“GET TO KNOW YOURSELF AND BECOME A PART OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE INDUSTRY“

A book launch. Various expositions. Attendance to voluntary lectures. In Camila Buschle’s experience, there is always something happening in the community of constructing architects and designers.

She used these events as gateways to the community and people of the business, she wanted to build a future in. On several occasions the network she built up led to jobs in relevant companies. Before that happened she had to make up her mind on where her interests lay.

Getting to know yourself

One of the first tasks Camila worked on while being unemployed was to identify which branch of the constructing architect business she wanted to pursue:

“During the first couple of weeks I had to figure out where I wanted to go career wise in order to focus my attention on the right companies. Even though it was a difficult process, it made it easier for me to plan a direction in my applications,” Camila recalls.

Her preliminary reflections also turned out to be helpful in other aspects of Camila’s unemployment. She realized that knowing her own skillset, personality and weaknesses was a plus in many ways:

“When building up my cv, I tried to focus on my strong suits and I mitigated the weak areas by attending courses, lectures, and trainings, for example. I knew that I could be less experienced than other applicants, yet I wrote my motivation letters to complement my application. I also used my initial self reflections to prepare for interviews in order to better express myself.”

The secret to obtaining experience

Because Camila had made up her mind on where to apply for jobs she knew exactly where to reach out to people. Luckily for her, she had already established contacts within the right companies:

“I have a large network in the industry which helped me get my last two jobs. Often times, companies search their network before posting vacancy announcements, and I managed to schedule an interview with the recruiter this way. That’s how I got my current job.”

As a new graduate, getting experience was important for Camila and so she was determined to get an 8 weeks virksomhedspraktik. She got a position, once again, through her network:

“In every place I have worked, I was not only getting more experience but I also built a larger network. This was crucial since every position I got led to a new recommendation which opened up new possibilities for me. Now I know someone everywhere within my industry.”

Networking in everyday life

When asked how she maintains strong ties to people in her network, Camila says: “I’m very fortunate – most of my friends are in the business.” Even though this makes it easier, Camila is also in a position where her work place is collaborating closely with other companies. On top of this Camila stays conscious of other possibilities of connecting with people in the business:

“I go to all sorts of events where it is not a problem meeting the right people. And I don’t have a problem with shyness so I am open to talk to people. As soon as you start paying attention you will realize that there is a lot going on in the industry. So really there are many opportunities.”