In the unlikely event you've read my journal, you already know my job situation has had highs and lows. Basically I took three semesters off from college (with one semester left until graduation) to pursue a dream job that I landed on a movie set. Worked my a$$ off for crappy pay, no retirement benefits, minimal other benefits, found MMM, and learned the film industry is just not what I want to do with my life (since it became my entire life while I worked there and everyone seemed to be eating up the BS about the perks being worth total instability, no benefits, long hours for no reason other than "tradition"/boss-pleasing etc.).
Pre-film job I was the shining example of business school undergrad: I met with career coaches and had my resume reviewed until there was nothing left to review, and had every change checked and rechecked, did student orgs with leadership positions, interviewing certifications, worked part-time for the university and for another company in the area, maintained a 3.7 GPA, went to every career fair--the whole nine yards. Every box was checked, in my mind.
I started college again in January to finish my last semester after saying goodbye to my film job (left on great terms). Grade-wise I'm on track to graduate Summa Cum Laude with a Business degree and Marketing specialization. Since January I've applied to a ton of jobs and haven't had a single interview. I went to the career fairs and wanted to throw up because the jobs sounded so canned and miserable (part of why I thought film was for me before my film job).
Last week I met with my friend's dad who is a venture capital fund manager with a lot of business experience. He (very kindly) told me my film industry experience doesn't really count for much in the corporate world, I need to be taking on an internship while in school (semester is almost over now), and overall made me feel that what I saw as a wealth of experience is just as pathetic as all of my rejected job applications. I had no problem landing internships in the past, but now I can't even seem to do that, let alone land a full-time job. I'm applying all over, not just my city, and still turning up nothing.
I was verbally offered a job in film starting (tentatively) in late July, and the longer I go without finding a job the more it seems like I'm going to have to take that one just to make some money. It would only be a 3-6 month gig, but that's also 3-6 months I could have in a job that has a 401k etc.
Every time I apply for a job that I think I qualify for and/or meet all listed requirements, I get rejected, and humbled. I'm also a woman, and I feel like that has been affecting perceptions of me based on my experience as an assistant. Everyone keeps saying I should apply to be an executive assistant, which I do have the skillset for, but I also know I wouldn't like the job, even if I'm good at it. My friends' dad also said I should apply for an exec assistant job, and I feel like he would not have said that to me if I were a guy. I get that I have the skillset, but when I've already said I didn't like the assistant job, I don't think it should be pushed on me.
My focus now is on jobs as a copywriter/content writer anything that has both writing and marketing involved, and I have about 5 new applications out for those types of jobs that I'm hoping to hear back about this week or next.
Am I missing something? I think my expectations in the beginning of my job search were too high and I've since adjusted, but it just seems like I'm going to either have to take the film job or find an equally miserable part-time job again. If anyone has any tips on applying to jobs/getting an interview, that would be great. I think if I get to an interview I can get the offer, so far every job I've interviewed for I've gotten an offer from, but I just can't seem to get past the application phase.
Any help would be much appreciated, and thank you for reading my vent/rant!!