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Bringing It Home – The Saint Rose Blog

Experience: You May Just Have It

Recently I applied for a job that was posted on the Saint Rose Communication Facebook page just for the experience of applying for jobs. I never imagined I would get an interview for the position because I am only a junior and the interview called for someone with experience in the public relations and journalism fields. After all just the job title  sounded intimidating to me as “Assistant Digital Managing Editor” sounded so professional and I seemed so not. After reading the job posting it sounded like they wanted a college graduate that has been in the field for at least a couple of years.

I mean- Who could take me seriously?

I mean- Who could take me seriously?

After emailing the person that I would be potentially working for I was pleased to get a response back that same day asking for my clippings. Being a communications student I have been building my clip collection since my first semester from writing for our student newspaper, The Chronicle, and writing for this blog. I was really surprised that my interviewer accepted these clips and was then looking to set up a phone interview after reading them- I mean I wrote about Tinder and that clearly isn’t hard hitting news. At this point I was still feeling like I was not going to get the job but was going through the motions to the gain the experience for when I was an actual college graduate. After the phone interview, however, I began to get the sense that I was a contender for the position and eagerly completed the writing test that was sent my way. I had never done a writing test before and although I feel like I am a decent writer with a unique style I was unsure as to if that was what they were looking for. Nevertheless I sent back the writing test and within the next few days I was invited to the office for a face-to-face interview. Again, I was thinking the job was a long shot so I was not overly nervous about the interview because really, what did I have to lose? When the interview was underway my prospective employer informed me that I would be video conferencing with someone from New York City. Upon hearing that I knew it was the real deal and loved the idea that the company may want me despite being a junior in college.

To me being in college meant a lack of experience and because of that I did not think I stood a chance especially in a job market with more candidates than jobs. With this being said I was offered the job and began working last week in my own cubicle (I admit I am probably more excited about the cubicle than I should be)! Only after being offered the job did I realize that I hold more experience than I give myself credit- a problem that I have also noticed in my peers. Yes, being in college does mean I am still a student but looking at my college career I can say that I have three years experience in a PR office on campus, have written for both print and radio, have learned how to produce content in a multitude of mediums, and have managed the brand for one of the largest student groups on campus. I have learned that experience does not come from holding a college degree but comes from what a person does both leading up to that time of receiving a diploma and what they do after. If this is just the lead up to the diploma I can not wait to see what happens after I cross the graduation stage next May- fingers crossed that it is something good.

 

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