One Year: A Reflection

A lot can happen in a year. I always said that but I don’t know if I ever fully realized it until now. So, here is a walk down memory lane. This is my story of the past year.

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“I am graduating at the end of this semester and I have no plans yet for what exactly I’m going to be doing with my degree. Although this stresses me out, I am trying to take it one day at a time and just enjoy my last semester with full faith that I’m going to find a career I absolutely love when the time is right.”

– Taylor (2018) is a 5th-year Business student majoring in Human Resources.

That quote was posted on the University of Alberta’s Instagram account in 2018 right before I graduated a year ago. At the time, I was extremely embarrassed that they chose to post that excerpt from the interview I had with them. I thought it made me sound stupid and clueless about my future. But, the fact of the matter is, I was. I had no idea what I was going to do after I graduated. In June of 2018, I walked across the stage, got my degree and did not have the faintest clue what I was going to do, not only for that summer but for the rest of my life. I was officially not a student anymore and it scared every bone in my body.

I would work full time at Shoppers all summer, enjoy my last summer as a “casual worker” and then in July or August, I would start seriously applying for a job that related to my degree. Now, this scared me for a couple of reasons. Although I had four years of schooling in HR (and accounting), I had chosen not to do the COOP program. Therefore, I didn’t have any experience in a human resources setting. And, because of that, finding a job in that industry was a struggle.

Now, a little bit of background about me. When I get scared, it immobilizes me. It happened when I was applying for university. I was so scared at the thought of starting university, that I just couldn’t apply. I waited all summer, refusing to pay the deposit until the very last week before the deadline. I didn’t make my course schedule until the day before classes started. Everytime I went to apply for university, all the fears that I had been trying to ignore and kept in the back of my head made me freeze and I would put it off. I would tell myself that I was just too busy that day to apply, that I promised I would apply the next day. But it never happened. The fear was just too much for me to handle.

And so, the exact same thing happened when I tried to apply for jobs. I kept putting it off. I had a trip to Mexico planned at the end of June so I kept telling myself that I would relax until I came back from my vacay and then I would take the job hunt seriously. But guess what? I came back from Mexico and for the whole month of July, I didn’t apply for a single job.

But, on a whim, I applied for an Executive Assistant job at an investment media firm downtown. I would have never applied for an EA position before but I found the job on the U of A Careers website and I figured it was worth a shot. Twenty minutes after I submitted my resume, I received an email from the CEO asking me to quickly chat on the phone. I agreed (of course) and he called me the next day asking me all about my blog. I aced all the questions because if there’s one thing I love to talk about, it’s my blog. He then set up an interview for the following week. The interview went (surprisingly) smoothly and while I waited to hear back if I got the job, I had a couple HR position interviews with other companies. Now, I would be lying if I said that this EA position was my first choice for which job I wanted. But, in my mind, beggars can’t be choosers. I was desperate for any kind of job experience and I was going to take whatever I could get. So, when I got the call two weeks later offering me the position, I accepted the job.

This job was a love hate relationship in my life. Yes, I loved that I finally had my first “adult” job after university. I LOVED working downtown and being around that atmosphere. It’s truly something different. I loved my office. I loved my coworkers. I loved getting a taste of the business world and learning all these new things. But I just wasn’t content. I wasn’t doing the type of things I wanted to be doing. I was more of a personal assistant than an executive assistant and it was a little damaging to my self esteem. I totally understand the whole “starting at the bottom and working your way up” process in the business world (everyone has to start somewhere) but I just felt like I had so much more to offer than what was being put to use in my position. So, six months later, in January of 2019, I made the decision to start casually seeing what other jobs were out there.

I was back on the job hunt but a couple of things were different this time around. I now had some professional, post-grad work experience on my resume. I also had cleaned up my cover letter a great deal. I had stopped being lazy and using the same cover letter and resume for every job I applied for. I finally listened to everyone’s advice and for each job I applied to, I carefully crafted my cover letter and resume to showcase the skills that were needed in that position. I started to talk up my blog. For the first time, I didn’t diminish my blog. I used it to really showcase my real-world business experience. I applied to five jobs in January. Three were at the University of Alberta, one was with the Government of Alberta and one was with Flair Airlines.

Until I did. I was at work when I got a call. My caller display read a name I wasn’t familiar with and when I went to google that name, it showed she worked at the University of Alberta. I could hardly contain my excitement. I called her back and she said it was in response to a job with the Alberta School of Business. We set up an interview for later that week and before I knew it, I was on my way to campus. I thought I absolutely bombed the interview. I was devastated. I was feeling so unmotivated to start the whole job search process over again. There’s something about hunting for job postings, writing cover letters and going to interviews that is so draining. My little 23 year old self just wasn’t ready for it.

And so, when I got offered the job a week later, I was in absolute disbelief. I felt like finally, the stars were aligning for me. I just couldn’t believe my luck. And so, I gave my two week notice to my employer and promptly started at the U of A. It’s now been a year since I started this job. I’m off probation, I’m settled in and I’m happier than I ever could have imagined. It’s definitely weird walking the halls of the University of Alberta not as a student but as an employee. I’ve come full circle really. This past year has been one of the most stressful years of my life but it’s also been one of the most rewarding. During my last year of university, I honestly didn’t think I would ever find a job, let alone one that I loved with good benefits and pay.

And so, if you’re finding that you’re in the same spot that I was just a little over a year ago, my advice to you is this. Take a deep breath. Apply for every job you can, even the ones you think you’re under qualified for. Travel. Take advantage of this precious free time that you haven’t had since you were a kid. See it as a blessing instead of a curse. Revamp your resume and cover letter. Make it the best you can possibly make it. Highlight all your skills and talents, even the ones you think might not directly relate. You’re a diamond in the rough and you need that resume to let yourself truly shine. And lastly, don’t worry. These should be the most exciting years of your life. You did it. You graduated university. You can now follow those career goals that you have worked so hard for over the past four (or more) years. Don’t let this little roadblock (or speed bump) stop you from patting yourself on the back.