Thursday

The other night I went out with Matthew and his work mates. We went a comedy gig at place called the Ginglik, it's a premiere nightspot located in an old Victorian toilet beneath Shepherd's Bush green. I was talking to a few people about my job search and they had plenty of stories to share. 

My favorites were the ones where they were looking for six months to find a job. Six months....big old sigh from me. I was thinking about it today, there is no reason that I shouldn't be able to get an awesome job. Coming from that cutting edge program at MCAD. 

Yesterday I went to work on my application to AMV BBDO at Whole Foods. I have found that if I don't get out I tend to go a bit stir crazy. It was a nice change of scenery and I managed to get a bit of work done. It's good to get out there and remind yourself that life is still going on even though you are out of work and don't have any money. You know it's not really the money. It's working on cool stuff, that's what I miss. I was having a moment the other day and I just said out loud to myself, I want to work so bad. I am hoping that I can use that as a unique selling point. Look out future employers, I am dying to work. I'll be there 12 hours a day. Happy to work and be creative. 

I asked a few of my friends if they would take a look at my CV and I haven't heard from anyone yet.... I wonder if that's because it is so awesome that nothing needs to be changed. Let's hope so. I also sent off a reply to the lady at MediaCom with my revised CV. Hopefully she will be able to look at it. Funny enough my flatmate worked there, his last day is this Friday. I thought about using him as a reference, but it might be dodgy. He's a great guy, but well... you get my drift.

Today, I am going to finish my application for AMV BBDO and start the next one. My dream is to get the Ogilvy fellowship. Now that would be more like it.

cheers.

Tuesday Night

I am done working for today and I fear that I haven't accomplished much although I have been at it all day. I finished my CV and have asked some trusted friends to look it over. My goal is to send it off to MediaCom tomorrow. 

I have to admit that I am not feeling very confident about my resume/CV. I never used to feel like that, but I think because of the importance I've placed on it I want it to be perfect. Back in Minneapolis I would most likely be sending in a resume after I've met somebody. It would almost be an arbitrary act. Now I really need it to go to work for me. I can remember back in Senior Project a good friend, Matt Hayes, talking about he would most likely never need his resume to get him a job. I believed him, he could definitely do it. He knows people and he's a great guy. I was also reading some online handouts from MCAD's career center about preparing for your job search. They consider it a good rule of thumb to start immediately when you start college. It's not a bad idea and that's exactly what I did. 

I guess I could just feel bitter about having to start from nothing here, but it won't change anything. So I've got to get on with it and be positive. In some ways it is exciting. I am looking for a job using what I've learned and scary at the same time. The doubts start clouding your mind. Did I learn enough, was involved in enough, am I tenacious enough. All those things start to swirl around in your mind. 

Tomorrow is a new day. I am considering going down to Starbucks' head office and just asking to speak to someone in HR and then handing them my CV. It's worth a shot. I have been hearing a lot about making cold calls and just showing up places with your CV, maybe it works. I will keep you posted. 

Tuesday

I just got done leaving a message for the resourcing officer at Starbucks UK. I had applied for a position at their Head Office last Tuesday through their career website. Hopefully I will hear something back soon. I applied for the Executive Assistant position and I think it would be a good place to start building a career with them.

It was the first time that I've applied for a position through an online application form. I am a bit skeptical about the process. I hope my application isn't just sitting in someone's spam folder waiting to be deleted. Must think positive.

The one nice thing about London is that most of the major advertising agencies have graduate schemes. Similar to the programs offered at Campbell Mithun or Fallon. I am working on applying for all of them and the deadlines are all coming up one after another. I have applied for Ogilvy's fellowship program and I would love to get that. Love, love, love. It is a really cool program and you are part of the fellowship for three years. Take a look at the website, it has a lot of useful information. Some good career advice and a nice reading list.

The deadline was for that one was this past Sunday. The hardest part is the waiting. Due to the huge amount of applications the server went down and now they've extended the deadline by one more week. So those who submitted applications between Friday and Sunday can reapply. I suppose it's only fair, but it means waiting even longer.

I also should mention that I went to a graduate fair that was put on by the Guardian,
a London newspaper. It was alright. I wasn't too interested in the companies that were there, but it was good to get out there. I brought business cards and managed to give one away. The best part was a panel discussion called Media Movers and Shakers, Marketing Career Opportunities. It was interesting and for me it was good to be able to get some names of people to contact. Yes, to cold call.....

After the panel was over I spoke briefly with a woman who worked for MediaCom and asked if I could email her and ask her some questions. She was very friendly and agreed, she even graciously took my card. The following day I sent her an email and my CV and asked if she would so kind and take a look. True to her word she did and gave me some useful feedback.

So now I am working to revise my American resume and make it more English. That's what I am doing today.

Friday

I have been thinking this over for a while now. Should I start a blog about my job search in London. Why do I want to do it? 

I could say that I hope that maybe one day someone would read it and be able to learn from my mistakes. I am sure that there will be other American students who find themselves in this city and would love to not feel so alone. I also like the idea of having a record of this journey so I can look back and remember what it was like when I starting out when I was struggling. 

Another reason could be is that I have a lot of time on my hands. A lot. This blog gives me some tangible results. At least at the end of the day I will have my blog posts. 

Here goes nothing. Wish me luck.