Sam Roworth, a former international-level athlete, chronicles the trials and tribulations of his hunt for an entry-level sales position in Canada. College graduates are struggling to find suitable full-time work.
Part Four
I was outside an office building in downtown Toronto, but my head was in a boat in Georgia. I was about to interview for a job in the dead of winter but my mind was reliving Olympic trials last spring.
It was time to perform and all I could think about was the last time I felt the churning burn of anxiety and nerves, sitting in my two-person kayak, attempting to fulfill a dream.
I reminded myself that I was ready, that I had prepared for this. Different circumstances, but the same drive and determination. Different dream, but the same commitment to doing my best.
Having worked with my career coach, for several weeks, overhauling my resume and LinkedIn profile, creating a top-30 list of desirable companies and relying on my network to get me a face-to-face meeting, I had the tools to succeed and now it was up to me to perform.
I was already seeing the results of my hard work. In six months of job hunting on my own, I had secured only two interviews through online applications. Within two weeks of implementing the Launched Careers strategy to network my way into informational meetings, I had three.
I discovered that the people I had been connecting with wanted to help me, I simply needed to know what to ask them for. It was only after working through the process that I started to feel the momentum shift.
