I have not been here in a while. Since I received a lot of good advice several years ago, I thought this might be a good place to come back to.
I am wondering if anyone is aware of any recruiters for entry level jobs in the New York area. My daughter graduated from college in 2015 with a degree in Communications and minor in Creative writing. She did a short internship (5 month) in NYC post graduation and then she decided to go for an MFA in London. Her goal at the time was to stay in London and try to work at BBC or other local media company in a writing capacity or worst case scenario take an administrative job until she can get her foot in the door. Other Americans were overseas and had been successful staying there. She graduated in 2016, just in time for Brexit. Needless, to say, she had to return.
Job search here did not go well as most of her contacts were back in the UK. She tried to reconnect here as best she could. She ended up taking a social media/administrative job at a startup where she worked for about six months as this job did not work out for multiple reasons. She has been temping on and off in administrative and customer service type positions but cannot seem to be able to secure a full time job. Some friends have helped secure a couple of interviews but she really did not have the background for those jobs (medical). Some of my friends have submitted resumes for open jobs at their companies but nothing has materialized.
Therefore, I am thinking that maybe she needs a professional coach or an entry level recruiter, if there is such a thing. She has modified her resume many times and using suggestions/advice from many people, including some HR people. We have added and deleted to no avail. She has had a couple of interviews. One feedback was that she needed to show more passion. This was for a marketing assistant position. She is a bit of an introvert but very dedicated once she gets into her work.
In summary, she has networked, applied online for jobs (LinkedIn, Indeed, Ziprecruiter, company sites), applied through friends for jobs. She has tried temp agencies (had some assignments). She has made it clear, she is mobile and willing to learn new things. She is looking for job in social media, communications or marketing. It should not be this hard for this type of job.
Bunsen Burner, I guess it can wait for 1.5 months since it has been a while anyway. We just fear that the longer she does not have a full time job, the harder it will be to get something decent.
I realize marketing can involve math and analytics heavy and she is ok with that but not the strongest point… She has done social media content, blogs, events/promotions, some analytics, audience demographics etc. These jobs have been under the marketing umbrella. Do you think she should brush up on some math skills? She was pretty good at it in H.S. just not sure if she has needed it much since. There are some online courses (free or low cost) I can point her to, if it is helpful.
The MFA may be her ticket to get “a job” that can then ad to other things. Many insurance companies/brojers, auction houses, etc. look for a fine art background as a support function/resource for their other business units. I have known quite a few MFAs that started with an insurance company in an underwriting, claims, or home valuation role as their primary focus and art “consulting” as a secondary role. This paid the bills, gave exposure to both the insurance industry as well as keeping a foot in the door to make more/better contacts in the art world leading to better opportunities a year or two down the road.
Recruiters are generally not hired by companies to fill entry-level positions. There are job placement agencies (like LabTemps in science fields) that hire entry level folks and then “sell” them to companies that need to fill a temporary gap.
This is definitely the worst time of the year to begin to job hunt. People are into holiday mode, not hiring mode. If her resume lands in the inbox of the HR in charge of a current opening, it can sink to the bottom of the pile.
Hmmm…aren’t there for hire career counselors who can help someone hone in on jobs that match their interests? Maybe that would be a good Christmas present for your daughter.
When my D was a new graduate and moved to Chicago and needed to find a job, she signed up with both temp agencies and employment agencies (some do both). She was able to work temp jobs steadily while also interviewing for permanent positions. She got a good position and was able to launch her career.
My future DIL moved to NYC after graduation and registered with several employment agencies. In a month she started a job, where she’s been 2.5 years.
Both had some relevant work experience during college, but both were entry level type positions.
IAparent. I was thinking the same thing. She has applied to the auction houses and recently to an insurance company. I think she just needs to find the spot to get in there. We are on the lookout though.
Collegequery. would you be able to pm me the agencies your DIL registered with after graduation. My daughter is registered with a couple of temp agencies and they have found temp spots but now she wants to focus on permanent. She can try them in January.
There is no such thing as a “permanent” job in most types of employment, since many employers dismiss employees at the first sign of a business downturn, and employers often just go out of business. Presumably, you really mean that she is looking for a regular open-ended employment, as opposed to a time-limited job or contract.
@lia_b does she have a company that she would like to work for? When my DIL was trying to get a job at a particular company she applied multiple times and never hear back. She was given the advise by a friend of a friend who worked in HR at that company to apply through a particular temporary agency. She was hired at her dream company as a temp to hire. She eventually got a full time position with the company as a employee with full benefits. Her company was very busy and they found that they preferred to hire from the temp agency. I think it saved them money on benefits and was an easy way to let someone go who wasn’t working out. I know quite a few young graduates who temped and were eventually hired on to full time positions.
Marketing can be a very D in the DISC environment. I would have her brush up on interviewing so she doesn’t come off as an introvert and then closely target her resume to a particular type of communications/marketing type job as the field is becoming more specialized. Eg is it analytical, writing, social, strategy and so on.
