I have been meaning to write about a career workshop that I attended last week, but I have had an onslaught of midterms for school lately...so, a week later, here is the overdue post!
The workshop, which was held on September 26, 2008 by Porter Novelli and THE LAGRANT FOUNDATION, was very informative for a me, so I wanted to share.
As we talked about beginning and maintaining a career in marketing, PR, and advertising, some of the tips that professionals gave were the following:
-Always ask questions! When you are in an interview and you are asked if you have any questions, ALWAYS ASK A QUESTION. If you don't, then you look like you are not interested in working for them.
-When you only have 2 minutes to network, ask questions. Those questions will often allow for the timeframe to go from 2 minutes to BILLIONS of hours (well, not billions, but more than before). People like to talk about themselves, so assuage them.
-When you only have 2 minutes to network, ask INTERESTING questions. Don't be a bore. Asking a good question makes an impression.
-Sell yourself! Make yourself wanted by other companies and agencies. You are a product whether you know it or not.
-Don't take an unpaid internship with a for-profit company. They are swindling you so hard.
-Act professional BUT be yourself. If you are a cookie cutter candidate, you will be lost in the pool of applicants.
-Lastly, don't give up. Everyone knows its hard to get a good internship nowdays. Its even more difficult to find a great job, but if you stick through it, you will end up doing what you love.
These tips may seem like common sense, but I never thought about the true importance of some of these things. It is imperative that you learn the ins and outs of finding work, because if you don't someone else will-just plain and simple logic.
In conclusion, the workshop gave me a sense of relief. Some of these account executives had a difficult time finding jobs and internships as well, so if they are succedding, then so can I (AND YOU).
Overall, I can sum this day up with a few words: A SIGH OF RELIEF!
On a side note, I wanted to rank my top 80's songs. These songs are for Dr. Karen Russell. She kindly gave me a list of songs I should listen to on one of her blog posts.
These are in no particular order:
Africa, Toto
Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson
Uptown Girl, Billy Joel
Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Taylor
Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield
Jack and Dianne, John Mellencamp
Material Girl, Madonna
My Sharona, The Knack
Take on Me- A-Ha
Tainted Love- Soft Cell
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2 comments:
OK, with a music list like that it's a good thing we didn't go to high school together in the '80s or I would've had to hate you. ;-) Did you see Nate's list? http://nathanielfuller.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/what-are-your-top-10-1980s-songs/ He would've hated both of us. Hehe
I just had a bunch of informational interviews and meetings with family friends that are in PR when I was in NYC last week, and the suggestion I got over and over was to ask questions - about how your interviewer got into the field, what working for the company is for, etc.
Are you looking for an internship for this summer? Good luck with the search :)
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