Day 603: "You're just overqualified."

Day 603 of the job hunt. I feel like it has been a slow start in the job hunt since my "break", but it will start to pick up steam soon (I hope!).

I actually got my first rejection this week since re-starting the job hunt. It was the wonderful "You're just too overqualified for this position" rejection. I didn't want to come back and say "I've been job searching for over 600 days, so please reconsider!" Although I understand the reasoning, I hate getting that reply. Jobs were hard to come by when I finished my Bachelor's degree. I somehow thought doing a Postgraduate degree would help my employability, along with some part-time work for experience. This is proving not to be the case though! Basically though, I would take any opportunity available to me that I know I would do exceptionally well in, so please still consider me!

I also find that people do not quite understand my qualifications. I thought I would take today to explain more in-depth about my education.

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Straight out of High School in Florida, I started taking classes at St. Petersburg College. I have to say that I loved it. The staff were always really nice and approachable, there was a wide array of classes and the campus in Clearwater is lovely. I started with a basic degree (Associate in Arts), where you study several subjects such as English Composition, Ethics, Humanities, Mathematics (Algebra and Statistics in my case) and Science (I chose Earth Science). I also took classes towards an Associate in Science degree, this included Hospitality and Tourism Management classes, however I went back to an AA degree after deciding I wanted to study abroad and the AA path would be best.

This proved to be true as I got accepted to Liverpool Hope University's Media Studies. I chose this course because I wanted to learn more about the ever-changing ways sports are using media. I was a fan in America of a Premier League team in England and depended on many media sources to keep me up to date with my team. This was my chance to learn more and hopefully be part of that process. Unlike other American students I came across, I did the whole course (three years) at Hope University, which was an experience being so far away from home! I started working at the university though, and I made a lot of friends through my course and work. They made it easier for me! The course covered many aspects of media including journalism (print and broadcast) and public relations. I graduated with a 2:1 in 2012.

I felt like I still had a lot of opportunity in front of me in England. I was convinced by my tutors to go for a Master of Philosophy degree in Media. I also considered a Master's programme at another University, but Hope gave me the opportunity to go further and had faith in me to go for the Postgraduate Research. I went for it, and with that help of a fabulous tutor I obtained my MPhil degree in Football, Media and Fan Relationships in December 2015. This degree included writing a thesis that looked at the history of football and media's relationships and how a symbiotic relationship helped the two sectors grow. However things have changed dramatically in the digital age. Clubs are now keeping tighter control on their brand, deciding what news goes out to what source, and using their own media to connect with the fans. Supporters no longer need to depend on the newspaper the next morning to get news on the game form the night before and clubs no longer exclusively need the newspapers to connect with fans. My research used different case studies to show the change in relationships and what tactics are being used now to connect with their fans and market their brand.

Although my research specifically looked at football, the same concepts can be applied to many companies who are wishing to connect with audiences. To strengthen my position, I enrolled with Coursera's Social Media Marketing Specialization through Northwestern University. This has included lessons in analytics, listening to your audience via social networks, different marketing strategies, the importance of keywords, and blogging. There is also a Capstone Project that I will undertake after the fifth and final course, which will finish in June. This will give me the opportunity to showcase the skills I have learned in this specialization. I have obtained four out of the five certificates you can earn in the specialization so far, and I am loving the course!

During my studies, I have also worked part-time and volunteered, doing everything I can to keep learning and gain more opportunities. If you think you could give me my next opportunity, please send me an e-mail, tweet me or connect with me on LinkedIn.