By Theresa Anne Salah in the Career & Leadership Development Centre blog.

Leslie Gallagher (BA’12) knows a thing or two about the job market. Having only graduated three years ago from Dalhousie University, she’s already inspiring other students to follow in her footsteps. After graduating with her liberal arts degree (honours in English and Creative Writing), she began seeking out “the perfect job”. But in the process, she discovered an entire job market unknown to many. Gallagher realized there was a gap between job seekers and small businesses in the region seeking young talent. Inspired by the 2014 Ivany report and the many friends who were also looking for “meaningful work”, she launched WorkLocal.jobs; an innovative job board that lets candidates apply to positions by recording video interview messages for employers. She says stepping in the world of entrepreneurship was a steep learning curve but worth the challenges she’s faced. Now she’s hoping other students are inspired to think about how the skills they’ve learned in school are transferable to other many areas in the job market. “I hope they start exploring everything their degree has made them capable of, and applying their education to other disciplines and areas.” We had a chance to speak with Leslie about her new business, and how she took her arts degree to the next level.

1) Why did you decide to do an arts degree while you were in university? What were your career goals at the time? I have always loved reading and writing. I studied English with the goal of going into publishing and becoming an editor.

2) As you progressed through your degree, how confident did you feel about your career opportunities once you graduated? I wasn’t incredibly confident that I’d get a great job upon graduation, so I was careful to apply what I was learning all through university to employable skills. While I loved my classes on Renaissance poetry and Modernist literature, I also spent time learning how to edit, tutor, and get comfortable with WordPress. I kept myself open to other disciplines to figure out what I was learning in English could bring to other areas of study. I took courses in economics, computer science, philosophy, and psychology. But no business courses, funnily enough.

3) What was your first job after graduating from university? I landed an internship with Progress magazine. I cold called and left messages until the editor asked to meet me for coffee.

4) What is Worklocal.jobs? WorkLocal.jobs is a video-application job board. Job seekers apply by uploading their resume, and also by recording 1-minute Video Interview Messages from their laptop or device for the employer. Resumes are awful—this gives you a chance to make a great first impression and show the employer what you’re really like.

5) What were the steps you took to start your own business? I went and talked to CEED, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development, and they set me on the right path. Then I started doing one task a day toward starting a business—whether it was buying the domain name, researching hiring trends, or taking someone in the field I was interested in for coffee.

6) What is your favourite memory from Dal? Working as a research assistant for the Editing Modernism in Canada project. It was exciting to be doing work at the intersection of the arts and technology. It made me realize how many jobs exist that we aren’t even aware of, and it was also wonderful to be able to work with other academics toward a common goal. The arts tend to focus on individual accomplishments, but learning how to be collaborative is important, fun, and rewarding.

7) Do you have any advice for students who are nearing graduation and feel anxious about their career options? Get engaged in the community you want to be a part of. Do exactly what I did when I decided to start a business—buy a Starbucks gift card and start taking people who are involved in the area you’re interested in for a coffee. If you don’t know where to start, connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message (that reminds me, set up a LinkedIn profile too! It’s important for your online brand, and employers care about it). You should also start attending Fusion Halifax events to meet other young professionals.

8) Why do you think a degree in arts matters in today’s society? It teaches you how to think critically, gives you the confidence to challenge long-standing assumptions, and also makes you an exceptional communicator—all vitally important skills that are necessary not only to the workplace, but the future of our society.