Sometimes you get lucky, and I was lucky to land my current (and first) professional job. After I graduated from UNR in the Spring of 2010, I moved back in with my parents and worked at the same summer job I had throughout college. Then, once the national IMC competition was over in June, I had an interview with an ad agency in San Francisco. I thought, “This is it! I can move to the big city and start my career!” Well, that didn’t happen and I was pretty bummed.

Since I had put all my energy into the San Francisco job, I didn’t have a back-up plan. I went into survival mode and started applying for any job that was remotely related to advertising/marketing in Reno. I probably applied to 100 different jobs, from mannequin dresser at Macy’s to television ad salesperson. Out of all the jobs I applied for, I only heard back from a handful. Then, one day, I got calls to set up interviews at two different places on the same day! I tried not to stress out too much about the interviews and both went well.

I got a call back the next day from my current employer and was offered a part-time job. I accepted immediately because I have always wanted to work in sports.I started the next week and worked hard everyday. My boss noticed my hard work and within a month, I was working full-time hours. I stayed late, came in early and volunteered to help outside my normal work hours. That helped me stand out from the rest of the part-time employees.

My advice to job seekers is to be persistent. Just because you don’t hear back from an employer, don’t get discouraged. Send a note, call the hiring manager, or stop by the office. It’s hard to ignore someone who is standing in your office. Once you have a job, don’t be afraid to take on extra work or stay late. Employers notice the people who don’t mind taking on extra work or who are always eager to learn new things. It’s important to stand out for good reasons at your job and often the best way to do that is to go above and beyond what it expected of you.