I have had the opportunity to apply for many jobs during the course of my high school and college experiences. I am in the MECOP program which has given me a unique job application experience which is different than the usual job search process. Since MECOP is an unusual way of acquiring a job, I have chosen to focus on my application experience with the College of Business as an Event Assistant in the Career Success Center.
As a sophomore at Oregon State, I knew I wanted and needed a job. Since I was a full time student, this limited my options right away. Not only did I want a job with flexible hours, I wanted something that would allow me to gain a valuable experience that would look good on a resume post graduation. As I was looking through one of the weekly College of Business emails during Spring term, I came across a posting for an Event Assistant position within the College of Business’ Career Success Center. This position would start in the fall of my junior year and would allow me the experience and flexible hours I was searching for.
The first step I took in the application process was to reach out to my friend who was currently in this position to gain her perspective on the job. She highly recommended the position and offered to put in a good word for me. This connection allowed me to get my name out there which got me an interview shortly after I submitted my application.
My friend gave me interview pointers from her experience the year before and introduced me to her boss and coworkers before the interview. This allowed me to feel more comfortable during the interview process. When I arrived for my interview the atmosphere was very casual. My potential boss and one of my potential coworkers took me to the Austin Marketplace and asked me questions about my event planning experience – which was vast. They made me feel comfortable which allowed me to open up and be myself throughout the interview. I felt that this job would be a good fit for me and I hoped they felt the same.
After a few weeks – during which I learned they had interviewed many more candidates – I was offered the only open position. Since I had my foot already in the door with my friend as a connection, I feel that they could be more confident that I was a good fit for the job since I had someone on the inside vouching for me. This connection allowed me to see a different perspective into the job and learn that it would be a great place for me to work, especially as a student with limited working hours. Since I was in the College of Business, my class schedule aligned perfectly with what the job expected.
A year and a half later I enjoy my job and feel that I picked the right “who” to work for and they hopefully feel they picked the right “who” in me as their employee.
2 replies on “Week 1: Job Application Experiences”
It was extremely helpful that you had someone already in the field who you could use as a reference and ask questions when you needed. I had a similar thing in my experience, but it was my grandfather who used to work for the company who helped me out. You made the right decision to reach out to your friend, as networking is one of the best ways to ensure sucess.
Having that initial connection with your friend definitely goes to show that networking is so important these days. Already knowing someone working there gave you a great advantage over the rest of the applicants, nice job!