On Wednesday,
November, 13, 2013, I had the privilege of networking and doing speed interviews
with three out of the 45 PR professionals that were in attendance. This event
was held at the Hudson Business
lounge, the atmosphere was very calmed and relaxed. This made the whole
situation less intimidating, and made the PR professionals seem more approachable.
It was very generous of them to donate some of their time to the students.
The night
started off by a 15 minute presentation by Jeff Carrigan of Big Shoes Network. One of the main
things I took away for the presentation was the importance of internships to employers.
Another really important thing that he discussed was the five C’s that make a
person standout in an interview. The five c’s that he discussed was Competence,
Connections, Character, Chemistry, and C-suite. What he stressed in his
presentation was to really know the company before an interview. The more you
know about a company the better questions you can ask.
After the
presentation was over, we broke up into one-on-one interviews with a PR
professional. My first interview was with Amy Listle who is the Administrative
Assistant of the Jefferson
County Fair Park. After that I went on to interview with Rachel Bennett who
is with the Greater Milwaukee
foundation. They were really approachable, and gave me positive feedback as
well as some advice on how to improve my interview skills.
The night
ended with our mock informational interviews with one of the PR professionals. My
mock informational interview was with, Sharon Roy from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. At the end
of the interview she looked at my resume, and she gave me some great advice on
how to improve it. I felt very comfortable asking her questions about the
field, because she was knowledgeable on the subject.
I really did
enjoy this event, and it gave me a lot of insight into the PR world. This gave
me a better picture of what to expect after graduation.
I agree that one of the most important things I took from Jeff speaking was how important internships were. I know advisors have mentioned internships, but it seemed to stick out when Jeff spoke of them by emphasizing how important they are. It's great that you were able to get Sharon to take a look at your resume, I wish I would have had the chance during my interview to have the professionals look at mine.
ReplyDeleteTara,
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the atmosphere of the event was nice and relaxed. I was a little bit nervous at the beginning, but the tone of the event made it much easier to connect with others.I thought that Jeff's speech was short, but it gave him just enough time to tell us what the key elements are to getting a job after graduation. I agree with you and think that the event gave a great insight into PR and I also have a better picture on what to look forward to after graduation.
Tera,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in regards to the venue in which this event was held. While it was a professional setting, it the space lent itself to smaller compartmentalized areas that allowed us to easily break into pairs with professionals. It was a great place for both students and professionals to congregate, and I hope I can attend more events like this in the future! I too am so thankful that the professionals took the time out of their busy schedule to help us. I can only hope that in the future I am able to provide the same guidance for future students and young professionals.
I found during the beginning of the event when Jeff Carrigan talked about those 5 C's to be really interesting and helpful. I thought when he did his presentation he was easy to relate to in a way as well
ReplyDeleteI found Jeff's advice about knowing the company to be super good advice as well! When I think about interviewing I hadn't previously thought so much about looking into everything about the company but definitely will from now on with interviews. I think employers would be very impressed with interviewees that knew a lot about their company!
ReplyDelete