The next interview was with my cousin who is a recent graduate from UCSB. I wanted to ask her about the time it took her to land a job she liked, and her strategy to do so. It was almost a year for her to find a job she was comfortable and inspired in. She had an internship at an advertising agency in Santa Barbara, but had to leave because they were not paying her. From there she worked at a winery sampling wines and developed a passion for food and wine. When she moved back home to San Jose, she knew it would be a challenge to find a job because she had no network.
She searched for jobs on craigslist and did a temp. position as a brand ambassador on the side. She landed a salary job at a tech company as a personal assistant, but it lasted only 2 weeks. She was let go and felt very devastated, though she knew in her heart that the job was not for her. She spent only a few months continuing to look for a job when she landed something more up her alley. She was a wine rep. for a small wine distributor called Epic Wines. She was responsible for handling their product on the shelves at grocery stores in her district. She enjoyed learning all about wine and did well increasing the sales. She was doing well and building a professional network for 6 months. Through one of her connections, she heard note of an event planning position for a media company in San Jose. She interviewed and landed that job as well. Vanessa now works as an event planner in San Jose hosting and planning cultural events. She has been there for 2 months now and is really enjoying it! Her job role is challenging but balances out by being rewarding. Since it is a small company. She deals directly with the owner, which is great because she has a direct impact on planning future events. She is planning her own event next year and writing the grant proposals. The event is pairing Spanish wines with Spanish desserts. Writing and wine are both of her passions, and she couldn’t be happier that she gets to work for a company where both of them intersect.