On a warm fall day on the set of a new Bravo reality series during, Adrianna Hinsey, 22, a 2017 Parsons Communication Design grad, reminisced about how just over a month ago she was crazed about finding a job after graduating.
“I went from dreaming of working at Harper’s Bazaar or Marie Claire to working in television production at Bravo. You have to adapt.” This is a lesson Hinsey has learned from her strenuous job search.
She said she had been working at the same company for over a year prior to graduating. This job, however, couldn’t pay her what she needed in order for her to stay in New York.
She started applying for graphic design positions at companies such as Glamsquad and Fleur du Mal. She went on interviews and was promised follow-ups, only to be let down in the end.
She finally found her position at Bravo through a friend of her cousin. Her skills happened to line up and she was hired within a week of interviewing. Success!
Being adaptable is just one of the qualities you have to demonstrate in order to find a job after graduation explains Jennifer MacDonald, the Director of the Center for Graduate Career and Professional Development. MacDonald began working with students at the New School fours years ago in 2014.
MacDonald tells the students she works with that it is pivotal to work consistently throughout your time in school to position yourself as a strong candidate in your desired field, or any field for that matter.
She also suggests that, when constructing a résumé, be sure and highlight not only relevant work experience but campus leadership roles and project involvement as well.
When going in for an interview, Macdonald encourages job seekers to do your research and not only be able to anticipate questions that will be coming your way, but also to prepare questions for the employer. Some suggestions were: “What is the culture of the company like?” Or “What is the interviewer’s favorite part of their job?”
Olivia Zosky, 22, a graduate of the Strategic Design and Management program at Parsons, had a post-graduation journey that also required a lot of persistence.
Although she exemplifies some of the points that MacDonald was urgent about — she steadily interned at big name fashion brands, including Phillip Lim and Alice + Olivia, which speckled her resume upon finishing university — she too had difficulty in the months that followed.
“I would say that the reality and fact of the matter is that building your connections while you’re in school is vital to finding a job out of college, especially one you want. While you might get lucky dry applying or reaching out through platforms such as LinkedIn, using your resources and networking will speed up the process immensely,” said Zosky.
She applied to over forty positions, much like Hinsey, but couldn’t seem to attain a job right off the bat. It was only when she reached out to an old colleague that she found something.
A former boss had recently started a new job also and was looking to form the “dream team” at Wetherly PR, a transplant public relations firm originating in Los Angeles trying to establish themselves in the Big Apple. It all fell together quite seamlessly from there and Zosky is now working full time at Wetherly.
Nicky Campbell, another Strategic Design major from Parsons, worked as a public relations intern at several different companies such as BPCM, Vita Fede, and Thom Browne and used this experience to transition into intern roles at stylist Mel Ottenberg and working as a fashion assistant at Vogue. He was then recommended by a colleague at Vogue to his internship in strategic partnerships at the Council of Fashion Designers, or CFDA.
Upon graduating, Campbell learned of an opening in the Communications Department of the CFDA, applied and got it.
When asked if this is what he expected to be doing with his degree from Parsons, Nicky replied, “Not at all! I thought I would go into styling or publishing, but I wasn’t as passionate about that side of the industry as I thought I would be. I used PR as a way to transition into editorial but ended up loving that field way more.”
All of this being said, finding a job you enjoy after graduation can be a very difficult task. It is pivotal though to use the experiences you have garnered throughout your time in school to position yourself for the job you want.
Not only this, but be adaptable! You might honestly not find exactly what you are looking for just after you graduate, but that is okay.
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Illustration by Olivia Heller