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‘I was devastated’: UC Berkeley graduate laid off after 7 months finds new job through cold emails
After losing her first job due to budget cuts, a UC Berkeley graduate felt shocked and uncertain.
A recent graduate's job search journey is resonating with professionals online after she revealed how she lost her first full time role just months after starting it and managed to secure a new opportunity through an unconventional approach. Instead of spending hours applying through job portals, she decided to reach out directly to companies she admired, a move that eventually paid off.
According to Business Insider, the woman had landed an entry level position at a public relations firm focused on the hospitality industry shortly after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley. Excited to begin her career, she joined the company within weeks of graduation and spent the next several months building her experience.
A meeting that changed everything
About seven months into the role, what she expected to be a routine conversation with her manager took an unexpected turn. She joined a Zoom call prepared to discuss her performance and future at the company, only to learn that her position was being eliminated because of budget cuts.
The news left her devastated. Although she understood the business rationale behind the decision, she said she struggled to come to terms with how suddenly it happened. As friends and fellow graduates faced a difficult job market, she found herself confronting the same uncertainty.
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After allowing herself time to process the setback, she decided to focus on what came next. She began by reassessing her interests and long term goals, broadening her search beyond public relations to include communications, marketing, events and copywriting roles.
How cold emails helped her land a new job
Rather than spending all her time on job boards, she compiled a list of hotels, restaurants and hospitality companies that caught her attention. She then began sending personalised cold emails, even to businesses that had not advertised any vacancies.
Her messages followed a simple format. She explained what drew her to the company, briefly introduced her background and asked whether there might be any opportunities available or someone she could speak with about the organisation.
Initially, responses were limited. Still, she remained consistent, sending several emails a day and keeping track of them in a spreadsheet. Her persistence soon paid off when one of the first companies she contacted replied.
A hotel agreed to speak with her about its marketing team. During the conversation, she learned there were no openings in marketing, but a role related to catering and event planning was available. Given her previous experience in events, the opportunity immediately caught her attention.
(Also Read: Man recalls being laid off after 39-year career via impersonal early morning email)
Within a few weeks, she accepted the position and embarked on a new chapter in her career. What began as a simple outreach email eventually led to an opportunity she had never anticipated.
Looking back, she said the experience taught her the value of being proactive and creating opportunities for herself.
