*Abrakadabra JOB!*

If you’ve been following my previous posts, you are probably aware that I am approaching my full-time job search with some trepidation (to say the least). After all, how many of the part-time jobs and internships I found in the past three years are simply due to luck?
Maybe luck is the wrong word. It implies that these opportunities simply fell into my lap from the all-knowing and supreme deity of Career Development. Is it a coincidence that when I ask my friend if there’s an opening at her office for an office assistant that there happens to be one? When I ask for help finding a leadership position from my career counselor, and she happens to know of a great opportunity, is it luck? If I express intent to do an internship that is related to my field of interest to the same said counselor, how lucky am I that she just happens to know of someone in that field and connects me with one such internship? I doubt it, and not just because I am cynical and tend not to place much faith in, well, blind faith.
In all the above situations, I asked for help. I took a proactive step towards finding opportunities. Many times, I forced myself to ask for help when I felt I could not do it alone. I applied to many work-study positions on NYU CareerNet without ever hearing back, leading me to ask my friend for assistance. Similarly, my career counselor was able to connect me to many resources of which I was not aware, most notably the opportunity to become a Peer Educator-in-Residence for the Wasserman Center. This experience gave me the confidence to reach for more opportunities, such as applying to become a Resident Assistant, and I am proud to say I am. Asking for help takes courage, and not the obvious courage that you imagine will surface when someone is being beaten up in back alley. I mean the quiet courage that you need to go after the job you want, and eventually, the career you desire.
You are probably thinking, “Wow, she could have used the half hour she spent writing about luck to actually do something about her job search.” Yes, that is true and I agree. This entry is for those who are less confident about their job search, like I am, sometimes. OK, most of the time. Hopefully, you'll realize that an act as simple as asking a question can create a lot of opportunities for you.