If being an international student and trying to survive life in a foreign land was not challenging enough, bam! you get hit in the face with the reality of finding internships and jobs. And this is where it gets real ugly.
My mantra during my graduate degree program was "networking, networking, networking"! And no, I'm not gloating. It got me squat and nowhere! As my fellow international students and I made our way through these "mixers" and "networking nights" we found that it was just a meeting place (and I'm dying to call it a breeding ground) of young working adults who can't wait to max out their corporate credit cards on the wine & beer at these events, and they were practically useless when it came to giving some strategic guidance to young and ambitious kids attending these events.
I later got involved in professional clubs with fellow students and that seemed to be great experience and made good talking points at interviews. Still, you can't take away the frustration that comes with every job interview. I can say I interviewed with some pretty "well known folks" in town..apparently they missed the bus on basic ethics and etiquette that requires them to respond to an email and at least let you know they've moved on with another candidate. I guess its experiences like these that tell you that all this hype on professionalism etc. is all a load of rubbish!
Internships and first jobs are interesting to say the least! If you don't land your dream job, at the very least you'll come away with a world of experience and hilarious stories to share with your buddies ( you couldn't crack a smile out of me back then, but looking back it was pretty funny).
I'm not going to preach to you about the right thing to do when looking for jobs etc. because you've heard it too many times already. All I can tell you is that its a s*** show out there so while you're at it, and you're trying really hard, you might as well make some good memories out of it!
My mantra during my graduate degree program was "networking, networking, networking"! And no, I'm not gloating. It got me squat and nowhere! As my fellow international students and I made our way through these "mixers" and "networking nights" we found that it was just a meeting place (and I'm dying to call it a breeding ground) of young working adults who can't wait to max out their corporate credit cards on the wine & beer at these events, and they were practically useless when it came to giving some strategic guidance to young and ambitious kids attending these events.
I later got involved in professional clubs with fellow students and that seemed to be great experience and made good talking points at interviews. Still, you can't take away the frustration that comes with every job interview. I can say I interviewed with some pretty "well known folks" in town..apparently they missed the bus on basic ethics and etiquette that requires them to respond to an email and at least let you know they've moved on with another candidate. I guess its experiences like these that tell you that all this hype on professionalism etc. is all a load of rubbish!
Internships and first jobs are interesting to say the least! If you don't land your dream job, at the very least you'll come away with a world of experience and hilarious stories to share with your buddies ( you couldn't crack a smile out of me back then, but looking back it was pretty funny).
I'm not going to preach to you about the right thing to do when looking for jobs etc. because you've heard it too many times already. All I can tell you is that its a s*** show out there so while you're at it, and you're trying really hard, you might as well make some good memories out of it!
:):) Good read loths....Dint know you wrote:)
ReplyDelete