The first one

When I think of my experience finding my first “real” job post graduate from my bachelor’s degree, I remember applying for anything remotely related to my degree and having my fingers crossed hoping for the best. This was a few years back but I remember having quite a few interviews for different companies, some better experiences compared to others.

Now that I’m building a career as a recruiter targeting recent graduates for some of our roles, I always consciously think of what picture I’m painting of our company and how a career with us sounds like. If you have ever seen Friends in its early days, you might remember Rachel Green going from a waitress at Central Perk to an Assistant at Fortunata Fashions looking for an opportunity to pursue a career in fashion.

Unfortunately for Rachel, she was still bringing coffee and the task remotely close to fashion was detangling cloth hangers! Bear with me though, if you haven’t watched Friends — the good news is Rachel does eventually land an opportunity in fashion which later down the tracks leads her to working for Ralph Lauren.

The lesson I learnt from my experiences (and from Rachel’s) is persistence is key and hard work pays off and if a company tells you no, remember it isn’t a no forever and take it as an opportunity to ask for feedback and to improve. That way you can find your stepping stone to Fortunata Fashions and work your way towards Ralph Lauren.