A Day In the Life of A Job-Hunting Grad Student

Ever since kicking the job search into high gear, the days are a little different than when I was "only a student."  Meetings, networking events, emails, internet searches and more have taken over the time I once only devoted to class work.  Talk about re-prioritization!  Don't tell my Econ professor, but one of my classes has slipped to the bottom of the totem pole! Can you guess which one?

Here is what to expect if you find yourself in the same boat.  (And don't worry, it IS manageable if you're smart about it!)

7 am - 8:30 am: Get up, make coffee, let the dogs out, assess which tasks I can handle while waiting for the coffee to kick in.  Decide to begin answering emails, work on taxes, and make a list of what to prepare for class this week.

8:35 am: Refill coffee mug.  Get my act together to go to kickboxing.

9:00 am - 10:00 am: Go to kickboxing.

10:00 am - 10:45 am:  Prepare for a meeting with our Alumni Association, grab a Luna Bar, rush out the door.  Run back inside to grab laptop. You never know, may need it later today... On the way, call my grandmother to check in since she had surgery this week.

11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Meet with alumni.  Start planning a Graduate Business Association mentor program with the Alumni Association to go into effect in the Fall.

12:35 pm: Grab lunch at Chipotle.  Read through emails on my phone while eating.  Find out my meeting later today with a social media guru who is helping me find a job needs to be rescheduled for two days later.  Send email to Career Coach at Georgia State to find out status on a couple internship applications and get names of contacts at target companies.

1:00 pm:  Receive harsh email from professor letting us know that the group presentation we've worked on for over a month has significant room for improvement.  Note: We have to give the presentation tomorrow. 

1:01 pm: Panic.

1:04 pm - 4 pm:  Pull it together.  Breathe a sigh of relief that I have my laptop & that meeting was cancelled, which means the afternoon is wide open!  Send an email to the group - all of whom are employed full-time - to let them know I'll handle the editing, then thank my lucky stars that I'm a full-time student with time to work on this.  Take a few breaks from the project during which I check emails, follow-up on job applications, do a brief job search for my target companies... I might have gone on Facebook, too.  Just for a minute. :)

4 pm:  Reinforcements arrive!  Ashley, a team member, & I keep working on the presentation. Sheesh!

6 pm - 7:30 pm:  Change locations to grab a bite to eat while we keep working on the presentation.  Just today, we've spent over 6 hours of work on this presentation, folks!  This is exhausting!  I need a refill on my Diet Coke. We finally finish up the presentation, then send it out to group for final edits.

7:45pm to 10pm: Head home. Walk the dogs. Catch up on the other work I had to push to the side to work on the presentation.  Try to stay awake because I'm exhausted!

10pm - 11pm:  Get ready for bed.  Read a few chapters of the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series.  It's so good!

11 pm: Zzzzzzz....

As you can tell, there's a lot we students have to cram into one day!  The good news is, it always gets done.  It's weird.  Snafus and unpredictable challenges are inevitable, but, remarkably, they can sometimes be a blessing.  Had that meeting not been cancelled, there is no way we could have made such headway on the presentation with enough time to prepare.  Silver lining, you could say.  What I've learned is to swallow the panic and frustration and keep on keeping on.  It will always get done, and it will be good enough!

A Day In The Life... (A Real Doozy!)

Alright, guys, here is the epitome of a day in the life of a grad student.  Today is the real deal kind of day that may lie ahead for your B-school adventure!

6:45 a.m. : Hit Snooze...Forgo going to the gym.

7:45: Wake Up ...Check the weather while convincing myself I really should get out of bed.

8 - 9:00 a.m. "Multi-tasking at its Finest": Make coffee, play with the dogs, whip up breakfast, make lunch & throw together enough healthy snacks to last 12 hours on campus. 
Here's a little tip from me to you:  If you bring your lunch & your own healthy snacks, you'll make better (i.e. "healthier") choices when the hunger strikes (for me, it hits every 2-3 hours!) and you'll feel better, think faster, and won't spend a bunch of money on candy bars and Diet Coke... (I've been a caffeine/sugar junkie for quite some time, and let's be serious - the crash after the sugar/caffeine high is really kind of a drag and just leads to a vicious cycle of sugar cravings! Who has time for that?  Bring your own snacks.)

9 - 9:15 a.m.: Do a few minutes of yoga & stretching to release the tension in my lower back from kickboxing and also just to spend a few minutes getting myself together for the day because it's a doozy today, folks!  (Another tip: if you have a favorite way to blow off steam that gets you revved up better than a bowl of Wheaties, try to incorporate it into your day for just a few minutes - or at least a few times a week.  It makes a huge difference in stress management!)

9:15 - 10:00 a.m : Drink coffee while getting ready for the day, pack the backpack and grab an umbrella on the way out the door.  Realize I forgot to take out the garbage.

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.: Dentist. Ugh.  Find out having health insurance doesn't mean I have dental insurance.  That's a bummer.

11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Head to campus and get situated in the RCB office to study and work.

12:00 - 2:00 p.m.:  Have a snack ... do a little networking, look at potential job opportunities, return emails, work on blog... get sucked into a g-chat and exchange a few text messages... Turn on Pandora... realize this is my last semester as a grad student and get a little wistful, but then give myself a pep talk that the next stage will be fabulous, too.  Truth be told, I really enjoy being a full-time grad student.  It may be hard to adjust to the routine and race of "real world" again!

2:30 - 4:00 p.m.: Finish reading Honda case & HBR article for 7:15 pm class... have another snack... print out the syllabi for all classes and any readings due this week... read and do work for class tomorrow night... realize the professor listed a new textbook since I last checked the syllabus... order it off of Amazon.com... have a snack & a cup of coffee (see? caffeine!)...

4:00 p.m.: Leave the office to try to find the 4:30 class.  (It is probably only a five minute walk away, but I leave early because I don't know exactly where Classroom South is.  Since I have no sense of direction, I have to plan ahead to avoid being lost on campus and late to class.)

4:30 - 7:00 p.m.:  Class...

7:00 - 7:15 p.m.: Bolt across campus to try to make it to my next class on time as I text my friend to save me a seat just in case.

7:15 - 9:45 p.m.:  International Business Capstone class... (This is the class that means I'm going to graduate soon! Whoa. I can't believe it!)

9:45 - 10:00 p.m.: Walk to car with keys in hand and cell phone stashed in my backpack... pay parking attendant.  (GSU Student discount! $4 for 12 hours!)

10: 45 p.m.: Finally arrive home.  Wind down, finish any readings for tomorrow.

11:30 p.m.: Go to bed and get ready to do it all again tomorrow!