Carolyn Baumgarten Current Position: Community Manager and Account Coordinator at Plan B, the Agency Alternative Class of 2011
In the year since I moved to the Windy City, I’ve been asked time and again, “what brings you to Chicago?” My standard answer is that I moved here because of my big city dreams and naive optimism, which more or less completely captures the growing pains of my first year in “the real world.”
Ever since high school I knew Chicago was where I wanted my post-grad life to take root, and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to do everything in my power to make that happen. Around May I was asked to fly up to Chicago for a summer internship interview with an extremely selective company that I was absolutely infatuated with. To make a long story short, I was certain I’d get the job (after all, the company had chosen me out of 2,000 applicants per month), but I ended up never getting an answer from them. Regardless, I had a taste of the city and I knew, job or not, I’d be back. After spending six post-grad weeks at home job-searching my face off and trying not to blend in with the Real Housewives of Charlotte, the decision was made: Chicago or bust.
I met my roommate through “my friend Craig” (read: Craigslist) when I had been in town for the interview. My parents helped me out with moving fees and about $1000 in cash as my graduation present. I continued applying for jobs in my field (social media/marketing), while also looking for restaurant jobs to hold me over in the meantime. After almost a month in the city I was hired for a gig waitressing at a nearby restaurant, and with no other offers on the table, I had to take the job.
Luckily, I landed a part-time job shortly after doing freelance social media work for http://inthesharktank.com, a popular fan-blog for the ABC show “Shark Tank.” It was only about four hours a week, but at least social media was something I was passionate about. Also on the plus side, my housing situation didn’t end up as the plot of a “based on a true story” Lifetime movie—my roommate and I are actually very good friends.
The next seven months I spent my nights slinging tacos and margaritas at the restaurant, while my days were spent in job application hell. I had an interview at a warehouse that smelled like cat pee and multiple in-person interviews where I never even heard back from the hiring manager afterwards. I participated in Twitter chats for job seekers, I discussed my job situation with fellow high school and college alumni, I was promised phone calls and interviews that never happened, and I attended extremely awkward networking events hoping my next dead fish handshake would at least be with someone who’d hire me. To be completely honest, it’s a hard pill to swallow when you kill yourself for good grades in college, only to receive rejection after rejection.
My break came on a Friday afternoon in February when I was haphazardly scrolling through Craigslist marketing jobs, and I came upon an ad peppered with sarcasm and humor, from an agency seeking a community manager intern. I’ll spare you my diatribe about post-grad internships (especially unpaid ones), because I put my ego aside and sent my resume and wittiest cover letter. By this point I was convinced all my job applications were just redirected to Narnia, so I was pretty surprised when literally 40 minutes after I sent my letter, I received a call from my future bosses, Bob and Jacqueline. Although I had no knowledge of the agency (they hadn’t named it in the ad), and no idea what to expect, I did know that I had finally found the job I’d been looking for.
I was thrilled to be working at Plan B, the agency alternative (note: not that Plan B). Starting day one, my goal as an intern was to prove myself invaluable to the team so when my 3-month review came, they’d have no choice but to hire me. Thirty days after I started, and exactly ten months after my graduation, I received an offer to be a full-fledged employee at Plan B. I couldn’t be happier to doing work I’m passionate about, learning new things all the time, doing exciting things like writing for Mashable and collaborating with coworkers who challenge, support, and inspire me.
My one-year anniversary of moving to Chicago came and went last week. On one hand I can hardly believe a year has passed since I packed up my life and moved 750 miles away to a city I’d only visited a handful of times. But on the other hand, I can’t believe it’s only been a year given how much I’ve learned, how many obstacles I’ve conquered and how I’ve finally become fluent in public transportation-speak.
From moving here without money, friends or a job, to where I am now, it’s definitely been a whirlwind, but I’m incredibly grateful for the experience, and even the bumps along the way.
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