Career Advice

Life After College: How To Find Your Balance

kcook Leave a comment

By the time you graduate college, you’ve finally figured out how to manage your homework, extracurricular activities, part-time job, internship and social life – and squeeze in those precious hours of sleep! But now you have graduated and landed a post-grad internship or full-time job.  So now what?

It’s like the first day of school all over again. You walk in on your first day of work, not knowing a soul besides the person who interviewed you. Therefore, you tend to be quiet the first day as you soak in every valuable piece of information while trying to prove that you are the right person for the job. By the end of the day, your work still isn’t over. There are plenty more responsibilities that come with post-college life including paying for rent, bills and groceries. And on top of that, you must consider paying for your phone bill, car insurance and maintaining a social life. The list goes on and on.

To achieve a sense of balance in this critical launch-pad phase of your career, take into consideration some of the suggestions and advice that I’ve found helpful in my own post-graduate adjustment:

1.       Be realistic about your income.

Balancing your checkbook is a major responsibility of balancing your life after college. Money will not necessarily make you happy; however, I know we all want to avoid being in debt, so be smart with your first big-kid paycheck.

One of the first pieces of advice I received as a new college grad was from my father, who is a financially savvy banker. He suggested that I make a spreadsheet consisting of all my monthly expenses, and I encourage you to do the same. This practice will help you track how much money you are earning, especially after taxes, and where all of your money is going. Therefore, you can see where you may need to cut back on spending in order to save a few more dollars.

Also, if you know you will be working with your company for more than a year, consider living close to work in order to save on gas. Most apartment complexes have one-year leases, and if you do your research, you can find some manageable deals out there. If it’s possible, consider living with your parents or a roommate while you get your feet wet, but remember not to get too comfortable.

2.       Find other like-minded professionals with whom to connect.

As a new graduate, it can be hard to adjust to being away from the group of friends that was constantly at your side back in college. One way to make new friends and critical networking contacts is to join organizations that connect you with young professionals like yourself.

If you’re a member of PRSA, you’re already ahead of the game. PRSA New Professionals Section is a great way to meet peers and share ideas, experiences and similar life/work situations across the country.

Another opportunity to seize is your local alumni association. Your membership will most likely cost a small fee, so remember to include that fee in your budget and maybe eat out less that week in order to balance the cost.

3.       Get active and involved in your community.

Aside from professional organizations, start connecting with the community in which you live, whether it’s brand new or one where you’ve lived for a while. The chamber of commerce is generally a great place to start. The chamber often has a directory that is open to the public, and the staff can usually point you in the right direction based on your interests.

Get outdoors, get active and exercise! Is there a local gym with great rates you can join? Is there a park through which you can walk or run each morning before starting your workday? Working out in the morning can take some discipline at first, but it will increase your productivity throughout the day (and make you feel less guilty for enjoying your latte from Starbucks!).

4.       Don’t set yourself up for burnout.

You’re ready to prove yourself to the world, but don’t try to accomplish everything at once or you may end up overwhelming yourself. Take on one or two tasks at a time and learn how much you’re comfortable with managing. No one expects you to be running the office immediately. Failures and successes are all a part of the learning process that makes you a better human and a better professional.

5.       Make time for yourself.

Enjoy a drink at happy hour. We all deserve an opportunity to kick back after a long week at work. Plus, it never hurts to get to know your coworkers outside of the office. Above all, take time for yourself. It can be easy to get caught going 100 miles per hour five days a week, especially when public relations isn’t the traditional nine-to-five job. What hobbies and interests gave you joy in school? Find ways to work those hobbies into your weekly schedule. This time doesn’t detract from your professional commitments; rather, it can give you the energy and passion to continue excelling at your work.

Good luck!

 

Whitney Strittmatter is an office coordinator at the Jason Ridley Agency, Nationwide Insurance. As an office coordinator, she is responsible for organizing and attending local events, engaging the media across multiple social media platforms, developing content and managing the agency’s day-to-day operations. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma in  2013 with a degree in public relations. Strittmatter is a proud member of the PRSA Dallas Chapter and can be contacted at whitstritt@gmail.com or found on LinkedIn and Twitter.

November Twitter Chat Highlights: How to Succeed as a New Pro

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Thanks to everyone who participated in the November #NPPRSA Twitter chat to kick off PRSA New Professionals Week, discussing how to succeed in marketing and public relations as a new professional. We encourage everyone to get involved with PRSA New Professionals Week, November 11-15, and discover helpful resources, such as the free webinar, “What Your Boss Wants from You but Won’t Tell You” on November 11 at 3 p.m. ET.

 

Join us again on Twitter in December for the final #NPPRSA Twitter chat of 2013.

Review highlights of the chat below. What did you learn from the November chat? How can you show initiative as a new professional? What are some good ways to use resources wisely and find new ones? How can you stay involved within your community?

 

Lauren RosenbaumLauren Rosenbaum is the co-founder of Soversity, a public relations and digital marketing company. You can connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Coming Soon: New Professionals Week 2013

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

New Professionals WeekI love planning events for the New Professionals Section, especially when they involve a national week-long event celebrating young professionals! You can never have enough young professionals in your Chapter; after all, they are the future.

This year, during November 11-15, we will host our third annual New Professionals Week. This week was designed to celebrate young professionals, but also to help connect young PR pros with their local PRSA chapter.

Who’s invited? Everyone. We’re encouraging anyone who’s interested in this week to get involved! PRSA New Pros National Executive Committee will support your local event via guest blog posts and social media channels.

How can you get involved? To help plan events in your local Chapter, visit our website and download a fact sheet and an event registration form. This website will be the hub for all events held during New Pros Week. Once registration forms are submitted, you’ll be able to see a list of events on our website, promoting local events. If you are interested in contributing to our blog to promote your Chapter NPWeek event, contact blog co-chairs, Heather Sliwinski and Keri Cook.

We understand that not every Chapter may have a budget to host an event this year. For those of you who have tight budgets, here are a few budget friendly ways to participate:

  1. Host a private showing of a New Pros webinar. During New Pros Week, we feature a national webinar on a topic of interest for new pros. We anticipate the webinar will be held in the afternoon on Monday, Nov. 11. To host a private showing – invite local new pros to an office, bring a bag lunch and have a discussion after the presentation. The playback will also be available through PRSA’s on-demand service, and our guest speaker can be reached throughout the week for questions via Twitter.
  2. Host a New Pros-focused Chapter meeting. What topics are particularly interesting to young professionals? What issues are they concerned with during their first few years as a PR professional? Schedule a Chapter meeting during this week and cover one of these topic(s) and/or issue(s).
  3. Participate in New Pros week via our social networks and blog. Follow our hashtag #NPWeek to join the coast-to-coast virtual networking. You could even schedule a Twitter chat or tweet-up for new pros in your area to meet via social, and then take it off-line! We’re always looking for a fresh, new perspective on any aspect of PR for our blog: consider drafting a post about your Chapter’s local new pros group or your personal experience as a new pro.

It’s going to be great week of celebrating young professionals. If you have any questions about getting involved, please email me. 

Elizabeth GreenawayElizabeth Greenaway
PRSA New Professionals Chair

Eight Questions to Ask Before Accepting an Internship

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Once again internships are prominent in the news. Just last week, we learned from an article in the Atlantic that barely one-third of the U.S. Senate pay their interns. The White House also was recently chided about not paying interns.  Even the foundation of the COO of Facebook has finally and reluctantly relented and has announced that the foundation will begin paying interns.

I have written before about the internship on behalf of the Public Relations Society of America and have not changed my opinion one iota. Internships are legitimate work and should be compensated. PRSA is so adamant about the issue that it published an advisory nearly three years ago for its 30,000 members about internships. As noted in a past post  on internships, PRSA believes it is ethically improper to employ anyone who adds real value to a public relations agency or department without compensating them for their work – whether that compensation is monetary or in the form of educational credits. If billable work is being performed by an intern, he or she deserves some form of legal compensation.

There was a time many years ago when internships were employed by organizations to give back to society by offering summer employment to students in disciplines related to their academic studies. Later, the internship evolved to a way for organizations to solve interim staffing issues. On the candidate side, the internship was a way to get practical, real-world experience in the field that would supplement academic training. Somewhere along the way, internships started to be viewed as a volunteer function and organizations treated them as such.

Let’s be clear though what constitutes volunteerism. Helping a charitable organization tend to the needs of the underserved is volunteerism. Assisting an organization to sell books or some other product or service is not.

As young professionals, your goal is to secure a full-time professional position in public relations. Here are several metrics for evaluating the efficacy of internships after you have graduated.

  1. Is the internship a paid position? And is it well above minimum wage? This is a critical question for which the answer is simple. If it is not paid, steer clear.
  2. Is the compensation reasonable for the role? You should expect no less than $25 per hour, particularly if the job involves content creation, including writing releases, case studies, blogs, speeches, tweets, Facebook posts and yes, even questions for Quora or content for Pinterest.
  3. Is the internship/job a 40-hours-a-week gig and/or are you expected to put in inordinate time that is not compensated? Most jobs are reasonably 40 hours a week or at max 50 hours. Investigate if there is the opportunity for paid overtime or compensatory time.
  4. What is the probability that the internship will lead to a full-time position? Assuming you excel in the job, will the employer agree to put it in writing ahead of time? As Ronald Reagan once said, “trust but verify.” If a permanent position is not in the cards, make certain other conditions are sufficiently compelling to make the internship worth your time and labor.
  5. Is the organization a leader in its category, whether a non-profit, corporation, institution or agency? Your credibility, integrity and personal brand are all built on your associations. Make certain that the organization is a thought leader or at least “reputation safe.”
  6. Will the internship help to appreciably increase your skills, broaden your understanding of the field and augment your network and sphere of influence? These are all vital characteristics that should be inherent in your investment in the internship. If they don’t contribute, think hard and long before you accept.
  7. Can you use the content you create as part of your portfolio? Will you be able to take credit publicly for your intellectual labor and resulting product? It is wise to have some evidence that you can use to validate your accomplishments.
  8. Will your employer give you time for other pursuits, including volunteer work, professional affiliations and networking? Don’t be chained to your desk. Make sure there is adequate freedom to network, volunteer and attend to other professional endeavors.

If you decide to go the internship route while you job hunt, exercise caution in doing internships that do not help fulfill your career goals and strategy. What other red flags have you seen associated with internships? Have your internship experiences proved valuable in your professional growth?

 

Gerard CorbettGerard F. Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA, is 2013 immediate past chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America; chair and CEO of Redphlag LLC, a Silicon Valley Strategic Communications Firm; and the PR Job Coach.  He can be reached at gerard.corbett@redphlag.com. 

This Labor Day, Escape the Cubicle to Learn

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

One of the things you hear the most from employers and employees is the need for experience. When you get your first job, you have experience from your internships and college public relations/marketing classes. As you add years onto your career, you gain the experience from working with clients, writing media advisories and releases and researching potential clients.

But, the office isn’t the only place you gain experience. As a matter of fact, it’s absolutely paramount to get out of the office to really broaden your horizons. Your experience grows when your mind can take in knowledge outside of the “four walls.”

The office is for work, a large percentage of the time. While I learned many things in the office, I grew as a professional outside of it. As a solo public relations pro, my knowledge has grown exponentially not being in an office setting.

Here are some things you can do to expand your professional experience.

  • Twitter chats: Twitter chats may seem very obvious these days. You can learn a ton from Twitter chats and network at the same time. Many of the chats have seasoned pros run and/or take part. Chats I recommend are #brandchat #solopr #NPRSSA (obviously) and #PRStudChat. You will always learn something important from these chats. Make it a point to try and participate when you can. #BrandChat and #solopr take place weekly; #NPRSSA and #PRStudChat are monthly.
  • Conferences: The great thing about conferences is that most companies will pay for you to go because it is part of your professional development. Never miss out on an opportunity to go to one, no matter the size. Whether it is a local PRSA conference or something like Social Fresh, you will grow as a pro by listening to what these experts have to say. Again, it’s the perfect place to network.
  • Podcasts: I love podcasts. Even though I don’t ride the train any longer, I still make the time to download and listen. My business is better for it and my experience is as well. “The Human Business Way” by Chris Brogan is outstanding, as is “The Social Media Marketing Podcast” with Michael Stelzner. You can listen to them on the treadmill, in the car or on a beach (learning and relaxing!).
  • Webinars: Some of these are free; some require you to pay. The good thing about webinars is you can see if the topic may appeal to you before signing up. Look at what PRSA has to offer or check Twitter and Facebook to see what companies like Vocus, Marketwire and Ragan may be offering monthly or weekly.
  • Blogs: While last on this list, it is certainly not least. Blogs are an important tool for information and learning. It’s a good bet that a PR/social media/marketing pro has a blog. Good folks to check out are Deirdre Breakenridge, PR Breakfast Club, Shonali Burke, and SpinSucks. You’ll get a mix of traditional knowledge as well as build up your new tool arsenal.

Gaining knowledge is up to you. Don’t rest on what is in front of you; look beyond the now, and see the future. YOUR future.

 

Jason MollicaJason Mollica (@JasMollica) is the president of JRMComm, a public relations and social media marketing consultancy. He combines knowledge of the broadcast news industry, traditional public relations expertise and today’s new and innovative social media tools. Mollica operates his own blog and has guest blogged on several others, including the respected Ad Age-ranked PR Breakfast Club, Ragan.com and PRSSA’s Progressions.