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I didn't start out with personal and professional connections. I developed them as I went. The key is getting your foot in the door - be it through an internshi

I didn't start out with personal and professional connections. I developed them as I went. The key is getting your foot in the door - be it through an internship, a temp job, or making a name for yourself as an amateur. The point is to develop specific valuable skills. Then, make the right people aware that you have those hard to find skills. Assuming that what you learned in college is enough to build a career is a mistake, in my eyes.

mynameishere 14y ago
be it through an internship, a temp job Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway. And clearly, this guy is trying to make a name for himself with his blog, to the extent that's possible. The problem is a lot of people have very general qualifications. A masters in English may mean a lot or nothing. I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. Anyone qualified would probably get hired immediately.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  > I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. This is very good advice and I urge anyone using the resume drop type job channels.
  - minikomi 14y ago
    This reminds me of when I was looking for a share house in Tokyo.. I kept seeing the same ones pop up over and over, and after visiting a few it became obvious there was a reason why in each case. In the end I made my case as a good share-ee, and a good share-er found me soon after (on mixi, a kind of Japanese only Facebook which has since been consumed). Perhaps, if you are looking for a great job, it makes sense now to make your case, make it visible to the right people, and wait.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  > "Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway." It's bigger than that. The difference between internships and full-time work is that one is a lot easier to get than the other. Being a student opens tons of doors for no particular reason whatsoever. Many companies have organized internship programs not only for recruitment's sake, but also out of some sense of social responsibility. People are also willing to cut students a lot of slack, and let a lot of problems drop. The expectations are dramatically lower. The bar shoots up dramatically as soon as you leave school, even for the same type of work. IMO anyone who isn't leveraging their student status to get at these opportunities is wasting time. You will never again be in this good of a position to be automatically given the benefit of the doubt. I know many humanities majors from college, and the ones who have not have trouble finding employment have always been the ones who leveraged internships and other student-only opportunities to their maximum.

mynameishere 14y ago

be it through an internship, a temp job Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway. And clearly, this guy is trying to make a name for himself with his blog, to the extent that's possible. The problem is a lot of people have very general qualifications. A masters in English may mean a lot or nothing. I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. Anyone qualified would probably get hired immediately.

hkmurakami 14y ago
> I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. This is very good advice and I urge anyone using the resume drop type job channels.
- minikomi 14y ago
  This reminds me of when I was looking for a share house in Tokyo.. I kept seeing the same ones pop up over and over, and after visiting a few it became obvious there was a reason why in each case. In the end I made my case as a good share-ee, and a good share-er found me soon after (on mixi, a kind of Japanese only Facebook which has since been consumed). Perhaps, if you are looking for a great job, it makes sense now to make your case, make it visible to the right people, and wait.
potatolicious 14y ago
> "Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway." It's bigger than that. The difference between internships and full-time work is that one is a lot easier to get than the other. Being a student opens tons of doors for no particular reason whatsoever. Many companies have organized internship programs not only for recruitment's sake, but also out of some sense of social responsibility. People are also willing to cut students a lot of slack, and let a lot of problems drop. The expectations are dramatically lower. The bar shoots up dramatically as soon as you leave school, even for the same type of work. IMO anyone who isn't leveraging their student status to get at these opportunities is wasting time. You will never again be in this good of a position to be automatically given the benefit of the doubt. I know many humanities majors from college, and the ones who have not have trouble finding employment have always been the ones who leveraged internships and other student-only opportunities to their maximum.