Life of an (Aspiring) Media Maven 2.0: Recap of my week

Let's look at the (Aspiring) Media Maven's "Job Search Week" in review, shall we?

Monday, September 22: Thought about how much I enjoyed my weekend. The only thing that would've made it better was having a job to go to today and daydream about it. Helped out the lady I'm staying with by typing up flyers and tickets for a gala sponsored by one of her organizations. She told me my work was worth $1000 to an un-computer savvy senior like herself. I thought, "I wish companies thought the way you do." Went to the Dominican hair shop around the corner for a $10 weekday special wash and blowout (but it was $15 for me because I have long, thick hair). Prepared for my interview the next day by researching the company and practicing a few answers to tricky questions I knew might be asked (in hindsight, I wish I'd reviewed more). And watched Gossip Girl on the CW - think what you want, but that show about rich, spoiled girls on the Upper Eastside is addictive ;o ) Oh, and took a phone call from a *certain someone* who was adamant about me watching the Heroes: Villains season premier on NBC. I tried, I really did, but that show just doesn't do it for me :o /
Tuesday, September 23: Woke up and casually got dressed. My interview wasn't until 3 p.m. and the career fair wasn't a big priority. Put on a black suit, black blouse and leopard print heels. I would've worn something else, but I lost my favorite pair of black (power) pumps at a cafe last week - no exciting story behind this, they just fell out of my bag. So, until I can afford a new pair, leopard, round-toe or flats it will be. In any case, I figured that wearing all black with one little pop accesory would be taken as personal flair, and not as unprofessional attire. Organized all of my resumes in my portfolio. There was one to hand out for sales jobs, one for marketing, one for editorial and one for media research. Hey, you never know. Thought about the new business cards I ordered. Wished that I had done so sooner. (I changed the entire design, btw. This came after a girl at a networking event said, "Oh, isn't your card cute!" I'm sure she probably didn't mean anything negative by it, but "cute" is not the image I want to portray. Let's try "professional and creative".)

Got on the subway, headed for the city and got off at Broadway and 32nd St. Stepped into a line of pure frustration, anxiety and starched business suits (well, mostly...some people need to go home and look up what to wear to career fairs). I thought the people clogging up the sidewalk were in an unorganized huddle - not a uniform line as I soon found out. Two passive agressive women directly behind me informed me of this. The tall one whispered something to the short one. The short one said, "Excuse me, but were you in line in front of us 10 minutes ago? Because I don't remember seeing you, and we've been in line since 11 a.m." (It was 12:15 p.m. at this point). I smiled, confused and said, "No, I wasn't. I just stepped off the subway." She then asked me if I was here for the career fair. I said, "yes". She informed me that the line started three blocks around the corner. (The subway stop I got off at was right outside the hotel doors - fewer than 15 people away from the front of the line.) I said I understood, they slid past me, but I didn't budge after that. You can think my actions were wrong, rude or whatever, but after looking at that line I was not going to the back if I didn't have to. I chalked it up to fortune. Some people have all sorts of advantages in life (I was just reading about this one last night) and some people have none. Today, my advantage was that I got off at the right subway stop (by H opstop-ing directions before I left the house :o ) So, after about another 15 minutes I got into the career fair. One phrase can sum it up: waste of time. I won't elaborate, and this is not a slight at Monster, but for me there was little point in attending. Mainly that was because I hadn't known the type of event it was going to be. This wasn't a professional affair; it was a general one. You see, I'd never been to a career fair outside of college or professional organization environments. And this probably comes off as snobbish, but I now understand why. For the most part, the recruiters at this one were looking to fill positions that don't require a college education. So, for me to come up in there expecting otherwise was just a disappointment to me, the recruiter trying to talk to me and a general waste of time. I did, however, talk to a nice woman about networking opportunities and earning an additional income with her company. So, what's the lesson here? Two things: (1) Find out what kind of career fair you're planning to go to. Ask for a list of the companies that will be there, and what positions they're hiring for. (2) Always try to see the silver lining in any situation. My intial idea was to walk out as soon as I realized what kind of event this was. But, I stayed a few more minutes and met a great woman who can connect me to people in the industry I'm actually interested in.

After that little boondoggle, I ate lunch with another (aspiring) media maven who I'm becoming fast friends with. We swapped stories about The Search - where we're looking, where we're getting interviews, how they're going, when we estimate the job market will loosen up, etc...Misery does love company. That saying is so true. Because, while I wish the best for everyone in the long run, it is slightly comforting to know that you're not the only one struggling out there.
When we'd talked and ate for almost two hours, we parted ways. My interview was in less than half an hour, and I didn't want to be late. Due to my paranoia about HR people and hiring mangers who troll the internet for information about prospective hires, I will not write a play-by-play of what happened next. I will, however, state that I think it went okay. I have a shot. Finally, after all of that, I met yet another (aspiring) media maven for drinks and dinner. We'd met at the ed2010.com networking event two weeks ago and I'd emailed her since. Because she graduated a year before I did and is no longer a struggling, unemployed mavenette*, I wanted to pick her brain (such a morbid phrase, ok, scratch that) get her insight about the advertising industry in the city. We had a great conversation (and great margaritas :o ). Her experience gave me hope that I'll land something. I just would like it to be sooner rather than latter...
Wednesday, September 24: Felt horrible all day. Not going to go on about it ad nauseam, but to sum it up: disconnected from the world to reevaluate my life.
Thursday, September 25: Nothing as of yet. I'm suppose to have dinner with one of my sorority sisters who is in town. She's an (aspiring) media maven too. Still doing interviews as well...Ahhh, the life of a recent liberal arts graduate :o ) Oh yeh, and I have to go by the temp agency office to show them my Social Security card. Yes, it came in the mail last week - in 10 days, just like they said it would. Also in the mail: my absentee ballot for November. I quickly filled it out and mailed it back in. If you're an (aspiring) media maven who's not living where you're registered to vote right now, you should do the same.