Hey everyone! My name is Agata and I graduated from Bournemouth University in 2017, in BA (Hons) Events Management. Some of you might have seen posts I’ve previously written during my time at BU.

Whilst I was finishing my degree I had no idea that a year on I would be writing this blog post all the way in New York!

Like many students who are just about to graduate, I thought I would get an amazing job within weeks of finishing my degree. I moved back home and started looking for jobs in East Sussex, hoping for a great job in events. The reality was – I was extremely naive. It’s not as easy to find a job as I thought it would be. However, looking back I’m glad I didn’t get the jobs I interviewed for – clearly something a lot better was waiting for me!

I would lie if I said rejection was easy – it really wasn’t. It’s especially difficult if you are an overly competitive person and expect way too much from yourself like I do.

Royal wedding party

One morning I woke up and decided to start looking for jobs on LinkedIn. That’s where I found a post saying something along the lines of “Would you like to work and study in New York for a year?” the obvious answers was “YES”.  And this is how I came across the Mountbatten Program which allows graduates to move to New York for 12 months to study (I chose the MA Entrepreneurial Management program) and complete a full-time internship (my CV was sent out to multiple host organisations and I had skype and phone interviews during the process).

I’ve been in New York for 8 months now and I’m loving life!

I work as a Campus Recruitment Coordinator at a Canadian Investment Bank, called TD Securities, which I really enjoy and I learn so much every day. I get a lot more responsibilities than you would expect to get as an intern but I love it. Some of my friends on the program have done a fraction of a fraction of what I’ve been able to experience.
On Saturdays, I go to classes for my masters. And in-between work and study, I explore and travel as much as possible. There is so much to do and see! Some of my highlights so far have been going to Broadway shows; US Open; the official Royal Wedding Party in New York – I even made it on TV and my friends from uni and parents sent me pictures of me on their TVs; free gigs in Central Park including Florence + the machine and Gregory Porter; travelling to Chicago, Connecticut, Vermont, Boston, Philly etc.! I really don’t want to leave!

Thanksgiving parade

It was a long journey to where I am now, but I could not be happier with everything I’ve got right now, and I am excited to see where I will be in 4 months once my New York adventure ends and I’m back in Europe.

Lastly, if I could give you one piece of advice – please don’t stress too much if you can’t find your dream job as soon as you graduate. Good things really do come to those who wait.

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BA (Hons) Events Management