It’s that time of year again, A time of great excitement and pride for all that has led you to the moment you are handed your diploma. The feeling is indescribable, knowing that all of your hard work over the past few years has paid off.
For many students, their career path is set before they even walk across the stage. Maybe they are going back to school to become a Doctor or a Lawyer, maybe they are taking over the family business or even moving abroad to begin their career journey. For me, when I graduated from Rowan University last year with a B.A in Communications, I had no idea what to do next. I had no plan, no idea of what career I wanted to pursue.
The summer of my junior year was when I started finding some direction, as I started exploring careers in Human Resources. I found that I was mostly drawn to the recruiting aspect of HR, as I have always loved the idea of helping people as part my career. Helping companies locate qualified candidates for hard to fill jobs, Helping to interview candidates and reviewing resumes. This was the first time that I truly felt like I might have found a starting point to my career.
Once I made this discovery, I started solely focusing and applying to Human Resources positions during my senior year. I was zeroed in. I felt like I HAD to get a job in HR despite the people around me telling me that I should try to broaden my job search. Then finally, after a pep talk that I received from my older sister (who had been through something similar to this when she graduated from college) I began to apply to jobs that were not solely in HR. It was still a bit uncomfortable, knowing that I was straying from a career path that I had originally put my mind to, but I knew that applying for the various positions could possibly lead to something great… and I was right.
When I applied for the “Administrative Coordinator-Communications & Events” position here in The Career Services Office, I was nervous to say the least. I had little to no experience in Event planning or Marketing. I couldn’t help but think that I wouldn’t get a response from my application, but I did. The excitement that I felt was incredible.
Now, fast forward to today. Here I am, An “Administrative Coordinator – Communications & Events” for Penn’s Career Services Office. I did it! After all of the stress and anxiety that I felt during my senior year about getting a job out of college, I did it, and it feels great! I have been in this role for over 4 months and It has been the best experience with the best people, and I cannot wait to continue learning and growing in my role here at Penn!
