Last week, PRSSA hosted George Washington University professor Larry Parnell, JMU and GW alum Kaitlin Solomon and Jonathan McGee. Dr. Parnell shared the top 5 things to be considered when choosing a graduate school. For the young and hungry out there, they are… 1. "Name, reputation, and brand of the school is very important" Parnell emphasized an "automatic return on the investment you make,” that can come directly from a well-known academic label. Having to explain what your grad school is known for is a situation you may want to avoid. 2. Applied Programs are the BEST It’s so important to complete a masters program that’s focused on application and not just academics if you want to be a “practitioner” - someone who goes out into the real word of PR! 3. Faculty The key here is adjunct professors. These are teachers who are professionals by day, and bring real world problems to class by night. Parnell says “it’s all is about the combination of credentials and doing work throughout the day while teaching at night.” 4. Alumni Network "Invest in the people out there." Your peers and professors become important professional connections throughout grad school. JMU and GW alumni Katie says, “It's not just graduating and being a press secretary. With the alumni network of GW, I can work anywhere and do anything.” 5. Track Record of the school Dr. Parnell proudly announced that “GW is on its 10th year with the Graduate School of Political Management.” A grad school that has been in operation long enough to establish what works and what doesn’t, results in:
A PRSSA Member’s Opinion: I truly enjoyed when Kaitlin, a former JMU Duke and graduate of the GW program, offered some great insight on working in PR and spoke about her experience of grad school, assuring the college students in the room that real life does actually start. She ended up working for three years before beginning her 2-year grad school program while continuing corporate life and found it to be both professionally and personally beneficial. That dreaded job application requirement of “graduate degree and five years of work experience”? Done. Being able to bring new ideas and concepts to work after learning real world application in class? Done. It's important to consider that graduate school for public relations is for those who “know what they want to do” with their PR career. While it’s a heavy financial investment, those who have done it say that it pays off hugely in the long run. Now, I challenge you. Is grad school your next step? If so, good luck! By Melissa Hadley
0 Comments
Last week, on January 23rd, PRSSA along with HER CAMPUS hosted the CEO of the Brand Girls, Rachael Bozsik. The Brand Girls was started when Bozsik realized her friends were accepting jobs that did not reflect their passions. She was motivated to help them reach their dream careers and soon moved to mentoring which turned into private coaching and soon enough The Brand Girls was born. They now work with college women and guide them in building their professional confidence through a highly personalized workshop. The goal of this process is to also uncover the characteristics that will help you stand out among all other female applicants competing for the same jobs. Bozsik gave a breakdown of the process that begins with building your personal brand, moves into networking practice, and lastly meeting with media contacts. She advised the group to begin talking with family and friends about yourself and define what makes you truly special and unique in order to build your brand. She stated that expanding our network was also crucial if we wanted to put ourselves in a place of opportunity. Talking to more than just professionals about your career goals and dreams can bring forth more connections than one might think. Professional etiquette was another topic she covered. Bozsik advised that getting calling cards was important when networking so that people have your information and are able to reach out to you. Your name, phone number, email, LinkedIn and personal website are what Bozsik advised should be included on the cards. After meeting with a contact, a hand-written thank you note should be sent within 24 hours of the meeting in order to ensure a positive networking experience. Rachael Bozsik was able to provide the group with a lot of valuable information, but there were two things that really resonated with me. The first piece of advice was to never wait. Bozsik encouraged us to apply to jobs even if we do not meet all of the requirements. We should have confidence in the skills we do have and apply for the job instead of waiting until we are ready to apply and letting the opportunity pass us by. The second piece of advice was to take control of our futures and not get stuck doing passionless work. The Brand Girls have changed the way young women all over the country think about themselves simply by starting with focusing on their personal brand. The importance of confidence and knowing who you are and what sets you apart really shined through the presentation. I will definitely continue building my personal brand while keeping in mind Rachael Bozsik’s advice that “knowing your personal brand shifts you from being a desperate job-seeker to a chooser of opportunities”. By Marcela Luna Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Fairfax, VA Major(s)/Minor(s): Communication Studies Major/WRTC minor How has PRSSA impacted you: PRSSA has opened my eyes to new opportunities in Public Relations and has given me a place where I can learn from my peers as well as grow as I progress in my major. What was your favorite PRSSA event: My favorite PRSSA event was when the recruiter from Deloitte came to visit. I really enjoyed learning about a different career opportunity in Public Relations. What is your dream job: Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. What is a fun fact about you: I can speak Spanish and French. On November 7, PRSSA hosted its first Resume Speed Dating event of the semester, which provided students with the opportunity to have their resumes critiqued by professionals. There was a total of six professionals in attendance who volunteered their time to offer insight into several members' resumes. Each member was given three minutes per professional and rotated accordingly. These professionals included Mr. Marcus Anderson of Career and Academic Planning, Dr. Carlos Alemán, Ms. Christina Saindon, Ms. Sandy Myers, Mr. Ken Slack, and Mr. Zack Germroth. Not only were they able to tailor their advice to each member, but they also asked questions beyond our resumes to get us thinking about future employers and where we want to go from here.
As a junior, I have constantly sought out opportunities to improve my professional presence and my resume for future employers. Although, it seemed somewhat intimidating at first, this was one of the most helpful resume workshops I have attended. Each professional took their own approach and provided their own advice within the three-minute shifts that we were given. Despite the short time frame, each professional was able to tell me the most important adjustments to make on my resume in order to give me somewhere to start. Some of these adjustments included changing font size, adding an objective, and reorganizing the structure of my resume. Most of these changes I hadn’t previously considered, which is why it was great to have six different people offer their unbiased and trustworthy opinions. Overall, I found this workshop to be both efficient and sufficient in improving my resume and I know that many other members could definitely say the same. The advice provided was not only helpful, but also a great step in the right direction because regardless of our certainty in the perfection of our resumes, there are always ways to improve. By Noelle Rutolo Year: Senior
Hometown: Harrisonburg, VA Major(s)/Minor(s): B.S. in Communication Studies (public relations concentration) and Sports Communication Minor. How has PRSSA impacted you: PRSSA has opened my eyes to the diverse career opportunities within the Public Relations field, and has motivated me to pursue excellence both academically and vocationally. What was your favorite PRSSA event: Visiting PR firms in D.C. was an amazing experience, as it is inspiring to be surrounded by so many ambitious and talented peers. What is your dream job: My dream job is to manage PR campaigns for political candidates. What is a fun fact about you: I transferred to JMU after playing soccer at another university for two years.
The first stop on the JMU chapter of PRSSA’s trip to Washington, D.C. was Crosby~Volmer, which is a smaller sized Public Relations firm. They have a wide range of clients, but their D.C. office primarily works with the media. The President of the company, Rob Volmer, looked through our resumes and gave us some tips on how to make them stand out to hiring managers at a first glance. Lastly, they gave us some sample interview questions and students had to answer them. This was especially helpful and gave us a better idea of what kind of questions to expect in an interview. The next agency we visited was Edelman, one of the largest independent Public Relations firm that exists in the industry. We got to hear from a panel of employees that work in different departments there. We also got to meet Katie and Joe, the intern coordinators. They talked about the application and interview process and gave helpful tips. Lastly, they held a resume workshop where Edelman employees volunteered to review our resumes and gave us feedback on them. After visiting Edelman, we took a pit stop for lunch at a popular restaurant called Founding Farmers. This rustic-chic restaurant was the perfect place to grab some southern style comfort food. They had a wide variety of options, friendly staff and an inviting atmosphere. After refueling, our next stop was CRAFT. This agency was smaller than the others and has more of a political background. In recent years they have begun moving away from politics and have acquired other clients in other industries. The employees described their roles in the agency and emphasized the benefits of working for a small agency. Some of the advantages include having more opportunities, picking up more responsibilities and building skills that will allow you to move up the ladder faster. Last but not least, we visited Porter Novelli. This is another large Public Relations firm that has multiple locations and deals with a variety of clients. Their D.C. location primarily works with politics and healthcare. We got to meet some of the employees and they described the ideal candidate as well as gave us helpful interviewing tips. Lastly, they talked about the timeline for applying there and the interviewing process. After a long day of agency visits we ended our trip with a happy hour at Barcode, a popular spot in the city. Some of the agency employees as well as other JMU alumni joined us. This was a great opportunity to get to talk with them more one-on-one and hear about their jobs and experiences in D.C. All of the information from the agencies was very helpful, whether you are actively seeking a position or not. I would recommend it to younger students as well so you know the right steps to take in college to make yourself more appealing to potential employers. For those that are actively seeking an internship or full time position, it is a great way to make connections and get your name out there. By Bailey Garrison On March 25, the JMU PRSSA had the opportunity to travel to Richmond and visit The Hodges Partnership and the Padilla agencies. Both were exceptionally wonderful hosts, and for their hospitality, we are sincerely grateful! While we visited our State’s Capitol, we explored, toured, and learned a lot. Although it’d be impossible to summarize the full experience in a single blog entry, here is some of what we learned. The Hodges Partnership: At the Hodges partnership, we discussed the evolving PR profession. The PR world has gone from emphasizing traditional news outlets to more content creation and social media platforms. We were reminded however, that although new platforms are being integrated into the profession (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), familiarity with Instagram WONT replace the strong writing and researching skills we’re learning to use here at school. We were also given a few helpful “tips of the trade” to keep in mind for when we’ve left school and are entering the professional world ourselves: 1. Perfect your pitching skills (a good elevator pitch can’t be overemphasized). 2. Keep up to date on world events – read the news and know what’s going on. 3. If you want your emails read, come up with creative subject lines. 4. When you’re looking to land your first job, show curiosity and initiative about the PR profession. 5. Network, network, network. Padilla: Padilla was all about “connecting with a purpose.” It was a really cool agency in that everyone who worked for the company was also a shareholder in the company (employee owned). It was also interesting that they actually considered themselves an “integrated marketing company” since they do marketing as well as PR work for their clients. Much like the Hodges Partnership, Padilla stressed the importance of making connections and stressed the importance of helping other people when you can; after all there’s no shortage of companies that need good communication done, and if you can be the organization that those companies turn to, its all the better for you. Our Richmond agency visit was such a blast and we walked away from it not only with a lot of new valuable information but a lot of fond memories. If you couldn’t make this last agency visit, make sure you’re part of the next one! By John Long
It’s never too early to start prepping for an interview. On March 22, there was a workshop in Harrison Hall about negotiating your salary when getting a new job. I was on the fence about attending because, after all, I am only a sophomore and still have a few years until I start my career. I couldn’t be happier that I did though. The workshop opened up with the speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Pass, going over the fundamentals of an interview for any situation. Although most of the points she went over were pretty basic they were a good refresher. She also had some tidbits of information that were completely new to me, such as the fact that the employer will have had their mind made up about hiring you within the first 45 seconds of you walking through the door. This amazed me but made sense since they’ve already looked at your resume. Then she got to the stuff that I had never really given any thought before: salary and benefit negotiation. I’m still trying to figure out things to do to build my resume up, never mind think about what salary I should be earning after I graduate. But Dr. Pass had some helpful pointers for when the time comes to negotiate it. First of all, you have to know what you are worth. You need to know what all of your skills and experience are worth and what you need to be making for the cost of your living. This together should be your base salary, the one which you should not settle for any lower than. If they do not meet you on this then you should be willing to walk on the offer. The second most important thing is that you don’t look at this as a game to win. It needs to be recognized that the end of the negotiation may be the beginning of a new relationship, and you don’t want to start it on bad terms. It’s never too early to start thinking about future employment because the more prepared you are the better! By Kaysee Hill
Congratulations to you all! We can't wait to see where you take this chapter!
President: Sam D'Addario Vice President: Gina Jelliff Director of Professional Development: Peyton Johnson Director of Media Relations: Leila Ostria Director of Internal Communications: Kayla McMahon Director of Finance: Julia Smith Chapter Delegate: John Long |
ContributorsAll content on this blog is created by current JMU PRSSA members. Archives
November 2017
Categories |