Are You Ready to ROCK (Your Interview)?

As graduation draws near, many soon-to-be grads are applying for internships and entry-level jobs for the summer. Many will get lucky and land an interview, spending days (or even weeks) preparing for that one-shot at making a good impression. But what do you do in that final hour before the interview?

For me, that final hour was literally a 60 minute drive left alone with my thoughts. Or rather, a perfect chance to psych myself out and over think every possible situation that could happen during the informational interview and writing/ editing test that would ensue for the next few hours.

What if I blanked on basic rules of AP Style during the editing portion? What if I had writer’s block (an illness I’ve been recovering from lately) during the writing test? What if clammed up and was completely out of character from my usual bubbly self? What if I was put on the spot and the only words that come to mind are “I don’t know?” Or even WORSE – what if one of many bodily functions blindsided me while I was there?!

As my life going down the drain flashed before me, a glint of something shiny on the floor caught my eye. Quickly I reached down, taking my eyes off the road for ONLY a second (I swear!) and struck gold: an ’80s mix CD I had compiled last summer. Immediately I popped the CD into the player and cranked the volume as loud as it would go without making my ears bleed.

Belting out the lyrics in the comfort of my car erased all of the if’s, and’s or but’s from my mind. Dance moves (though limited in the confines of a moving vehicle) and head bobs included.

Then it hit me: I am Dwight Schrute from The Office. Okay, maybe not quite, but I can at least relate. If you watch the video clip below, you will see Dwight take a moment alone in the car to vigorously listen to Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart.” *I know embedding is disabled, click on it again to go to this clip on YouTube. It’s 25 seconds long. Just do it!

At this point you may be asking yourself, “Okay Mikinzie, you are a huge geek and I’m frightened to be driving on the same road as you, but what’s the point?” The point is you need to have your “thing” that will ease your nerves and put any doubts in yourself to rest. Whether that means dancing it out, meditating, writing down all of your accomplishments on paper, looking at old pictures of fond memories or even letting your voice crack to bad ’80s music is up to you. In the end, whatever you do needs to inspire self-confidence. Even if that means getting funny looks from other drivers on the highway.

What do you do to get rid of the first-interview jitters?

As some of you know, I’m a bit of a music fiend and love giving (and getting) music recommendations. Here are few songs on the playlist that I sang particularly loudly while bopping around in my purple ’95 Cavalier:

• “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” -Simple Minds
• “Burning Down the House” – Talking Heads
• “Always Something There to Remind Me” – Naked Eyes
• “I Ran (So Far Away)” – Flock of Seagulls
• “Ah! Leah!” – Donnie Iris
• “Ordinary World” – Duran Duran
• “Love Will Tear Us Apart” – Joy Division
• “Video Killed The Radio Star” – The Buggles

Does Your Twitter Handle Belong in Your Resume?

In the day and age of social media, emails and personal websites, our world is gradually becoming paperless. One *exception to this paperless world is your resume/ CV (*even resumes/CVs are becoming paperless, but most employers will prefer a hard copy for the final interview or will print off your “paperless” version onto paper during the application process).

But is the bridge between online and on-paper one that should be built? Or rather, does your social media contact information belong on your resume/ CV?

In my opinion, yes. I put my twitter handle in my resume. Where you decide to put your social media information is personal preference, but I decided to make my twitter handle very noticeable and included an entire section under “skills” where I include which social networks in which I am active.

I also have my blog (the one you are reading right now!) listed under relevant experience/ projects. However, I only suggest you include blogs in your resume that you regularly write for or that have received some sort of recognition.

Putting your social media contact information on your resume not only let’s the employer reviewing your resume/ CV that you’re tuned in to using social media, but that you have nothing to hide. Let’s face it, they’re going to google you regardless if you put your twitter handle on your resume/ CV or not. Why not beat them to the punch and say, “Here I am and this is why you want me to work for you” (this is also made under the assumption that your social media identity is kept clean/ professional. I think this is a safe assumption to make for most PR pre-pros). Showing employers that you have nothing to hide, but instead are actually borderline showing-off your social media identity not only shows candidness and professionalism, but confidence in who you are as a pre-pro and your willingness to make life easy for him or her.

As a result, your social media identity tells them even more about you:

• Personality type
• Personal brand
• Interests/ Hobbies
• Aspirations
• Skills (especially writing and using technology)

This type of information is especially helpful to your employer when applying for jobs that are out of state or area. It lets him or her get a sense of who you are and whether or not you would be a good fit for the company. It provides the employer a sneak peak to your feature film.

Some employers even place high-importance on the use of social media contact information. Here’s what some of the pros said:

Worob It’s the first thing I look for when reading resumes.

thescottbishop If you have an active and valuable twitter brand…add it to your resume (but be aware of what you tweet).

prtini Absolutely a good idea if you’re applying for PR/SM jobs. Shows you are involved online. Important for

employers to know.

sjhalestorm Fits very well into contact info. – gives feeling that you are involved, not hiding. Give potential employers all the opps you can to stalk you by including Twitter handle (+ others) – then impress them.

Additional Resources

Report today in the UK mentions use of Twitter handle / LinkedIn details on your CV

Careerealism’s Resume: 20 Down and Dirty on What to Include

Brand Republic: Social Media talent vacuum in PR and Marketing

(Special thanks to @kionsanders @bitty_boop @Lmnovo @patrickbjohnson @aaronwolowiec @AdamVincenzini @dfriedman16 @TBlinkedin @lisaatufunwa @PattyBaragar @EstrellaBella10 @AlexiaHarris @han_ma @ Worob @thescottbishop @PRtini @sjhalestorm)

20 ways PR students can beat the winter break blues

With the semester’s end approaching, many PR students will take the next few weeks to regenerate before Spring Semester.  However, just because you’re on break doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be doing your homework! Here are some things PR students can do during break to maximize their job search:

1. Update your resume. Assess what you did over the past semester that would be worthy of your resume. Also, prioritize what you should keep on your current copy. You should be updating it about every six months.
2. Clean up your portfolio. Add projects from the past semester and reorganize the contents. You may also want to look at your past projects and edit them. You will be surprised how much your writing can change within a semester.
3. Visit a PR firm or job shadow a PR professional. Contact a PR firm or PR professional in your area and set up a few hours for you to come in and watch a day of work. If they say the office is slow because of the holidays, ask to come in for an informational interview instead. Many PR professionals work right up until the holidays.
4. Research. Look up information on companies that you may want to apply to once you graduate. Create profiles of each company so that you can refresh your memory when the time comes to apply.
5. Start planning. Look for summer internships and mark the application due dates in your planner. It may also be helpful to create an “internship list” so you can view dates at a glance.
6. Blog. Start a blog about your thoughts about PR, about your job search, etc. This makes excellent practice to informally enhance your writing skills. If you already have a blog, make an effort to post two or more times a week during break.
7. Do -it-yourself PR plan. Conduct a four-step PR plan for for a local company or non profit. Present your plan to the company or non-profit after the holidays for the chance of freelance work or internship/ job opportunities.
8. Be a news hound. Read several newspapers (print and online) every day and watch national and local news stations. Discuss current events with friends and family and impress them with your worldly knowledge.
9. Write your own news. Write a local news article, feature story or opinions piece. Edit it and make sure it conforms with AP Style. If it’s good enough, send it to your local newspaper for the chance to be published.
10. Perfect your pitch. Practice by writing pretend pitches for a “client.” Learn the beat of different journalists to help you discover different angles for your pitches. If you’re new to pitching, research good and bad methods of pitching and learn from them (many can be found on The Bad Pitch Blog.) Since it’s the number number one complaint about PR pros, it’s better to practice now before you have to do the real thing.
11. Review what you learned. Brush up on your old PR notes from past classes. You’ll be surprised how much you have forgotten already.
12. Become a social media superstar. Learn how to use social media, such as twitter, effectively. If you already do, ask yourself, “how can I do this better?” and engage even more.
13. Do your winter reading. Read PR books such as Putting the Public back in Public Relations by Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge) and Brian Solis (@briansolis) or The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al Ries and Laura Ries.
14. Get organized. Sort through all of your graded assignments, notes and handouts and file them in a file folder or cabinet. Do the same on your computer with any e-copies.
15. Back up your hard drive. Think about all the assignments, projects, resumes, cover letters, photos, music, etc on your computer. Now think of all of that disappearing within one minute. Feeling motivated yet?
16. Use a new technology such as Google Wave, Skype, etc.
17. Use a new device such as Kindle, Smartpen, GPS system, etc.
18. Use a new software such as InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, etc.
19. Go shopping. Fellow PR hopeful Rachel Esterline (@rachelesterline) has a great list of items on which a young PR pro can spend their Christmas money.
20. Have some fun! You don’t want to be burned out before semester even starts, do you? Find a balance between work and play during your winter break. It will keep you energized and motivated for the upcoming semester.