Photo Courtesy of One for the Book Photography

On Thursday, December 3rd, 2015, FindSpark community gathered in the Wix Lounge for a night to remember. Celebrating 5 years of FindSpark included glitter tattoos, speeches, and taking multiple turns in the photo booth, of course.

Hearing from FindSpark’s community members and founder, Emily Miethner, gave every attendee the motivation to get sh*t done. Whether you’re a student, powering through the semester and putting 110% energy into the last days of internships, or a recent grad or job searcher sending in application after application until getting that job offer. Oh, and don’t forget working on those side hustles!

Photo Courtesy of One for the Book Photography

Confidence

Phi Pham, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Building Beats, shared his wisdom about building on confidence when it comes to applying for jobs and networking, saying “A little bit of creative confidence leads to a lot of confidence in everything else.” He continued by giving insight into not making networking awkward, “treat people like friends when networking.”

Initiative

FindSpark community member and Coordinator of NBC Universal’s Campus 2 Career Internship Program, Janel Abrahami, spoke about FindSpark’s impact on her career path and goals.

“FindSpark made me realize that my career is up to me.” With one of her side hustles being a contributor to FindSpark (check out her interviewing tips here), Janel has been exposed to some of the best pros in her industry. This reminded attendees how FindSpark is meant to help you realize your goals while building a great community of professionals and peers.

Community

Joel Hernandez, recruiter at Unicef, underscored Janel’s message by telling attendees, “you’re doing a great thing by coming to FindSpark events and connecting with each other.” Bringing it back to Phi’s thoughts on confidence, Joel told attendees to “stay positive,” making it known that rejection is okay and even needed in order to learn and build on ourselves.

Stick With It

Highlighting how making strong connections can put you ahead, Peter Boyce of General Catalyst Partners shared his thoughts on just crucial your connections are. “The people next to you will become cofounders and friends. Take advantage of the FindSpark community.” He also reminded attendees to keep their heads and remain confident, “appreciate how quickly things can unfold.”

Customize

Talking about connecting with others, Spring 2015 FindSpark Campus Ambassador, Carly Walsh, underscored Peter’s point of making connections. She is currently working at Livestream, a FindSpark employer, as their Content and Social Curator. She shared one of our favorite tips: customize. “Customize your cover letter!”

Hustle

Our founder, Emily Miethner, left us with the reminder that “overnight success doesn’t exist.” FindSpark’s 5 Year Bash confirmed that“success comes from consistently putting in effort.” Meeting new people and re-connecting with FindSpark community friends was the best reminder to not give up on our journeys to find our passions.

Continue to build your network and find your passion with FindSpark at Hustle Summit on January 25, 2015!

Share your favorite part of FindSpark’s 5 Year Bash by commenting below.