It’s all in the timing

I found a job in Austin in four days, and I attribute my new-found employment entirely to timing. I was trying to figure out, as I mentioned in my last post, the means by which I could most quickly obtain work. I considered attire, how to craft my resume and cover letters, interaction with prospective employers, etc., and in the end none of those things seemed to matter.

I must note that I’m a waitress, which is significant to mention because finding work in my desired field, journalism, is going to be a much different process than finding the job I currently have. This can be explained through an account of the past few days.

I decided to submit applications to many restaurants in my area, in locations as close to my apartment as possible. I got mixed reactions from all the managers I spoke with. One was really quite harsh and got upset with me for wanting to send him my resume via email (he was stern about wanting a hard copy), and upon receiving it was much nicer to me but still wouldn’t hire me. He said they didn’t have an open position. Another manager informed me, before I could give her a resume or cover letter, that she had just gone through a hiring class and wouldn’t be conducting another one for about a month or so. I appreciated her being so up front with me right from the very beginning, and returned the favor by letting her know I wouldn’t be able to wait that long. A third prospective employer would only correspond with me via email and I never ended up hearing back from him. I would have been more aggressive about following up with him myself, but I ended up getting a job offer before I had the chance.

The job offer I was given is going to allow me to be a waitress, a hostess and a cashier. As I’m sure is obvious by now, my employer is somewhat in need of help in terms of staffing. As it turns out, most of the other employees are still in school and are needing to devote most of their time to their studies again, due to the time of year. My current managers told me (independently of one another) that there would be no need to submit a resume or cover letter to them. I handed one of them my application, which he promptly did not even glance at, and he asked me if I was free for an interview the next day. I knew I had it in the bag at that very moment.

So, as upsetting as this is to say, all of the hard work I put into building up my resume, putting together my resume and considering what to wear as I strolled around picking up and dropping off applications, didn’t matter in the end. Again, I’m sure that if I apply to be a reporter or a public relations representative in the future that my accounts of submitting applications will be different. However, for now, it turns out that the mere fact that it is mid-August and students are going back to school again is going to be enough for me to make rent.

Austin observations

As I said before, I’m a 22-year-old recent graduate of CU-Boulder’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which no longer exists. I just moved to Austin, TX with my best friend for a few reasons – to start new, to challenge myself and to find a job. I’m predicting the tertiary to be quite the process and interesting to document. I haven’t made much headway since today was my first full day in this new city, but there are a few observations I’ve made that I thought were worth writing about.

Firstly, I have to say that the criticisms I’ve noted over the years about drivers in Texas appear to be entirely untrue. I have yet to have a bad experience driving here, and have spent most of my time in the state, thus far, driving for extended periods of time. I have actually experienced the complete opposite of what I was once told to expect. I often get lost while trying to navigate a new area, and while other drivers have had many an opportunity to honk and curse at me they’ve been very gracious.

Secondly, I have been able to find here some of the comforts of my old home in Boulder – over 950 miles away. I have noted a similar mentality here in Austin toward environmentally-friendly behavior and an appreciation for locally-grown and organic foods. These observations most likely stand out so much at the moment because one of my main activities today was grocery shopping, but I came upon a grocery store that reminded me completely of the Sunflower Market back in Boulder. Wheatsville Food Co-op so far appears to be the place where I’ll be getting most of my food. Their produce is amazing and, like I mentioned earlier, you can find organic and locally-grown products there. All my favorite vegetarian foods are there and it has the feel of a small-community store. For some reason or another, all these things (as well as my purchase of environmentally-friendly laundry detergent, which I am admittedly overly-excited about) made my day.

The job search begins tomorrow and, like the grocery store, I expect it to be much the same here as it is in Boulder. I may be incorrect, but that remains to be seen. There are a few tips I’ve picked up on during my time in college that I hope will serve to my benefit as I’m crafting resumes and cover letters for each position I apply to. They include:
*Don’t tell the prospective employer what they can do for you; tell them what you can do for them.
*Taylor resumes and cover letters to each specific position by doing research about it and making it obvious you’ve done your homework.
*Check in with the prospective employer after handing in a resume and cover letter; they will rarely make the first move to get in contact with you.
*Be aware of dress when meeting with the prospective employer. It’s important to demonstrate you care and take yourself seriously. Colors can actually be of significance when it comes to clothing. Blue, for example, may be preferable over red, which is an aggressive color.

We’ll see how well those tips serve me and in the mean time I intend to continue driving around Austin and getting to know the city. It’s much too hot to walk around at the moment. Today’s high, for example, (Aug. 10) is 106 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. With the addition of the humidity in this state, the weather is certainly going to take some getting used to.