The Post-Grad Journey to My First Role: You Are Not Alone.

I wanted to take myself on a journey back to the past and relive a moment many of us go through after graduating college – starry eyed and hopeful coming out of university grounds thinking the world is our oyster, then being hit with the existential dread of realizing that the job search and the road to your first career job is a path paved with trials and tribulation. It truly can be a low point in many people’s career journey and overall personal life. It’s never easy finding a job; but not having any real experience to pack your resume with (beside the occasional internship) makes it that much harder. My journey – from college to Alabama, and now working in New York – really molded the person I am today. Overall, the struggle is real, and many people post-grad are facing hard times. But just know you are not alone.

Here is my story….

I went from being a B-ham Bama girl to becoming a New Yorker basically overnight. When I first decided to visit New York, it was a moment of impulsiveness. I made the decision one night and bought my bus ticket the next. For what did I have to lose? My internship at Time Inc. was over and I was left wandering in two regions: one that told me to fear, and one that told me what was left to fear anyway? I was a spirit moving through the shadows of who I thought I was supposed to be right now. I needed a change and I needed it quick. And in New York, I could finally follow my dream of working in publishing. Here lied the Big 4 publishing houses.

That night I decided to go to New York for two weeks and see what I could find for myself there. Two interviews were awaiting me. None panned out in the end. But I stayed anyway. My decision to come for two weeks turned into two months as I fell in love with the hustle and bustle of the so-called concrete jungle. I craved the diversity. I hungered for the commotion. I desired for the fast-paced mentality required to live in New York. I didn’t have to think. I just had to be. So, two months turned into three.

I found a job at a café in the meantime and told my mom I wasn’t coming home; there was something here for me and I needed to see it through. I found a temporary apartment in Brooklyn. I gained a church family in Queens. I worked two jobs in NYC.

No, it wasn’t easy. I felt homesick some nights; and I panicked many nights as I wondered what was next for me? I had already been transitioning and yet this felt like the ultimate transition to me. I walked everywhere and got lost anywhere. I went on the 2 train and found myself on the J train when I should have been on the A train! Sounds confusing, right? Experiencing it was even more confusing. I slept on a leather couch night after night until I could find my own place, but in that couch, I was grateful that I had somewhere to sleep. I saw homeless people all throughout the streets: families, young women, stray dogs, older men, druggies…you name it.

I went to interview after interview in the same white button up and black pants because I only brought one bag with me. I answered mindless questions and took editors on coffee dates I couldn’t afford. I bought one bowl of Chinese food and made it last 3 meals. I went through my savings and tried to rebuild it again…and failed. I floated through life with three goals in mind—to get somewhere—to find my dream job in publishing—to be happy.

Then the call came. After seven months of: working in cafes, taking calls in between breaks, running to the CVS nearby to do phone interviews, crying through every rejection, trying to sound positive when my friends asked how the job search was going, and countless of coffee dates and networking mixers; I received an uneventful call for a publishing job I had applied for on Indeed. The job was for an operation assistant at a global publishing company.

I went through the motions of interviewing through the phone, then in person. My hopeful spirit by then had already crumbled and to me this was just another job awaiting rejection. I went to the interview, but deep down I was exhausted. When I received a call back to move forward to the next stage, there was a sliver of hope, but I was jaded. I had been here time and time again before.

The process lasted months and I wasn’t hearing back from my follow ups. Thus, I pushed that company out of my mind and tried to move forward. So when I received the call with the job offer, I was in tears. I may have screamed – I can’t remember. All I knew was that this was the true beginning for me. This was me leaving the post grad path and journeying into my first career. To this day I am still at the company in a higher role than I started. It took a year and a half to find my first career role after graduation, and looking back, the journey is still worth it.

Also, check out Living with Gratitude on the site!

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