A PlayBook for Getting Your First Job

This playbook comes from a [somewhat] lightly seasoned venture capital analyst and is tailored for college juniors or seniors still navigating uncertainties about their career paths. This all comes from recent experience, as I found myself in a similar situation just six months ago.

A little background on me, I graduated from Calvin University (go Knights!) in April of 2023 with degrees in math, Spanish, and biochemistry. I purposely chose three majors with no overlap to maximize the career paths I could go into after school. Looking back, I am so glad I did. With no job, or home lined up (and a lease ending in May) after graduation, I began to job search seriously. For most, this scenario would induce a bit of panic. But with a touch of hindsight bias, I say that somehow, I just knew everything would unfold the way it was supposed to. But let me clear the air, I didn’t just think that and then magically everything fell into my lap. Far from it. I spent months searching, and networking, and praying, and reading, and hoping for a job that would make me feel proud and fulfilled.

This playbook is not born out of blind optimism but rather from months of focused effort, aided by guidance from mentors who witnessed my stressful job search. It is a compilation of the strategies and actions I undertook to better my chances of securing a job that I was passionate about.

First things first.

NO ONE KNOWS YOU BETTER THAN YOUR FAMILY.

And that’s the truth! I owe it to my brother who first showed me what venture capital was. I had never even heard of the term “venture capital” until just a little over a year ago, but my brother knew my personality would align with the career. Lean on your family connections who know your personality; they often give the best recommendations on what careers would match you the best. Do not be afraid to let everyone in your close circles know that you’re job hunting (it is NOT embarrassing), the more who know — the more surface area covered on open positions.

Second, reach back out to former employers/connections from summer internships or part-time jobs. That’s exactly what I did. I got connected with a VC fund that had invested in the startup I had worked for over the past summer. I also reached out to people that I had only talked to for a very brief time! But people are more than willing to help, most of them have been in your position at some point. Your former colleagues know what you’re capable of and have connections to the space you may be looking into. Unless of course, you weren’t a great worker, then maybe leave them out of it.

Third, use your school’s resources. That can be a professor with experience in your area of interest, a career center, an alumni relations person, etc. I even reached out to professors whom I had never met and did not know my name, but they were so willing to help and make connections for me. A successful alumna is a win for them as well (yes, alumna is the singular female form of alumni)!

Fourth, this one is for the startup sector specifically. Use https://wellfound.com/. It is an actual ACTIVE job posting site for the startup world. I only applied to a handful and got responses back from many of them, which is unheard of in the context of Indeed or LinkedIn. I also used the Y Combinator jobs site but I am not sure if I ever got a response — but it is a resource to see which ones are hiring.

Fifth, attend events in your area. I knew I wanted/needed to stay in Grand Rapids, so I plugged into the network here. I attended the Demo Day 100 that Start Garden hosted and connected with a few startup founders in my area. I also dragged my boyfriend with me to Drinks on the Deck put on by Michigan Software Labs to get connected with more people in the tech space. There are also career fairs for start-ups who are hiring; I know MSU has one. There are tons of free events you can find on LinkedIn or Google if you do some digging.

Last piece of advice, if you find an opportunity that you really want, STOP AT NOTHING to get it! Once I found out that Grand Ventures was going to have a position open, I did everything in my power I could to better my chances of getting it. I connected with people in the VC space in Grand Rapids who knew the partners and who were kind enough to speak on my behalf; I had reference letters sent from former employers and professors; I created a personalized report over one of the sectors of interest at Grand Ventures and sent it their way; I offered to come in and work for free for a month so I could be up and running if they ended up hiring me. I pulled every trick in the book all for just the chance to come in and talk to them in person. But it works, it shows perseverance and determination.

So looking back, after applying to thousands of jobs on LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Google Jobs, the most powerful plays came from the small network I built and the increased effort of showing up to places out of my comfort zone, and making myself more available to any opportunity that would present itself.

Figure out what your strengths are, focus on how you can utilize those, and then follow my playbook!

If you made it to the end, I congratulate you and encourage you to connect with me on LinkedIn! I’d love to support you and offer any additional advice that you may need.