After earning my bachelor’s degree, I felt all the emotions of an eager college grad: excitement, anticipation, pride — but above all else, uncertainty. I felt ready to enter the job market but completely unprepared for the journey ahead. After working at a retail grocery store for five years while attending college, I was eager to enter the professional workforce. With that, I relocated to another city in my state, leaving behind the security of a job, a steady source of income, several years of friendships and my comfort with the area, all to begin a new adventure and practice my recently acquired skills from college. But, after many years of being told that “everyone was hiring,” I failed to move forward in my search for a career.

New adventures. Alone in a different city with thousands of people, it would seem the opportunities would be endless. I allowed myself a “honeymoon” phase to relax and settle in. However, as the weeks passed, my anxiety started to grow. I was still without a job and had very few connections to people in my new city. I would say I felt lost amid a shifting job market, but I had yet to even explore my options.

Over the course of two months, I applied to several jobs, sourced connections from distant places and met with many of my fellow undergrad university alumni. But, without any solid prospects, it began to feel daunting that all my hard work was not paying off.

Then amid all these feelings of failure came the light in the darkness.

That one connection. A connection I’d made while networking led me to apply for a job through Beacon Hill Staffing Group. I knew it was a shot in the dark — the company was recruiting for an HR intern — but I knew it wouldn’t hurt to try. And, to my surprise, the recruiter responded within minutes. She was the sweetest, most inspirational person and someone that became my friend over the next few months. She was impressed with my résumé — or perhaps my ambition to find her among a string of connections — and set up an interview for the following workday. An actual interview. I was beyond happy. Someone was going to take a chance on me.

The interview was unlike anything I had done before. The recruiter could tell I was nervous, but she made the space comfortable and inviting. We talked and talked, like two friends discussing dinner plans, about our experiences, how fabulous this opportunity was for an entry-level job seeker and how she would present my résumé that same afternoon. It wasn’t even three hours later when I received a call back: The company wanted to schedule an interview.

Within a week, I was starting at the company. It was, however, not like any place I had worked before: The staff was incredible, the onboarding was immersive and it had a feeling of community.

Instantly, I knew that I loved working for this company, but more, I appreciated the phone calls, emails and check-ins from my recruiter at Beacon Hill. She was encouraging and open, always responding within minutes, even on the weekend. At that moment, I understood the importance of leaping at an opportunity, trusting that it would all work out in the end, and it did.

The future. After six months, I was hired directly by the company as an HR specialist. To this day, I remain in contact with Beacon Hill and my recruiter — not because I am searching for new opportunities but because of their impact on my life, their willingness to take a chance and their ability to meet me where I was at.

It is difficult to find a job but not so challenging when you ally yourself with people that support you along the way — just like Beacon Hill did with me. So, don’t be afraid to reach out to all your options and make the connections. You never know what you may find.