4 | Career Expo Guide 2020
One alumna offers advice on life after MSU CONNOR WILSON Staff Reporter @Connor4wilson Figuring out what direction to take after finishing college can be challenging. For alumni like Chloe Myers, having a plan still doesn’t guarantee you’ll know where you’ll end up. “There’s a lot of steps you have to take,” Myers said.
What are you currently doing?
“I am at S&T working on my masters of science in industrial organizational psychology.”
Did you plan on going to grad school?
“I was planning on just finding some sort of job in PR or marketing after college, and I found that I wasn’t really finding jobs I was excited about, wasn’t getting a whole lot of callbacks because I didn’t have a lot of connections in the areas I was wanting to live. I graduated a year early, which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend.”
Why wouldn’t you recommend graduating early?
“It was nice, but I wasn’t ready to find a career at that point. I think there’s a lot of pressure to know, but me freshly being 21, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”
Did you work in your field internships before graduating?
“My last year I worked as an intern with Bass Pro, which is awesome. I actually worked in their HR department, which is kind of another reason
why I got inspired to do the grad program, because I liked HR. I shortly worked for Isabel’s House writing press releases for them.”
Do you think real-world work and internships are more important for your resume or the experiences?
“Definitely the experience. I think that they were great for my resume but also just getting a peek into working in the real world was especially helpful. Regardless of whether you’re going to school or not, employers want to see that you’ve worked in the real world as well.”
How picky should students be about jobs they take?
“I think that even if it’s not a perfect job and exactly what you want to do, you just need to go for it. Someone told me one time, your first job is kind of like the first pancake you make. You just kind of have to flip it over and it’s ugly and not perfect, but you just kind of have to get it out of the way to make good pancakes.”
Do you have any advice for students finishing college?
“I think do what you need to do to pay the bills and be realistic, but don’t quit on your goals or dreams or life goals. A lot of times you have to start at the bottom to reach your goal. You have to start somewhere. Don’t be all negative about it, be realistic, but know what you have to do to reach those goals for yourself.”
