By Jackie Howatt
Published October 31, 2007
The Saint Mary's University Journal
Many of you have probably never heard of me in your life, but the Journal was once a huge part of my life. The past three years had a lot of my free time tied up in the Journal, especially the past two years, in which I was the Business Editor. As I graduated this past May, I had a really hard time getting over the fact that I would no longer be spending twelve hour Mondays in the Journal office or staying up all night Sunday trying to pull everything together. I guess I have nothing to really dwell on though, seeing as so much has turned out in my favor over the past year (one of the scariest and most unsure years of my life). I’m enjoying the day-to-day life of living with my boyfriend, the former Sports Editor of the Journal who I met for the first time in the Journal office two years ago. I’ve also managed to land my perfect dream job working as an Inside Sales Professional at Purolator Courier Inc in Dartmouth.
For those that do know me, you’ve been brought up to speed on where my life went, and for those of you who don’t know me, you do now. The purpose of this article is to basically recount my experience of trying to get a job, a career if you will, not only in Halifax, but in my field as well. Obtaining a great job in the field you went to school for is no easy feat, and it certainly wasn’t for me.
In my five years at Saint Mary’s, I was involved in many aspects of school – the SMUSA Marketing Department, The Journal, the Commerce Society, ACE, What’s The Big Idea, including a stint with a start-up tech company involving several other students. While these were fun within themselves, the bigger picture I had in mind was that I’d network, learn, and hopefully translate my experience with these activities into a wicked job I really wanted. When my fifth year of University hit, I was nervous in that I really didn’t know where to turn when job searching. The fact that I had a double major in Entrepreneurship and Marketing only made it that much more competitive, seeing as there’s more demand than supply when it comes to jobs that fit these skills.
My first line of job resources were The Student Employment center and the numerous online job banks– Monster, Workopolis, the government Job Bank, etc. Understandably, I found the online job search to be extremely discouraging; as it’s not very reassuring that someone will even receive your resume. Not only was the online job search discouraging in that sense, but it was upsetting that with all of the contacts I had made over the years and all of the dinners I had attended for school, here I was, aimlessly applying for jobs online with a faint hope of landing something I actually loved. I felt like I should have had some kind of head start. And that’s when reality hit. That’s when I understood the difference of creating contacts, and maintaining contacts. A mistake I’ll never forget.
So putting that aside, I exhausted all opportunities that caught my interest in the Student Employment Center, at which point I turned to the internet. I must have applied to thirty companies, with either no response (how rude!), the realization that I was applying through a third party recruiting center, or that it just wasn’t the job I thought it was. That went on from January to the end of February-ish. At that point I was panicking. In retrospect, I realize now that I was applying quite early. Employers find it difficult to recruit that early because they’re not sure if they’ll need you half a year down the line. It was around March that I decided to head to Toronto – opportunities always look better in bigger cities. It seemed like a safer bet than sticking around Halifax fishing for a job that hundreds of other grads qualified for and wanted just as badly. So that was my plan – the big T Dot, and it remained my plan (albeit, a shaky and just as unsure plan) until April. The day I moved from residence back to my parents house in Moncton, was the day I recieved a phone call from Purolator in Halifax.
It was a month and a half after I had applied online at Workopolis and had already decided to move westward. I was so elated to get that call because I would have done anything to stay in Halifax. I love it here. I went through a phone interview that day, and based on what the recruiter heard, she set me up for an interview with the Regional Sales Manager and an Account Executive in Dartmouth. That was probably the most rigorous interview I’ve ever undergone – something in line with The Apprentice. Very in depth and something you couldn’t really be prepared for unless you actually had the experience to recount in your answers. Looking back, I think my attitude towards it really eased my nerves – I had already been planning to move to Toronto so I committed to do my very, very best and if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. After this second interview, they said they would narrow it down to three potential people and everyone would get a call regardless.
I remember sitting in my bankers office a couple weeks later in Moncton, telling her about my possible new role, and how the competition was so stiff that I was really unsure if I’d get it or not. She had all the confidence that it wouldn’t be a problem. Literally two seconds after she said that, my phone rang. It was Purolator. They scheduled my third and final interview, but they didn’t narrow it down to three prospects, they narrowed it down to only two. I had never been so excited in my life up to that point! It felt so surreal.
I drove up to Halifax for the third time. The interview now consisted of the Regional Sales Manager again, who would be my boss if I was hired, and the General Manager for Atlantic Canada. They told me that the position they were hiring for was the only one in Atlantic Canada and they had never had the position here before. So if I got it, I would have some weight on my shoulders as I’d have to establish a consistent role for myself and pave the way for others. On the same note, I was a little thrown back at what the GM was asking me – stuff that I wrote on a young entrepreneurs website three or four years back (something about pizza profits or something). And of course, they checked out my blog (another personal selling tool that I’d recommend to anyone). It was intense how much digging they did. This was the real deal and I was more than excited about it. Not only did they say that I would be fulfilling my titled role as an Inside Sales Professional, but they saw opportunity in utilizing my marketing skills to benefit the company as well. I felt pretty confident walking out of that interview.
A week of restless sleep later, I was walking along the Waterfront with my boyfriend when the phone rang. They offered me the job. My dream job!
Being with the company for about six months now, I’ve learned a lot about the courier industry, sales, and balancing a work/life schedule. It’s tough, and took quite a while to get used to, but holy crap am I ever loving it!
Hopefully from my little anecdote on life here you’ve learned a few things about what it takes to compete in the job market, the avenues to take when job searching, the inevitable uncertainties you’ll come across, how preparation and opportunity recognition create luck, and that it isn’t impossible to find what you’re looking for if you don’t give up. My only real piece of advice would be to be careful of what you’re putting on the internet. It could seriously come back to bite you in the ass – or at least decrease your chances of finding a good job.
