How to land a Job?

In April I will be a new college graduate and the job search awaits me. I want to work in Entertainment, yes for the MSM. Don't shoot me, I'm really interested in the industry and with my computer degree I can go anywhere. But that's the problem, I'm not really comfortable posting my resume and blindly emailing it to the guys in HR.

Would a better way to do it is to actually go into the company's offices and place the resume in their hands? I've done this for all of my jobs when I was in college/high school. I don't think it should be any different for my professional career!

I've heard that if you do it this way, the HR people can see that you are a real person and ambitious, but to me it feels like I am stalking the company and almost begging them for a job. What should I do?

Oh, and if in wrong topic, please move, but it felt appropriate.

I think you're on the right track.

Showing up in person is always better when looking for a job for a host of reasons. First off showing your face attaches a living entity to the resume. You can also use wit and charm to make the person accepting the resume like you. You might just have walked in at the right time and someone is free to interview you on the spot. But as far as stalking goes. Go back and call until the say they want or don't want you. Alot of opportunities are lost because people aren't persistent, You aren't there to bother anyone, you're there for an answer and you don't always get one right away. So I say yes show up in person, presentable and upbeat, and don't leave it at that. If they say they will call and don't, call them again. Remember this market allows employers to let the work force compete for them. So compete. GOOD LUCK!

Originally posted by truetoform
I think you're on the right track.

Showing up in person is always better when looking for a job for a host of reasons. First off showing your face attaches a living entity to the resume. You can also use wit and charm to make the person accepting the resume like you. You might just have walked in at the right time and someone is free to interview you on the spot. But as far as stalking goes. Go back and call until the say they want or don't want you. Alot of opportunities are lost because people aren't persistent, You aren't there to bother anyone, you're there for an answer and you don't always get one right away. So I say yes show up in person, presentable and upbeat, and don't leave it at that. If they say they will call and don't, call them again. Remember this market allows employers to let the work force compete for them. So compete. GOOD LUCK!

Thanx for the advice, I live really close to NY and I am huge News Junkie! So I figured why not try the MSM? I Have some experience at my school paper.

this will get you work

newyork.craigslist.org...

keep the page up .. refresh every hour or 2. everyday.. until you are working.

it's a very powerful employment tool coast to coast.. ive scored some good jobs on there

reply to post by spaceg0at


Nah. Craigslist never works for me. it feels like I am sending resumes to scammers or information thieves. I did that last year 100 emails not one single reply! I bet 90% of them were fakes. That's why I will probably take the more ambitious approach.

Originally posted by spaceg0at
this will get you work

newyork.craigslist.org...

keep the page up .. refresh every hour or 2. everyday.. until you are working.

it's a very powerful employment tool coast to coast..

ive scored some good jobs on there

Well, what kind of work were you in? Maybe craigslist works for you, but "male caregiver for former female dancer" isn't what the OP is looking for.

OP. Be persistent. I've been in the MSM for years....my best advice is score an internship first. MSM always look to hire interns FIRST. But, the caveat is you normally must be enrolled in college, not already graduated.

Good luck. No to crags list.

I have an uncouth idea... If it's journalism type stuff (since you're mentioning MSM), you could always post a better or more interesting report than what the reporters make in the comments section on media websites. You may have to be concise at places with word limits which makes it a challenge. Just make note to cite your resources and such when possible. Not sure how well it would work, but it might be interesting. Maybe throwing a link to your own blog every now and then, but that could be seen as spammy. You'd have to weigh how much restraint it would take with that approach.

Also be careful with the in-person approach, if you're too pushy they may escort you out and ask you not to come back. Offices aren't like the usual high-school summer jobs where you can simply request to see the manager at a store or restaurant and expect results. Probably better to try phones first if you can dig up the right numbers, even if you always go to voicemail it is less likely to be filtered than email. If they get a message for every day of the month they don't call back with some answer, they might notice you.

I would suggest that if you are going with this approach, that you first go onto their website and fill out whatever online form/application/resume submission they have. Then go in, present your resume in person and mention that you have already filled out the online information, but you wanted to also come in an introduce yourself.

If you don't do the online portion first...they are just going to direct you towards that and you will look like you are uninformed of the hiring process. The last thing you want to do is create more work for the people that are in charge of getting you an interview. And if you aren't already in their computer system...then that is creating more work for them.

Everyone does things electronically now...it may be a nice gesture to walk in, hand them a hard copy of the resume and introduce yourself....but most likely that resume will go in the garbage if you haven't already done the online part. If you have already done the online part...then that hard copy may go on a hiring managers desk with a note to "look this guy up".

Just my 2 cents.