From Despair to Dream Job

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I earned my Master’s Degree in Library & Information Science in 2009. Two years later, I spent 18 months underemployed. I worked up to 6 part time jobs simultaneously, as a petsitter, babysitter, tutor, housecleaner, Starbucks barista, and finally, a part-time Reference Librarian.

In NYC, unemployment and underemployment are all too common, and it’s one of the most financially challenging places to survive, to boot. There were so many days where I had less than a dollar in my bank account, which made it an overwhelming challenge to focus on applications.

Nonetheless, I made hundreds of attempts. It was a process that typically involved lengthy, tedious online forms that always struck me superfluous by asking for information already on my resume. Yet I landed maybe half a dozen interviews total.


The Steps I Followed
These are the “tried-and-true” tips that I followed, without success (though most of them are helpful, if you follow the formula I propose later in this article):

Maintaining a spreadsheet of job postings I gathered, tracking deadlines carefully.

Subscribing to every job-seeker listserv I could find.

Utilizing LinkedIn and other social networking tools to search.

Tailoring my cover letter to every application—I reused content sparingly, starting from scratch.

Keeping my cover letter short—well under a page.

Plugging keywords specific to the position announcement in my resume.

Being flexible geographically—applying to small towns in egypt whatsapp phone number Kansas or Montana with quantifiably less competition.

Being flexible about the job categories I applied to, and applying anyway even if I didn’t quite meet the minimum requirements for experience.

Doing my best to stay active, social, and self-affirming rather than giving in to the very real and palpable undercurrent of despair I still couldn’t quite quell.

Today, I have landed my dream job, an opportunity that is a perfect fit for the things I do the best. This guarantees success that will lead to longevity, to a career in an exploding field with a starting salary that’s twice what I’ve ever in 15 years of working.