Anya Rudnitzky, 22, is a senior at Dartmouth College. She created a video about her job search that received over 500,000 views on Instagram and ultimately led to an offer to an energy startup. Business Insider has confirmed her identity and employment. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
I am a double major in economics and environmental studies and will graduate in June. I had interviews with several places by the end of the fall, but nothing worked out. After that, I continued to apply in January and February, but I did not get an interview. It was just automatically rejected.
The job search process can be exhausting. I was crying all the time because of stress. I worked hard to get here, and my parents also worked hard to support me throughout. I felt like a failure.
I was sitting in my kitchen and had just hit “send” on my 300th request. I thought, “This isn’t going to work.” It occurred to me that I need to create an interesting presentation video.
It probably took me 30 minutes to put together the PowerPoint slides. There were some interesting parts, such as comparing my position as a teaching assistant to that of an “elite babysitter,” but I also presented my resume in an easy-to-understand manner.
When I posted a video on Instagram, I thought it was for my friends to see. I never thought it would take off. By the end of 24 hours, the number of views had reached 100,000. I thought, “This is crazy.” Dartmouth is a pretty small school, 4,000 students, but now you go to the gym or the cafeteria and people say, “You’re the work girl.”
I think I was successful because I tried to put myself out there. I’ve gotten comments like it’s my fault for not having a job because I go to an Ivy League school. Then there were others who said how relatable that was, how the job market is terrible, and how good schools don’t necessarily get you jobs.
I remember the first time I received a DM from a Dartmouth graduate. They said they saw the video and thought it was interesting and offered to connect people with me. It blew my mind that someone was willing to help me take the next step because at that point I was just crying out for help.
For weeks, I scoured the DMs of people I thought were genuine, connected with them on LinkedIn, and scheduled coffee chats. It can be difficult to research companies in advance.
In mid-March, a student at another school who saw the video sent him a link to a job posting for an analyst position. I applied and was contacted by the company’s hiring manager the next day.
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The recruitment process was very quick. I had several interviews. One morning, the recruiter called me and asked if I was ready for the first interview. So I prepared as quickly as I could in 4 hours. I then completed an online assessment of math problems and vocabulary, and had another interview the following Friday.
The weekend came and I was in purgatory, thinking that my 7 month recruitment journey might be over. It was right before spring break, so I did everything I could to keep my mind busy. I was watching Netflix while taking a two-hour walk. I was playing the piano when I got a call from a recruiter offering me a job.
I am currently working part-time at this company. I recently went to Costa Rica to meet colleagues on a spring offsite. It was an amazing experience.
I work about 10-15 hours a week and also have a full course load. Half of my job search was fun. I go to the gym in the morning and log on for work. There are classes in the afternoon. I do my homework after I finish my work.
Not only did I go viral and get the job, but I also learned a lot about the job search process and what actually helps you succeed. This is because it is very difficult to apply blindly and get a profit. It wasn’t just, “I got lucky, someone gave me a job.” I had to prepare well for the interview.
I told students and others who contacted me to go to the alumni network and see where they were working.
Then reach out to them and say, “Hello, I’m XYZ and this is how we relate to you.” It may depend on the university, interests, or others. Then say, “I’m interested in your company. I saw that you have a position available. Before I apply, I’d like to have 10 minutes to talk with you.” This is very important because 30 minutes is too long. Ten minutes is enough for someone to hear your voice and remember you.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Because the universe hears you.
Do you have a story to share about your job search? Contact this reporter at: tparadis@businessinsider.com.