The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all aspects of our lives, and for seniors, that means the job application process. Graduation serves as the point where one begins true independence, no longer tethered to parents. For many, they will leave hometowns and start off somewhere new to begin their careers in a changed and still struggling world. Aliyah Blackburn, Allison Bass, Olivia Prunier Herman and Sydni Weisberg shared their journeys with Student Life.

The dilemma of an artist

Virginia Woolf rises from the sea and Donald Trump smiles smugly within an inferno. Aliyah Blackburn’s webpage is filled with art covering topics from politics to history to storytelling, all of it demonstrating the passion and creativity of the artist. 

Senior Aliyah Blackburn is preparing for life as a freelance artist. (Photo courtesy of Aliyah Blackburn)

Blackburn is a student in the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, majoring in communication design, with an emphasis in illustration. She’s also minoring in art history and archaeology. 

Her journey in Sam Fox started with an interest in graphic design, but she soon realized that her true passion resided with drawing people after her first drawing class at Wash. U. Blackburn has also been working at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in the marketing department for four years. 

Although her journey after graduation is still hazy, Blackburn said that “one good thing to come out of this is a lot more jobs are willing to be remote. There are some jobs that will say, this job is initially being offered remotely. There is a lot more flexibility.”

For the last few semesters, Blackburn’s class instruction has included preparation regarding “how the real world will look.” As she is planning to become a freelance artist, this includes skills such as how to read a contract and deal with taxes. 

Although once scared of the idea of being a freelance artist, she has since become more comfortable with the thought after hearing testimonies from her professors. Many have told her that the time right after college is the perfect time to pursue freelance artistry, which means she will sell her art to willing buyers. Still, she often finds it hard to completely commit to a career in freelance artistry due to its uncertainty and lack of security. 

“The idea of having a day job also sounds great because of health benefits and just stability,” she said. “I’ve talked to alumni in the past who were like, ‘I’ve had this day job that I really enjoyed and it took me four years [before] I was like, ‘Oh, I can do freelance on the side.’’ That is what this career really entails—the willingness to be flexible and search out for any opportunities.” 

One of her career aspirations is in the publication industry; as she pursues a second major in English, Blackburn has found a love of blending storytelling with art. Her capstone project is creating a short picture book about Pearl Hart, a woman who robbed a stagecoach in Arizona in 1899. Her dream job, she said, “would be to create my own graphic novel or [make] illustrations for big name publications.”

‘I feel like it’s a sign that it’s the company that I’m supposed to work at’

Alison Bass applied to Wash. U. as an architecture major. Now she studies marketing. “It was way more artsy than I had thought,” she said. 

Despite having an internship canceled by COVID, Allison Bass is pursuing her dream marketing job. (Photo courtesy of Allison Bass)

When her friend recommended marketing as a creative yet analytic field, she fell in love. During her sophomore year, Bass co-founded the Washington University Marketing Association (WUMA).

During her time as president of WUMA, Bass helped bring in former Wash. U. alums to help members of the club learn about the different aspects of marketing and have the opportunity to network. It was during her sophomore year that she became aware of Nielsen Corporation, a global marketing research firm, and that sparked her interest in market research. 

Bass’s initial application started when she went to the career fair and networked with recruiters. She applied for an internship the summer following her junior year, received an interview and was accepted. However, due to COVID, her internship was cancelled, and she had to quickly find another internship. 

During the pandemic, Bass still decided that she wanted to intern and work at Nielsen, her dream job. 

“Every person I talk to at Nielsen, I really enjoy talking with and I don’t finish the informational calls feeling like I’m not good at interviews,” Bass said. “I feel like it’s a sign that it’s the company that I’m supposed to work at.”

Bass did more extensive networking for her second round of applications to Nielsen even though she had a leg up and an earlier interview season than others since she had been previously accepted. 

However, the previous year had been “so much more personable.” This year, Bass had to do a two-hour interview over Zoom, something she regarded as being extremely exhausting. For Bass, connection to recruiters was easier when in-person and she was able to show her true personality. 

‘Everything is temporary’

Traveling to Chile at the beginning of January, Sydni Weisberg expected to spend six months abroad. It would be a time to immerse herself in another culture and practice her Spanish. However, the pandemic uprooted her experience and left her packing her bags to return home early. 

Weisberg is an anthropology major on the Global Health and Environment track with a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies. On campus, she is a part of LIVE (Leaders in Interpersonal Violence Education). 

Now, her goal is to “spend a couple years abroad,” since she feels like the period after graduation is the perfect time to do so, before she becomes more settled and decides whether or not to return to school. 

“I would like to go back to school at some point, but I don’t want to do that for at least a year or two, since I want to know for sure what I want to go back into school for rather than just jumping into something,” she said.

Weisberg is optimistic that once the pandemic is over, she’ll have more career options available to her. 

“I’m still totally unsure of what I want to do next year, but one of the things I was thinking was being an assistant English teacher in Spain… A friend had mentioned it and it sounded really cool, so I started doing some research about it.”

Although Spanish is not required for the program, Weisberg hopes to use her time in Spain to practice her Spanish after studying it for some time in school.

Fortunately, COVID has not changed too much of her application processes since she was mainly interested in abroad opportunities, which would have involved video interviews anyway due to distance. 

“Everything is temporary,” Weisberg said. “I’m trying to keep that mindset going into next year since I don’t know what I want to do. I just need to make a decision for the next year or two and then I can re-evaluate.”

An internship with the Late Show

Olivia Prunier Herman is a film and media studies major who will be interning for the Late Show this upcoming summer.

“I am in the improv group called Suspicious of Whistlers and I’m also head writer currently for Kids on Campus, which is a Wash. U. sketch comedy group,” she said, laughing. “So, you know, the path to late night television and comedy has always kind of been something I’ve been interested in.” 

Prunier Herman has a passion for comedy and loves sitcoms such as New Girl, in which she is “fascinated by the character work.” She also has great admiration for shows such as SNL and hosts like Stephen Colbert. Her ongoing interest in the field inspired her to apply to be an intern for the Late Show on CBS. 

The application is “on the CBS interface and you submit your application and resume, like the normal things that are always in an online submission process,” Prunier Herman said. “And then, you know, you always [have] to know somebody.” 

Prunier Herman used a connection with one of the Late Show assistants as an opportunity to get in touch with one of the top producers of the show, who later asked to meet with her. After flying to New York to meet with the producer, she met with the internship team right after having an informational interview with the producer. 

“It’s kind of like a rotational program,” she said. “So like every couple of weeks, you’re with a different part of the production process. One week you’re with the writers’ room, one week you’re… helping with productions, …another week you’re working [on] digital content.” 

The internship had actually been Prunier Herman’s plan for last year, but due to the pandemic, it was pushed to this summer and will be virtual, with the possibility of going into the office weekly if it becomes safe to do so. 

For life after interning at the Late Show, Prunier Herman hopes to someday work her way up to being able to direct, write and produce her own late night TV show or sitcom. In an industry that still features few women in positions of power, she said she would want to use her position “to help other women get into the industry more.”