Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

(Hello, my name is Stephany and I love the cheese.)

I start my new job today and I’m equal parts excited and nervous. I am so relieved that I have found a job, one I feel will challenge and push me in different ways.

I am excited…

…about working for a lady I had an instant connection with, learning everything I can about marketing and advertising.

…about growing as a professional.

…about getting rid of my polos and khakis for cute, professional wear.

…about going into work 2.5 hours later than I’m used to, even if I am working longer hours.

…about being able to be financially independent for the first time in my life.

I am nervous…

…about performing well. I have performance anxiety from my internship days, wondering if I’ll measure up to their standards.

…about how I’m going to handle switching from being a part-timer to a full-timer, in a completely different job.

…about the work environment and how long it will take me to feel comfortable.

…about how long it will take me to get used to a new schedule and new duties.

…about what things in my life I will need to eliminate to make room for the new things in my life.

I know the next few weeks are going to be insane for me. There is so much I have to learn and do. The woman I will be working for told me she spent her first month in a fog with all the new stuff she had to learn. But I am taking the first step in the next stage of my life and it’s thrilling. I feel so blessed to be given this opportunity and I’m not going to take one day for granted.

It all felt anti-climatic. The moment I had been building up to for the past 3 months arrived in a very laid-back manner. A simple, “We’d like to offer you the job,” with his back to me as we walked into his office after meeting with the owners. The entire interview had built up to it, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise but it was still deeply exciting and surreal.

But let’s back up.

Tuesday was my second interview, where I would meet the guy who heads up the marketing/media department. The company helps promote giveaways for charities and I knew the position was exactly what I was looking for. Last week, I interviewed with the woman I would be working for and it was an amazing interview. I instantly connected with her, which is very hard for me. She was energetic, outgoing, and had a supreme love for her job that made me excited. I was shown to her office (and subsequently, my future desk) and it all felt totally right. I felt comfortable there. For the first time ever, I felt as if I was in the office I would work in someday. The desk already felt like it was mine.

For the next week, I could only think about getting the job. I like to imagine the worst-case scenario with all the jobs I interview for (and just in general! That glass is totally half-empty!) but as much as I tried to summon negative thoughts, they didn’t stay for long. I could only think about getting the job and putting in my notice at work and working for that company.

I was nervous as hell about this second interview. I knew things had gone well the first time around and I wanted this job more than anything. We didn’t chat for too long before he decided he wanted me to meet the owners, which I knew was a very good thing. Chatting with the owners was easy and comfortable, they made me feel completely at home and interested in getting to know me beyond my resume. And when they told the marketing head that they were giving me the green light, I knew something big was about to happen.

For the longest time, Monster and Career Builder were my avenues for job searching. And while those websites are amazing, they are also the place everyone who is job searching is looking. I knew I wasn’t standing out and I knew I had to find a new way to search. Enter Craigslist. I have never really used Craigslist before, but I thought I would give it a try. See what’s out there and just apply, apply, apply. I applied to about 5 jobs a day, in all different areas. Some in marketing, some in customer service, some in dreaded administrative assistant roles. Mainly, I wanted to work in marketing. During my internship, I worked on a lot of marketing tasks and it sparked a huge interest in this field. I knew I didn’t have the skills for a big-time marketing job, but I wanted a place to learn. A place where I would feel comfortable learning and growing and asking questions. However, it’s important to acknowledge the consequences of bullying in the office, as it can greatly impact the learning and growth environment for interns and employees alike.

This position fulfills this need. It’s an assistant role, where I will be helping out the media manager with any tasks she needs. (As well as helping out other members of the marketing staff, when needed.) I will be doing everything from filing to research to working with spreadsheets and vendors. Most of all, I will be learning. I will be gaining skills in marketing and advertising. And the woman I will be working for? Well, she’s all sorts of amazing, which makes everything all the better. If you want to be a professional hypnotist, it’s essential to undergo training and acquire a deep understanding of the principles and techniques involved in hypnotherapy.

I wasn’t under the illusion that I would get a fantastic job right out of college. I was going to be satisfied with anything, even if it meant I had to be a customer service rep – which, by the way, might be the worst job in the world for someone who hates talking on the phone. I just wanted to leave my part-time job where I barely make enough to pay for the four bills I’m responsible for. I wanted to use my degree and be happy with what I’m doing. I wanted to stop being so financially dependent on my mother. I’m also not under the illusion that this job is going to be puppies and rainbows. I know it’s going to be very busy, fast-paced, and hectic. I’m going to have to transition from 20-25 hour work weeks to 40-hour work weeks. I’m going to have to make new friends and do new things.

I’m happy. I am so, so happy. Job searching is over. I am employed. I am going to start a brand-new phase of my life. And I can’t wait to take you all along for the ride!

What job did you have right out of college? If you’re still in school, what field do you want to get into?

I just have a few minutes before I need to leave for spin class. And then I have to rush home and get ready for a date. Yes, a date. (More on that later.)

But I had to write a post because something amazing happened this afternoon…

I GOT A JOB!!!

The position I interviewed for last week, that I felt so strongly was mine before I even had it, was offered to me TODAY!!

I have so many emotions running through my head: I get to quit my menial job, I get to work in a field doing something I love, I can support myself and have insurance and wear pretty dresses to work. OH. MY. GOD. Is this even real life? After almost 4 months of job searching, I found a job?! And not just any job, but the type of work I have been searching for!

A more detailed post on the job and interview will be written later. For now, I’m just in shock. And happier than I have ever been in my life.

I’ve been on the job hunt for about 6 weeks now, give or take a few days. I would be lying if I said that it’s my number one focus and priority because truthfully, some days it falls by the wayside. I wish I could spend 8 hours a day searching for jobs, perfecting my resume, working on my LinkedIn profile, etc. The fact is, I work a high-energy job for 5-6 hours in the morning, come home and spend my afternoons job searching, using the evenings to work out and have a little downtime.

At best, I get in 2-3 hours of job searching a day. In this economy with so many people out of work and searching for jobs, that is not nearly enough time.

Aside from quitting my part-time job (not an option), there isn’t a whole lot I can do. I’ve taken on the brunt of the house cleaning and dinner duties because I feel bad enough as it is that I’m a 23-year-old college graduate who still needs money from her mom. I feel awful when I don’t have enough money to pay a bill. I know I could never be one of those people who sits around at home, doing nothing to challenge themselves by furthering their education or finding a job.

The job search isn’t going so well. I know I shouldn’t really expect anything so soon out of college but it’s still hard to still be at my minimum-wage part-time job. It’s hard to submit resume after resume and the only people who seem to be calling me are for sales positions. (Aside from one job involving market research, which I was passed over for. Boohiss.)

For the past 6 weeks, I’ve been using Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com as my main sources for job searching. And as great and wide-reaching as those jobs are, they are also the places everyone is going to. I don’t even want to imagine the number of resumes some jobs receive on a daily basis. My resume? A recent college graduate with barely any professional work experience? I know it’s getting sifted through the system easily, passed over without a second glance.

I need to take action. I need something better than a job search engine that everyone and their brother is using.

I need to seek out smaller lesser-known job search engines that are more centered on my interests (communications, marketing, public relations, etc.). I need to have my resume critiqued and rewritten. I need to learn how to write an impressive cover letter. And I need to begin to go after those jobs I want with more hunger and determination.

(All things I believe I should have learned during my exit course, but that’s a blog topic for another day.)

For now, all job searching has yielded me was frustration and disappointment. But I imagine those emotions are nothing new to people who have searched or are searching for a job. It also scares me that there are so many people searching for jobs, people with incredible internships and job experiences that I could not even begin to touch. But I do know that there is a job out there for me. I just have to be patient, keep searching, and keep working on my job search tactics.

For those of you with job search experience, what tips and advice can you give to a new college graduate? (And I’ll just go full throttle: anyone willing to look over my resume and/or a sample cover letter of mine and give me help/critiques/advice? Pretty please?)