and names in the human resources or recruiting departments. I also make it a habit to look at MploymentLink every other day or so to see if any new companies have been added. A few jobs listed in this valuable resource have caught my eye, but at this time I have not submitted my resume to any companies recruiting at UofM.
After doing two informational interviews with acquaintances of one of my roommates, I e-mailed my resume and cover letter to a large retail company for a position in merchandising. This company has an excellent entry-level program that sounds like a perfect fit for me. I wanted to apply fairly early to try and avoid the rush of applicants they are sure to receive. This is definitely my dream job, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Occasionally I have found myself stressed out and overwhelmed about the task of job searching ahead of me, but then I must remind myself to take a step back, breathe, and focus on each day as it comes. It’s really quite an exciting time in my life because I truly do have the opportunity to do so many things and move just about anywhere. I simply have to keep reminding myself that I have an entire year ahead of me, and if I really put enough time and determination in to something I will not fail.