Who: Finley moved to Chicago after graduating from the University of Indiana with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations. Finley is not originally from Chicago, so she did not have a huge network.
Challenge: Finley was unsure of what type of career path she wanted to pursue. While she had an internship the summer previously with social media, and worked retail in the summers, she was not sure what type of jobs she should apply to.
Next Steps: We coached Finley on the following:
• Assessed her strengths through an online assessment. This helped Finley understand her work personality, key business strengths, and potential weaknesses.
• By understanding her strengths and possible career paths, helped us explore different possibilities together. We looked at job postings on LinkedIn and Indeed to see what interested her.
• Finley decided to pursue event planning. We compiled a list of possible companies to pursue and made a list of contacts to connect with for networking conversations. The IU alumni network is very strong.
• Applying to multiple roles and outreach to IU alum at those companies, Finley secured a number of interviews.
• We practiced interview questions and responses based on her experiences, pulling out the transferable skills. We researched the companies and prepared answers to any possible questions that could be asked.
Outcome: Finley quickly landed an event planning role with a hospitality firm after only one month.
