[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":155},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fstories\u002Ffirst-step-francesca-knoetgen":3},{"id":4,"type":5,"path":6,"published":7,"publishDate":8,"author":9,"taxonomy":10,"headerType":13,"image":11,"video":14,"title":16,"subtitle":17,"hideFromSearchEngines":11,"social":18,"bodyBlocks":20,"slug":130,"description":11,"metaDescription":11,"metaTitle":11,"relatedStories":131,"created":145,"changed":145,"breadcrumbs":146},"b2393b5c-6766-4c42-b000-ceeb1e2d1fdb","story","stories\u002Ffirst-step-francesca-knoetgen",true,"October 27, 2026","Ross Bishoff",{"name":11,"slug":12},null,"","image",{"url":11,"transcript":15},{"text":11},"The next step: Francesca","Relationship-building skills help set recent grad up for professional success",{"title":11,"description":11,"imageUrl":19},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.osu.edu\u002Fimages\u002Fohio-state-social-generic.jpeg",[21,28,34,40,46,52,58,64,70,76,82,88,94,100,106,112,118,124],{"blockName":22,"attrs":23,"innerBlocks":25,"innerHTML":26,"innerContent":27},"core\u002Fparagraph",{"uuid":24},"256ab0d8",[],"\u003Cp>For Francesca Knoetgen, life after Ohio State has been a little bit of a reset.\u003C\u002Fp>",[26],{"blockName":22,"attrs":29,"innerBlocks":31,"innerHTML":32,"innerContent":33},{"uuid":30},"7d67e9e8",[],"\u003Cp>After graduating with a degree in industrial design and minors in fashion retail studies and art history, Knoetgen headed back to her hometown in New York this summer. She was excited to start her career, but she also had a big question hanging over her: What now?\u003C\u002Fp>",[32],{"blockName":22,"attrs":35,"innerBlocks":37,"innerHTML":38,"innerContent":39},{"uuid":36},"08810c49",[],"\u003Cp>The answer, it turns out, was Macy’s.\u003C\u002Fp>",[38],{"blockName":22,"attrs":41,"innerBlocks":43,"innerHTML":44,"innerContent":45},{"uuid":42},"daa61dde",[],"\u003Cp>Knoetgen recently landed a job as a Merchant Assistant on Macy’s Women’s Activewear team, where she’ll work alongside buyers to help shape the products customers see.\u003C\u002Fp>",[44],{"blockName":22,"attrs":47,"innerBlocks":49,"innerHTML":50,"innerContent":51},{"uuid":48},"bff695ca",[],"\u003Cp>Getting there wasn’t exactly a straight line. Like a lot of recent graduates, she sent out application after application through LinkedIn, Handshake and Indeed, often hearing nothing back.\u003C\u002Fp>",[50],{"blockName":22,"attrs":53,"innerBlocks":55,"innerHTML":56,"innerContent":57},{"uuid":54},"a8256409",[],"\u003Cp>Then a friend of a friend offered to put her résumé in front of the Macy’s hiring team.\u003C\u002Fp>",[56],{"blockName":22,"attrs":59,"innerBlocks":61,"innerHTML":62,"innerContent":63},{"uuid":60},"95607ac2",[],"\u003Cp>That connection led to an interview. And then a job.\u003C\u002Fp>",[62],{"blockName":22,"attrs":65,"innerBlocks":67,"innerHTML":68,"innerContent":69},{"uuid":66},"9f99b645",[],"\u003Cp>“I certainly did not anticipate this would be what got me my first job,” Knoetgen says.\u003C\u002Fp>",[68],{"blockName":22,"attrs":71,"innerBlocks":73,"innerHTML":74,"innerContent":75},{"uuid":72},"be8eda7c",[],"\u003Cp>The experience reinforced something she’d already started learning at Ohio State: You never know where a relationship might lead.\u003C\u002Fp>",[74],{"blockName":22,"attrs":77,"innerBlocks":79,"innerHTML":80,"innerContent":81},{"uuid":78},"e67d6dad",[],"\u003Cp>Knoetgen had always been interested in retail, but her fashion and retail studies minor helped her realize she could actually build a career in the industry. Her design education gave her something else she didn’t expect: confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>",[80],{"blockName":22,"attrs":83,"innerBlocks":85,"innerHTML":86,"innerContent":87},{"uuid":84},"6cdb9f88",[],"\u003Cp>She used to get nervous presenting her work. But after countless critiques and project presentations, she became much more comfortable explaining her ideas. Working with professionals, attending events and learning how to tell the story behind her designs gave her opportunities to stretch beyond what felt comfortable.\u003C\u002Fp>",[86],{"blockName":22,"attrs":89,"innerBlocks":91,"innerHTML":92,"innerContent":93},{"uuid":90},"ec07d8ba",[],"\u003Cp>Then came the uncertainty of graduation.\u003C\u002Fp>",[92],{"blockName":22,"attrs":95,"innerBlocks":97,"innerHTML":98,"innerContent":99},{"uuid":96},"85cfa5d0",[],"\u003Cp>Back home, she found herself missing the nonstop energy of college. But instead of treating the uncertainty as something to solve immediately, she started seeing it as a chance to reset — reconnecting with photography, watercolor and journaling, visiting museums and saving money for her own place.\u003C\u002Fp>",[98],{"blockName":22,"attrs":101,"innerBlocks":103,"innerHTML":104,"innerContent":105},{"uuid":102},"cd1aa348",[],"\u003Cp>She also took a six-week backpacking trip through Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, where she met people who had taken unexpected turns of their own.\u003C\u002Fp>",[104],{"blockName":22,"attrs":107,"innerBlocks":109,"innerHTML":110,"innerContent":111},{"uuid":108},"256c8e48",[],"\u003Cp>The biggest lesson? There’s no single timeline for figuring out your life.\u003C\u002Fp>",[110],{"blockName":22,"attrs":113,"innerBlocks":115,"innerHTML":116,"innerContent":117},{"uuid":114},"a21a90a6",[],"\u003Cp>Now Knoetgen is taking that mindset into her first job.\u003C\u002Fp>",[116],{"blockName":22,"attrs":119,"innerBlocks":121,"innerHTML":122,"innerContent":123},{"uuid":120},"35ee3d8e",[],"\u003Cp>Ohio State, she says, gave her the confidence to be adaptable, try things she wasn’t sure she was ready for and stay open to what comes next.\u003C\u002Fp>",[122],{"blockName":22,"attrs":125,"innerBlocks":127,"innerHTML":128,"innerContent":129},{"uuid":126},"c0d41255",[],"\u003Cp>And sometimes, what comes next starts with a friend of a friend.\u003C\u002Fp>",[128],"first-step-francesca-knoetgen",[132],{"slug":133,"path":134,"title":135,"description":136,"subtitle":137,"taxonomy":138,"image":139,"video":142,"hideFromSearchEngines":11,"hasVideo":144},"first-step-yasmine-moukadam","stories\u002Ffirst-step-yasmine-moukadam","The first step: Yasmine Moukadam","Ohio State graduate Yasmine Moukadam applies the discipline she built through engineering and Navy ROTC to graduate study and her goal of becoming a Navy pilot.","Discipline learned at Ohio State aids recent grads quest to be a Navy pilot",{"name":11,"slug":12},{"url":140,"alt":141},"\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fmedia\u002Fimage\u002F2026\u002F10\u002Fyasmine_1.jpg","Two women in military fatigues smile and pose for the camera",{"url":11,"transcript":143},{"text":11},false,"2026-10-23T18:57:31+00:00",[147,150,153],{"title":148,"path":149},"Home","\u002F",{"title":151,"path":152},"Stories","\u002Fstories",{"title":16,"path":154},"\u002Fstories\u002Ffirst-step-francesca-knoetgen",1792788786186]