Welcome to The Senior Series

My busy ass is finally kicking off The Senior Series.

College seniors and recent graduates: listen up. This series is for you.

Why does a 25 year old like me care about you rocking your first job? I’m doing this because I wish someone would’ve done it for me. I’m also doing it because it’s a damn tough job market right now, which means you need to be on your A-game. In the same respect, its an easier game out there. Why? Because you have social media and a completely different job search game than I had even 4 years ago. You gotta play to win, right?

Although I have no regrets, I think having a mentor who was a few years ahead of me would’ve been fricken amazing. Therefore, if there is anything I can do to help you network with someone from my network,  or you’d like me to review your stuff, you want to move to Chicago, etc. please email me (nicole@mscareergirl.com). I’m no Goddess or magician but 2 brains are better than one.

The Senior Series will require you to do a little bit of “homework” (not the icky kind) in order for you to apply the lessons you read about here and ultimately land a job you like.

Homework

First, read my guest post called “How to Use Social Media to Help You Land Your 1st Job” on Samantha Ogborn’s blog.

• Please note the first sentence of the post: “Let’s bust the myth right now: social media is not going to get you a job.”
• Also observe and absorb #4, which is delicately titled “Grow Some Balls.”

This blog post is the basis for my beliefs of how you should get started. Disagree?  Have better ideas?  Please share them in the comment section- the readers will thank you.

Second, read this amazing New York Times interview with Bobbi Brown, founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.  No, this is not an article about makeup and lipstick.  Yes, you need to read this if you are a guy.  This article has some of the BEST career advice I’ve ever read- all coming from a CEO herself. This should put you at ease about interviewing, encourage you to be yourself, and also wipe your ego away about starting out.

Here are a few fabulous highlights from the interview:

Q. How do you hire?

A. When I interview someone, I know in the first two minutes if I like them or not. I find that if it’s easy to talk to someone and I see an openness and honesty and integrity, then I usually hire them.

Q. Tell me more about what you’re looking for.

A. I don’t think about interviewing them for work. I first try to understand who they are as people. I usually have someone’s résumé, but I never look at it until they sit down. Then I say, “O.K., take me through the résumé.”

The most important thing is people need to be themselves. And someone could be totally, on paper, perfect for the job. But they might not have the openness, the vision. I like when people bring energy, creativity, newness to me.

Q. What’s your best career advice?

A. When you’re talking to someone, look them in the eye. Always tell the truth. And you have to start at the bottom. I don’t care who you are and what you do, you have to start at the bottom. If there’s a job as a receptionist at a company you would love to work at and there’s nothing else, get that job. And don’t just sit there.

A lot of people have moved up in this company. Be open and be a sponge. I’ve always been a sponge. You’re around really cool, creative people, you see what they’re doing, how they’re dressing, what they’re reading, what their tastes are. I mean that’s what makes someone better at what they do — they’re just open to what’s going on.

Do you think Bobbi’s hiring methods are typical? Tell me what you think, then I’ll tell you what I think from my interview experience.  You might be surprised.

What do you think about Bobbi Brown’s career advice?

Any special requests of things you’d like to see me cover in this series? I’m planning on running a post every Thursday and will have some other events away from the blog such as conference calls, outreach with other top career bloggers and more.  Stay tuned.

Special thanks to my FAB 5 who will be volunteering to be guinea pigs in order to teach the rest of the readers some good lessons and share their job hunt experiences.