Career Advice for College Grads: Kyrie Hughes’ Job Search Success Story

Jumping into the working world after getting your college degree can be intimidating. But, there are ways you can stand out from the competition and reach out to your network to discover a great career. Kyrie Hughes kept in contact with connections she made during her college years and overcame rejection to land a new job successfully three months after graduating from college. Read Kyrie’s success story to find out how your college connections can make all the difference in your first post-grad career.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

Currently, I’m a social media manager for a non-profit organization called Give Us The Floor.  Give Us The Floor is a company where teens help teens with daily life issues.  Almost all content is produced by our teen interns so that it is more relatable to everyday high school students.

How long did it take you to find this job?

It took me about three months out of college in order to get hired at this job.

How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?

The two most important things I did in college was network and keep all of my school work pertaining to my career! If I hadn’t networked, I would not have this job.  I met an amazing woman named Gretchen Fox, who’s a very successful woman in her job field, through my old boss at Southern Oregon University. Gretchen and I had an informational interview where she reviewed the past work I had done.

She told me to follow up with her right out of college and she’d keep her eye on any jobs she saw that would be a good match.  A few months later she got me in touch with my current employer.

What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?

One of the hardest things to deal with is the disappointment.  Not having a job or internship lined up right out of college can take a toll on your self-esteem because there are 45+ candidates competing against you for one position.  So when you get rejection emails or phone calls repeatedly it really hurts.

It took me a while, but I personally overcame this factor by not dwelling on the fact that I didn’t get that job.  I told myself “Okay you didn’t get it, what job application is next?” If you constantly think about all the jobs you weren’t hired for it’ll hinder your job search.

What is the single best piece of advice you would offer other job-seekers?

Make a daily routine!  

When I exited college I didn’t have anything lined up for me job wise and I no longer had classes so the schedule that I had for four years went out the window.  One thing I quickly learned is that by getting up at the same time every day, going to the gym, reading etc. helped me get out of my head during the tough time between college and the workforce.

Why do you love your job?

It took me a long time to find a career I enjoyed. I was originally a nursing major before changing to communications, where I found that I was a natural at strategic social media.

I currently love my job because I am constantly busy, I get to be creative and I’m working for a company that stands for a good cause.