My thoughts on entering the workforce in the COVID-19 era

There are so many worries bouncing around in everyone’s heads right now. A big worry is staying healthy and keeping everyone around you safe, but there are other thoughts that are terrifying. We don’t know when this will be over. We could be reaching the peak in early May. We don’t know how the economy will recover. We really don’t know when life will be “normal” again.

Right now, besides everything else I mentioned, I’m really nervous about finding a job. I’m graduating in less than two months and I’m in the middle of my job search. It won’t be over when I graduate by any means. I don’t know whether places will be hiring, let alone hiring people from out of state since I was thinking of moving. I don’t know if the workplaces will still be remote. I don’t know if a lot of businesses that might have hired me will be financially able to support another employee.

I realize that we’re in (get ready for this overused word) unprecedented times. One thing that excites me even with everything horrible going on, is that I’m living through a historic event right now. Not everyone in 20 years will have my story as a 2020 college graduate. So, I wanted to take the time to write down everything I’ve been thinking about, particularly related to the job search.

Are employers going to start adjusting as this becomes their normal?

Right in this moment, I have a hard time believing anyone is actually focusing on hiring. However, we have to know at some point businesses will have to start accepting this as a normal, whether it’s for two weeks or two months. They have to move on and do business as normal, which will include starting up the hiring process once again. I won’t be shocked if I apply for a job today and then don’t get a reply until a month later. I expect that most places are expecting this to be over soon and have decided to suspend hiring until this ends, but they haven’t realized how much they need to keep things going. Hiring will resume sooner rather than later.

Is advertising and public relations going to be seen as more important now?

This may seem completely unrelated to COVID-19, but hear me out. When the news broke that this pandemic was going to disrupt our lives, it was professionals in my field informing the public. In some cases, public relations professionals failed and in others they succeeded. Some businesses stayed opened when they shouldn’t have, some businesses were proactive. I don’t think the public will forget that easily, and some places might be looking for someone who can handle situations like this if they didn’t already have one. Sometimes businesses don’t hire advertising and public relations professionals because they don’t think they need them, but maybe after this they will feel like they do. What I’m really trying to say is, and maybe it’s my hope clouding my judgement, maybe I’ll still be able to get a job. Maybe I can still be successful in the midst of a recession.

Is this a learning experience?

This kind of goes with what I was just saying. After looking at all the businesses in this country and how they responded, could I take this as a learning experience? For example, McDonald’s separated their golden arches to promote social isolation, but people didn’t appreciate that since they were still sending their employees to work and not offering paid sick leave. That didn’t go well over social media, and honestly I don’t know why they paid to change their signs when people aren’t leaving their house. The businesses that shone on social media were the ones who treated their employees well and communicated effectively with the public.

Will it be possible to get a job I’d have to move to do?

I have no idea what the answer to this is. On one hand, places will likely be remote for awhile. On the other hand, I’m not going to be able to move somewhere easily and I expect employers to know that. The job search doesn’t feel very different, but it is harder to be motivated to apply to those crazy “dream” jobs.

Will I be working remotely when I do get a job?

Maybe I’m being a bit of a pessimist, but I don’t think this will be over by May 15th when I graduate. When I get that job I’ve been working towards, I might be working remotely. Which makes me wonder if places will be able to successfully train in employees remotely. A lot of things will be changing, and I guess I better get used to making my own schedule and working hard on my own.

Should I just try to be a freelancer for awhile?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’ve actually made an Upwork and Fiverr account, but I haven’t done anything with them yet. Since one of my jobs just closed and won’t be needing me for awhile, it might be smart to work towards this since I’ll be needing the extra cash. Along with the money, I also would love the extra experience as I start interviewing for jobs. Because of those factors, freelancing has been on my mind for awhile. However, I haven’t considered it being a full time option after I graduate until recently. I think it might be the best option while I’m still looking for jobs so I don’t get out of practice. It definitely calms me down when I start panicking about the economy.

For everyone else, I hope you are also recording your thoughts. I remember when I was young and our teachers told us to ask our grandparents or parents about memorable moments in their lives. This will be ours to share.

My major feels like a superpower

Over the past few days I’ve discovered that my major (advertising and public relations) feels like a superpower. In a world where everyone in my generation is starting their own businesses or building their personal brands, being an advertising major feels pretty amazing. Along with that, we don’t have to look far to get experience.

I was worried that maybe I wouldn’t get enough experience from internships before I graduated. What I didn’t realize, however, was how useful my skills would be to people in my friend group. I’ve already offered help to my friend, who wants to start her own business, with social media and promotion. Another friend I’ve helped just by suggesting that she builds a website for her compositions (she wants to be a composer). If she needs my help, I’m readily available. And while I haven’t done anything for these projects yet, I still feel like I’ll have no issue finding freelance work after I graduate if that’s what I want to do.

And you know what the best part is, besides gaining experience and getting closer to being super successful? I get to help my friends be successful and live their dreams. I didn’t realize how much this made me excited until recently. Hopefully, they take me up on my offers because I really want to help them (and they’d be helping me!).

I know advertising and public relations aren’t the first majors you think of when you think of “super” majors. Usually, my mind goes to people studying to be a doctor, for obvious reasons. This experience, however has made me think about how other majors could be “super.”

So, instead of sweating over getting a job this summer, take a moment and appreciate all that your major can do and all the little ways you can help others with what you’ve learned. One, it might make job interviews a little easier. And two, it’ll help remind you why you chose this field in the first place.

I’m trying the WordPress Premium Plan

Even though I’m a poor college student, I handed over $96 to try WordPress Premium. Originally, I was going to wait awhile longer because I know my site won’t be getting a lot of readers. It seemed irresponsible to spend that amount of money on something that might not benefit me too much. Then I realized that I started this blog to improve myself. My mindset changed from this being irresponsible spending to this being like purchasing a college textbook. This isn’t going to be something just for fun (even though I am excited to try out all of the features), it’s also furthering my education and building my portfolio. So I spent that money, and this is what I’ve learned so far.

My blog can have advertisements

I have so many mixed feelings about this. Right now, you can see that my main page has advertisements. I think this is an amazing option to have, as you might have a chance to make back the money you spent on getting the plan. However, it does clutter up your page and ruin the “aesthetic.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the advertisements, but I wanted to make sure I learned as much as I could through this experience.

First off, it’s going to take a long time for me to make money off of it. I’m not sure how many visitors or clicks I need to get $100, but I know it’s enough that I’ll be lucky when/if I do. Here’s how it works: After you earn $100 from ads then you get the money. Before then, I assume, you don’t get anything. I’m okay if I don’t make money off of my blog, because the money is already spent. Lastly, I learned that you can keep track of how much money you make off the ads. If you’re wondering, I’ve made a whopping $0. I’m going to keep tracking it and see if anything changes. If nothing does, I’ll probably take the ads off. Even without the ads though, there’s many parts of the Premium plan I’m excited for.

My website domain is just “.com” and that feels great

This was a big selling point for me. When I imagined putting “Website: www.emilylauinger.com” on business cards, it got me excited. I’m not sure if this makes me full of myself, but seeing my name as a website feels really good. Not only that, but it tells employers that I’m dedicated to my craft and it looks professional. It also makes it easier to find through Google, which is my next point.

I get to play with Google Analytics

This is what made me fork over the money more than anything else. I haven’t gotten any hands-on experience with Google Analytics through my college courses, and I knew I probably wouldn’t unless I got a job working on it specifically. Since I see this in a lot of job descriptions, I really wanted to work with it on my own before entering the workforce.

The most exciting part is that I get a free introductory course for Google Analytics. I just started it, so I don’t really have much to say about it besides the fact that I’m excited to learn about it. I also get a certificate at the end of the course, so that’ll be something to put in my apartment’s place of honor (on my fridge).

The design choices and customization

If I’m being honest, this feels like a lame note to leave off on because I had just gone into what I could do with Google Analytics. Even so, it is a lot of fun to play with all the new theme options. Right now, I’m really enjoying the theme I chose. These themes are also easier to customize, at least it seems that way, so it is a nice way to make your blog feel like your own. 

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In general, you probably don’t have to pay $96 to get the experience of having a blog. Because I wanted the experience of Google Analytics, more design choices, and testing out the advertisements, it was worth it for me. I’m also glad I have a year to test this out before I have to renew it. I’m going to enjoy it while I can.

Apply for the jobs you don’t think you’re qualified for

Here’s the deal: I’ve been applying to a lot of jobs. Most of them, I’m not “qualified” for. And by not qualified, I mean I don’t match their description perfectly. I don’t have 5+ years of experience, I don’t necessarily know my way around MailChimp (yet!), and I might not have experience marketing in their particular field. But I’m not letting that stop me. And I know why.

No one applying is going to be the “perfect” candidate 

I mean, sure, there might be people that fit the job description a little better than me. But maybe they aren’t as good at writing, or maybe they aren’t as much of a team player. Maybe, they only look good on paper. Or heck, maybe I’m the closest to the ideal candidate and I don’t even know it!

Men apply for jobs they’re not qualified for all the time (and that’s perfectly fine!)

I’m not going to say it’s the main reason for why the pay gap exists, because there’s many factors that play into that. But we can’t ignore that if all of us women applied to jobs that aren’t “in our reach” as much as men do, it might help a bit. It’s time to take that terrifying risk, because, really, it’s not even a risk. What are they going to do? Say no? Jobs I am qualified for still reject me!

I might surprise myself

Recently, I got an online interview for one of those jobs I wasn’t qualified for, at least, a job I thought I wasn’t qualified for. They looked at my resume and wanted to hear more from me. And I may not make it further than that online interview, but now, I feel a lot more confident with putting myself out there. So I’ll be applying to those scary jobs, and maybe I’ll get one.

I’m ready to be bold

I never was a risk taker. I wouldn’t even show people my writing in high school. We’ll see if I even share this blog post. The thing is, I don’t want that to stop me from truly being successful. So I’m going to take those risks, publish this blog (hopefully), and, no matter what, I’m going to be proud of who I am and what I accomplished (or didn’t). And I hope that you, the possibly nonexistent reader, will join me in being bold.

Fellow college students, let’s enter that workforce with confidence.