Thanks to guest blogger Carrie Drummond, a senior public relations major at Kent State University, for sharing her experiences in this post. This is her second semester at Flash Communications. Carrie has interned in healthcare and the National Hockey League. She is in hot pursuit of a job in Pittsburgh or Raleigh after graduation in May and can be found on LinkedIn.
Each year the Greater Cleveland PRSA Chapter sponsors a day for students to learn more about the real world of public relations. Student Day 2010 was based around the tagline, “From College to Career.” For full transparency, you should know that I helped create that tagline. I was a member of the student committee that helped promote the big day. I got involved because I’m just about to make that leap myself, and I love hearing advice from PR pros.
What I didn’t realize was how much fun I would have in the process! I networked with other students and professionals and learned valuable career tips all at once.
The Top 5 Lessons Learned from Cleveland PRSA Student Day 2010:
- Schedule informational interviews. When you go, make sure you ask what you can do for that professional or firm in return. Give back.
- Think of your dream job. Look up the job description. Even if you won’t get there until you have years of experience, look at what you need to be working on in the meantime.
- Set up a Google Alert for your name. Keep an eye on how you appear to others online.
- If you’re not improving, you’re getting worse. Think of ways to make yourself better. Whether it’s attending a PR conference or writing a guest blog post, make sure you’re always working toward a goal.
- Follow @kyleplacy on Twitter.
For more information about the Greater Cleveland PRSA Chapter, check out http://www.prsacleveland.org.
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