So it begins....

Most people look at winter break as a chance to relax. For my friends at home, its a chance to lie out on the beach and run around in flip flops. For my counterparts in the North, its a chance to live in a Winter Wonderland and make snow angles and sit by fires.

Turns out, that's a thing of the past.

This past break has been dominated by spread sheets, file folders and countless clicks of a mouse. That's right. The job search has begun.

The most incredible part of this whole "adventure" is that I was in total denial about how involved it would be. Who knew that there are over a dozen websites that will list jobs or that there are websites specific to the industry that you want to go into? For the longest time, I thought there was monster.com and that was it. Boy, was I wrong.

Jobfox.com - careerbuilder.com - indealist.org - indeed.com - yahoo jobs - mediabistro.com....and the list goes on.

What I figured out this break is that organization and Google will serve as your best friends. Simply put in "event logistics new york city" and hundreds of sites come up. And then that overwhelming feeling hits you. But worry you shall not: by creating a simple spread sheet with columns like 'job title', 'organization', 'point of contact', 'date application sent' (well at this point you get it), it becomes much easier to manage all the looming information.

I cannot tell you how to organize this massive undertaking. What I do recommend is tracking the dates of every time contact is made. This includes sending the applications, following up, and receiving response. Make sure that you keep a list of the person of contact and their position in the organization. What works for me may not work for the next person. I am someone who thrives on post-its and color coding and creating file folders. The most important thing is to create a reference for yourself that you can easily access.

I thought that it would be easier to stick my head in the sand than approach job hunting head on. For me, taking the first step and being organized was too real. It meant that no longer ignoring something made it tangible and I just wasn't ready for that reality. When I finally figured out that Graduation wasn't going anywhere and I needed a plan, it became a lot easier to begin the process. Although I sound assured, my process started out slow. I sifted through dozens of listings that I was beyond unqualified for. The more you look, however, the more you find. I began coming across listings that seemed appropriate to my experience and interests. And interestingly, the more I found, the more I wanted to look.

With each application sent, there is a level of satisfaction that comes with being able to date mark the column "Application Sent". It signifies one more potential job and a layer of fear that is stripped away.

But don't get me wrong---it still took me fifteen minutes to send the first application, because I realized that once I pushed 'send' there was no looking back. My hands were shaking, I looked like I just ran over a squirrel and the color was drained from my face. And once I got over the initial physical shock, it felt really good to finally say "Listen out world---You better be ready for me. And my kick ass resume."