Light in the Tunnel

It's been quite a while since I've posted, mostly because I haven't had the time and partly because there was nothing happening that I wanted to write about.
In the last 5 months I've signed up for numerous alert websites and applied for dozens of jobs online through them. None have panned out. I started narrowing my search to be something more specific, tailoring individual cover letters and rewriting my resume for each job. Some things panned out.
I've started to realize the old adage "it's not what you know, it's who you know" is very applicable to the job hunt in this day and age. I had a good shot at a job in a company where my dad's old co-worker is working. She talked to the VP of HR for me and they wanted my cover letter and resume sent directly to them. I was thrilled to hear this and assumed I'd get an interview because of it. I heard from the company a week later and unfortunately missed the call because I was at the gym. I called them back within 2 hours and left a message. This is where it got strange to me: I didn't hear back from them... I tried to call again after 4 days, after 1 1/2 weeks, and once more after 2 weeks... If the HR department called once and was interested, and they were interested before I applied, why wouldn't they return a call? I was a bit down-trodden after this.
Then I applied at QuadGraphics, without knowing anyone, and received a swift, politely-worded 'we're not interested and have no opening for you' email. I assumed not knowing anyone was the cause of this.
Now, I've applied at the company my sister works for and, with her referral, have some good news finally: I passed the personality test (phew, that was stressful) and have a phone interview coming up this week! I feel that even though this company hires a lot of entry level college grads, having the referral helped. I hope it pans out. But in case it doesn't, I'm submitting a new cover letter and resume tomorrow... the hunt never ends.

I can't wait to be paid more than $2.33/hour (plus tips) and do work that I feel helps someone more than curbing their appetite for the time being.
Cross your fingers for me :)

Milwaukee Safari: The Hunt for the Elusive "Real World Job"

It's been two months that I've been back from Germany now and I finally finished my epic term paper for Professor Daufenbach's class so I have officially graduated college. WOOOOOO!

Now what?

Well, I've been working 35-45 hours/week at Perkin's (always dramatic and entertaining, though stressful) and working on a resume to get started with the job search. Writing a resume for the first job hunt is an experience many people go through, well most people really... but it's not a fun one. You realize that everything you spent every waking minute on in the last 5-10 years of college and beyond has to be translated to the page as a talent, skill, or other "activity" to fit in. Sure, Root Beer Pong for the Social Committee in Smith Hall was fun, but is being the undisputed champ there of *really* a resume worthy talent?
My dad would probably say not. So I didn't even ask.

My resume looks nice to me, I feel impressed with myself and everything I've done. It's my companion from here on out and my weapon for the job hunt, to catch any perspective employer's attention and reel them in while I convince them to give a 23 year old college graduate with no "real world" experience a job. Then again, what is the real world? I'm not marching up to a lion with a Swiss Army Knife and hoping for the best here; I've prepared myself through my summers off, my spring breaks, my semester abroad. I'm responsible, reliable, motivated.
Nothing should be stopping me.

Except maybe facebook and the new season of House. They make for good distractions.

I'll be starting to applying and (hopefully) interviewing process soon. Stay tuned.