Got an offer! My tips

Just finished grad school and got an offer I'm really excited about! I was in the private sector for 6 years and decided to go to grad school and completely change my career (wildlife conservation). Job stats:

• Full time roles: Applied for 5, interviewed for 2, received 1 offer from a NGO.
• Internships: Applied for 5, interviewed for 2, received 1 offer. I was embarrassed that I had to do this but the market is terrible, pivoting sectors and roles together is tough and any experience helps.

What helped me:

• Started networking in grad school 2 years ago. Spoke to as many alumni + practitioners as I could. Read the 2 Hour Job Search (Steve Dalton) - I basically followed it to the T. Aim to have like 50-100 conversations. 2-3 of those conversations will open doors at the right time 6-12 months later.
• For the pivot: find 2-3 skills that will be transferable for your new career. Mine were project management and managing people. Adapt the language in your CV to highlight those clearly. Ask the people you network with to give you feedback.
• Applying: All my interviews came after soft referrals / recommendations / cold outreach to HMs. This is only possible if you network a lot and leave a good impression on people.
• Interviews: Prepare the basics perfectly (why you, why this role, why this org, why this sector). These need to be well-researched, match the org needs and your strengths and learnings. Read the Job Closer (Steve Dalton). Do not over-prepare to the point that you sound rehearsed. For scenario based questions, I always said "can I take 30s to think about that" and noted a few points. Gives you time to structure your thoughts.
• Interview hygiene: Start and end strong. Spend time crafting your "tell me about yourself". End with a 1 sentence pitch: "thank you for your time, I'm excited for this role for XYZ reasons". Prepare 4-5 questions for each interview. Send short thank you notes after - there is really no reason not to.
• My timeline: Applied in second week of June, got an interview call 5 weeks later. First week was Round 1, second week was Round 2, third week was writing assignment, fourth week I got the offer. I know there are exceptions but I think that when an org likes you, they move FAST. To me this was also a positive sign of efficient company processes.