Gilmore Girls, it’s one of the shows that I watch all the way through at least once a year and can probably quote in my sleep. Lorelai Gilmore’s knowledge of pop culture and her quick wit are unlike anything seen before. When watching the series finale we thought that was the farthest we would go on the Gilmore women’s journey, leaving what happens in the rest of their lives up to our imagination. Then in 2016 Netflix blessed us with a Gilmore Girls revival titled Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Looking back Rory, on paper, is the type of go-getter that we all dream of being. Rory graduated from her prestigious high school, Chilton, as valedictorian and got accepted into not just one, but three Ivy League colleges; Harvard, Princeton and Yale. While attending Yale she not only wrote for the Yale Daily News, but was their editor-in-chief by her senior year, despite taking a year off of school. She also had an awesome internship with Mitchum Huntzberger, who was a huge deal in the newspaper industry. I don’t know about you, but to me this is a pretty impressive resume.
When I first sat down and started binge watching the revival I was shocked to see that Rory was both unemployed and homeless. We find out that in the time that we weren’t with her she has had very little success, writing a couple freelance pieces for newspapers and trying to write a biography for Naomi Shropshire. The biography we see falls through and we see no effort on Rory’s part in trying to grow her experience more by doing other things, such as writing a blog or picking up more freelance pieces.
One of the biggest reasons I believe Rory was unable to find a job was her stubbornness and how unwilling she is to adapt to the changing field of journalism. When Rory graduated the industry of print media was still huge and had many opportunities for a young professional. Fast forward a decade and print journalism is not as booming of an industry, professional journalists had to adapt to the changing climate, something we don’t see Rory doing. Public Relations is no different, it is always changing and if you don’t learn to adapt you could be left behind like Rory.
In today’s professional society it is very important to have your own personal brand, something that tells people who you are and what you bring to the table. In Rory’s interview at SandeeSays Sandee asks her “If I take a chance on Rory Gilmore, what am I getting? If I hire you, tell me what Rory Gilmore would write about for SandeeSays.” While Rory is on paper fully qualified for this job, she failed to bring her own personality into the interview. While applying for jobs, it is so important to have things prepared to tell your employer in regards to what you can bring to the table that is different than what they already have.
While Rory is still out job hunting I’ll stick to taking life advice from Paris Geller a.k.a. the queen of getting what she wants.
Annie Nowak is a junior strategic communication major and Gilmore Girls expert. Give her a follow on Twitter @annie_nowak.