5 Things You Can Do To Get Your Dream Job
It wasn't easy to get here, and it still isn't easy being here, but there is nothing else I want to do.
By 
Opal Vadhan
Every day I wake up, and cannot believe that I am living my dream. It wasn’t easy to get here, and it still isn’t easy being here, but there is nothing else I want to do. I want to help you all, become your dream and this is what helped me get to where I am today.
1. Find Your Passion
— I know you probably hear this a lot, but try everything you can, and you will eventually find what you like. Join different clubs in high school, try out for the sports team, and get involved. Reach out to organizations that interest you and see how you can volunteer or intern. The sooner you find what you love doing, the easier it is to do it for the rest of your life.
2. Reach Out
At 13 years old I loved television and would sneakily watch TRL everyday after school. My 8th grade English teacher had us do an assignment of a place we would like to work and contact them. I dreamed of working at MTV, and I somehow found an email to one of the producers of TRL and I sent a blind email. The producer allowed me to spend a day behind the scenes at TRL and from that moment I knew I wanted to work in television. This is your moment to reach out to people who have your dream career. Do your research, send an email — the worst that can happen is that you don’t get an answer. But don’t let that stop you: reach out to others in that field. People are willing to help those get started because at one time, someone helped them.
3. Build Your Resume
It is true what they say: Interning is the first thing to get your foot in the door. But people ask me all the time “how do you get an internship with no experience?” Start early with little jobs, I started tutoring little kids at 11 years old. Then I moved onto waitressing, volunteering, and at 16 I got a job as a sales associate at Lacoste. None of those were my dream jobs but they helped me add to my resume. I then reached out to internships in high school and I landed one in the nonprofit industry. That lead me to my next internship at Sony Music Entertainment, which wasn’t TV but still in entertainment and all of that helped me to intern in the television industry where I started interning at The Rachael Ray Show, then moved to MSNBC, and now I’m an on camera reporter for Transit Transit News.
4. Network
Wherever you work be sure to get to know as many people as you can. You never know who you will meet and who can help you. Interning at one of the nonprofits lead me to meet my boss at Sony Music who was looking for an intern. It also allows you to learn about career journeys and what steps to take in your career path. You may also find some incredible mentors out there who want to help you.
5. Persistence Is Key
Never lose hope. If you don’t get one job, there is always another job out there waiting for you. Apply to as many places as you can, take each interview you get, and then you decide which feels right for you. Always go into an interview prepared and think to yourself, you are meant for this position. Remember these companies are looking for bright, talented, driven students like you.
This is what helped me achieve my dreams, and I still use these tips today to keep working on my dreams. It does take hard work, but trust me — it does pay off. I hope that you get something out of this and I would love to hear how you all are going after your dreams. 
