Things To Double-Check Before an Interview
Posted by: Incrys on: May 5, 2009
These are lessons that I may or may not have learned first-hand. Only marginally unrelated, I am happy to say that I at least have an internship this summer, despite possibly having made the mistakes listed below.
1. Be sure that you know the name of the company with which you are interviewing.
2. Double-check the address of the company with which you are interviewing. This is particularly important if you need to ask for directions for a firm with a name like 451 Marketing and people automatically try to recall a street address with the same name.
3. Is the interview at 8.00 A.M. or 9.00 A.M.? Particularly for those earlier interviews that take away precious hours of sleep. Yes, completely missing an interview is a nightmare, but you know what I think ranks as a close second? Realising that I woke up an hour earlier than was necessary.
4. When you walk into the office and someone asks you who you’re there to see, for the love of God, don’t tell them about the interviewer from another company!
People Are Listening
Posted by: Incrys on: April 21, 2009
Yesterday, I was disappointed about the rejection from that nifty Boston PR firm, so, naturally, I tweeted about it. Not an hour later, I received a reply from @jonmahoney12: “@bmfalc keep your head up…what type of job you looking for I might be able to help”
Really!? Yes, I had been following this person and vice versa, but admittedly, he wasn’t in my “people I actually know” column on TweetDeck. Yet, my tweet (which was really just an uninformative whimper) had been heard, or seen I guess, and more encouragingly, answered. I’ll spare you the details of the 140-character-or-fewer exchanges, but the result was that he provided me with two leads for internships this summer. Whether or not they materialise into anything that results in my slightly-longer-than-short-term happiness is another story, but the point is that while some people may consider this new media thing to be just a phase and a waste of time, I have proof that some other people actually use it and acknowledge it, and as a result, stuff gets done.
In addition to business leads, Twitter has served some other substantial purposes, some of which I will be borrowing from Mashable’s 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates:
The Marriage Proposal. For those of us who have been dreaming of the day when our loved ones propose to us in the presence of all of our friends and family, it just got so much easier! To my future fiancé: don’t even think about it. However, it is a cute idea – and it saves everyone the hassle of a long-winded proposal!
Tweeting from the Womb. Another sort of cute idea, but sort of more creepy. As article author Ben Parr wrote, “when is it too early to let your kids tweet?” At that rate, no sooner will little Johnny utter his first word than he will demand a Blackberry. In addition, there are some things about my friends that I could do without hearing. Like bathroom habits (see above).
The tweet from Mars. I guess it depends on people who care enough about it.
Status updates for a worthy cause. I’m all for this one since I did it not too long ago. Not only can tweeters increase awareness of a cause and promote events speaking to those causes, but they can also inform the Twitterverse of the progress of said events.
The Egyptian arrest case. I think this one’s fantastic. Parr summed this one up nicely, so I’m just going to quote him:
“On April 10th, 2008, James Karl Buck and his translator were arrested by the Egyptian police while covering an anti-government protest. James, a grad student from Berkeley, was able to tweet one word while being taken away by Egyptian authorities: Arrested. This one update sparked his friends and followers into action, eventually leading to his university hiring a lawyer on his behalf and his release a day later.
This is proof that one update, even if it’s a single word, can mobilize people to action and change the course of events.”
Breaking the news first. The examples used for this one were a plane crash, an earthquake, and terrorism. Perhaps even more relevant to the PR kids, how about the spread of crisis or perhaps even the prevention of said spread? How quickly did we all hear about the Domino’s drama, and how quickly did Domino’s respond (pretty quickly, but some argue otherwise)?
The job offer. To my future employer, you are welcome to do this.
Preventing tragedy. Earlier this month, a woman tweeted to Demi Moore threatening suicide. Moore immediately retweeted, sparking a mass mobilisation among her followers who managed to pinpoint the woman’s location and to alert authorities in time. So now, not only is Twitter fun, but it can also save lives.
The John McCain interview. Like the marriage proposal, interviews via Twitter insure that nothing gets too drawn out. In fact, it’s probably the best opportunity for someone to create an excellent one-liner.
And finally . . .
The first update. We all love that seemingly pointless first tweet that almost always tries to downplay finally having joined Twitter: “my friends dragged me on here finally,” “thought I’d give this a shot,” “trying to figure this bloody thing out,” etcetera. As useless as it is, we all have to start somewhere, right?
xkcd: New Car
Posted by: Incrys on: April 19, 2009
xkcd describes itself as “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language,” so of course it’s right up my alley. I pulled this comic from Friday, April 17, 2009:
We’ve beaten the dead horse with the outbound marketing stick to an unrecognisable pulp, and we’ve reached a point where if we even smell a hint of blatant advertising, we run for the hills. Or, more literally, we fast-forward through the commercials because we’re watching the TiVo’d recording.
Today, everyone’s wary of whatever it is those folks behind the curtain are selling, regardless of whether or not the product is actually of any use or not. After gigabytes upon gigabytes of spam, the hundredth infomercial for the phone-dating service promising that there are countless attractive young people in the area waiting for our phone call, and the subway stations wallpapered with adverts claiming that certain wristwatches are sexy, we start to turn a blind eye to anything that “looks” like an advertisement. Rather than listening to the overly analytical reviews of paid critics, we prefer to heed the opinions of “people like us” who will be blunt and relevant about their experiences.
While we’ve successfully managed to block out most of the rubbish flooding the media world, xkcd poignantly muses that perhaps not all outbound marketing is spam, but how do we recognise when something may in fact merit some sifting? It would seem that we, the audience members, need to be convinced that picking through adverts and determining which ones are worth our attention, or the marketers need to find a new method of communicating with us. Considering that we equate the speed of life with the speed of Twitter, I’m going to go ahead and vote for the latter.
“The Idiot’s Guide to Landing a Job”
Posted by: Incrys on: April 16, 2009
Today, BU’s College of Communication Alumni Board hosted a seminar on finding a job after graduation: “Don’t Be That Guy (Or Girl!): The Idiot’s Guide to Landing a Job.” Still being unemployed after a couple interviews and therefore being an idiot by COM’s standards, I decided to retrieve what gems I could from the blissfully employed alums. Laura Benjamin of Pinehurst Press, Ltd. shares a few seemingly obvious “DON’T”s for the process, but I picked up a couple more subtle hints at the panel.
Follow up, but as with new media, be sure to have content. No one wants to deal with the “Are we there yet?” question of the hiring process. Keep in touch with your contacts, but treat each follow-up E-mail as an opportunity to update your recruiter(s) with relevant information about what you’ve been doing since the interview (or perhaps about something you already did that you forgot to mention in the interview).
The job hunt doesn’t offer the luxury of cookie-cutter precision. Unfortunately, the same cover letter, résumé, or even business suit (especially for us stylin’ ladies who like to spice up the classic with the dash of trendy) will not be perfect for every job inquiry. Some offices will be more traditional and rigid; others may encourage trash bin basketball tournaments. Do as much research as you can to figure out what type of environment you’re hoping to inhabit (however, when in doubt, dress up instead of down).
Take notes during the interview. It keeps you from fidgeting, and shows that you’re really, really, really, REALLY interested in what your interviewer’s saying. It also ensures that you don’t miss anything. Like buzz words or common interests.
Each alum on the panel was so eager to answer everyone’s questions, and the seminar actually ran 15 minutes over the allotted timeframe – another job well done by COM. There’s more, but it’s late, and I have a new media quiz in a few hours. I’ll add more tomorrow.
Scarlet Success Dinner at BU
Posted by: Incrys on: April 9, 2009
A couple nights ago, I learned how to conduct myself over dinner while in the company of professionals. Prior to this event, I thought that my parents had done a pretty decent job of raising me with a substantial etiquette foundation – I’ve been receiving compliments for years. Granted, I’m no Emily Post, but I know to break my bread before I eat it and how to properly handle a fork and knife.
It would not be long before I discovered that I was an uncouth savage. Did you know that there’s a proper way to fold your napkin in your lap and to wipe your chin? Or how about dealing with food that falls off your plate? Or where you place your purse and umbrella? Goodness.
I attended the event with a fellow Corporate Barbie whom I know from my ballroom days. We paid our $10.00 admission fee, picked up our business cards and looked for a table. Just before sitting down, our event’s hostess found us and introduced herself: not only was she going to teach me how to behave myself at the dinner table, but she was also a PR professor in COM . . . whom someone had suggested that I contact about leads. I jumped into Networking Mode as I introduced myself as a graduating COM senior – and oh, by the way I was speaking with so-and-so and he suggested that I contact you about sports marketing.
Our hostess’s face lit up: “Oh, I LOVE [so-and-so]! How is he doing? What did he have to say? And you’re graduating from COM? This spring? How come I haven’t had you [in any of my classes]?”
I mentioned the classes I’d taken and the professors with whom I’d taken them, and eventually she asked what my current job situation was and where I’d interned previously. She interrupted me once I listed my two internships with medical centers.
“Wait, why aren’t you interviewing in healthcare now? Didn’t you like it?”
“No! I did! In fact, I loved it! But when I E-mailed my old boss about a job, she told me there was a hiring freeze -”
“I have better leads for you. Stop by my office hours.”
And just like that, my $10.00 paid for itself. I hadn’t even sat down yet. Once our hostess (and my new contact) left us to complete making her rounds, my companion turned to me: “You may as well just leave now. You’re not going to get anything like that out of this.” She may have been right, but I reminded her that I hadn’t eaten, and I was expecting a good meal.
As it turned out, even if I hadn’t had my brief conversation with the hostess, the evening was well worth the investment. I learned that it’s okay to cut my lettuce, how to signify that I am finished with my meal, how to address a newly acquired business card, and so much more. I have to hand it to BU: the powers that be are definitely doing everything they can to make sure that we have that leg up in the world’s worst scavenger hunt.
The Cover Letter
Posted by: Incrys on: April 7, 2009
Luckily, I haven’t found myself having to provide any cover letters since I seriously started job-hunting a little while ago, because while I like to think that I can write your typical cover letter, the below address is what I really feel like I may as well be saying:
Dear Sir/ Madam/ Whom It May Concern/ Self-Glorified Recruiter/ Tool/ Earthling:
I am writing in regards to a full-time position with your fine organisation. I learned about the recent hole in your staff though some source you probably wouldn’t recognise if it slapped you across the face, but I’ll drop its name like it means something to you, anyway. As a soon-to-be homeless graduate with an expensive degree from a prestigious university, I am desperate for some form of employment that my mother won’t feel she’ll have to lie about when she sends out the next family Christmas letter.
Over the past four years, I’ve done various things that will supposedly make me a viable candidate for your company. I’ve had internships, part-time jobs and club memberships, and I can probably procure generic, positive letters of recommendation from any of those pools. I’ve also done a lot of useless things, but something tells me that hearing about that stuff won’t make you want to hire me. Instead of regurgitating any such items of disinterest, I’ll instead provide you with some of my defining characteristics, which I feel are far more relevant to your decision-making process:
I’ve never killed a person. Bugs, plants and hamsters are another story.
I can polish off an entire pizza on a good day (or maybe it’s a bad day).
I have access to free whole bean coffee and am usually willing to share.
I enjoy waltzing, puppies, espresso martinis, moonlit walks along the beach, and making shamelessly snarky remarks.
Occasionally I fake tan for ballroom competitions. This guarantees at least one week of entertainment for everyone else in the office every other month.
I’m cute and cuddly once I’ve had my twelfth cup of coffee.
I fully understand that I will be the newest company gopher, and that I will be subjected to a barely sustainable salary, undesirable tasks that are fit only for an intern, and merciless hours. In starting at ground zero, there is seemingly infinite room for advancement within the company. Who knows? Perhaps one day I’ll get promoted to Real Human with Recognisable Job Title. Thank you for not tossing this letter onto the recycling pile upon seeing it on your desk, and I look forward to your rejection.
So many people in public relations have told me that the cover letter should convey your personality rather than convert your résumé into paragraph form. I brought my standard cover letter to BU’s COM Director of Career Services for review, and after taking a moment to read it, she looked at me and told me that she would not even attempt to edit my letter until it gave her at least an idea of what my personality was like. As far as the conventional cover letter went, she assured me that my letter was perfect, so if I decide to look for a career in engineering, I have my format (Fun story: my brother actually is an engineering major, and he used my cover letter as a template for his own when applying for internships. He already has two offers before having had any interviews.).
After my meeting with the director of Career Services, when I happened upon the business card of a local PR firm’s president, I decided that it was as good an opportunity as any to try my hand at writing the cover letter that stands apart from the rest of the stack. At the suggestion of my advisor, I contacted this person via the most informal means to which I had access: Facebook. Rather than saying “I found your business card, please hire me,” I instead sent him a mildly witty message – I think, at least – recapping the circumstances under which I became aware of his existence and decided to contact him. Below is the letter. I’ve edited out his name and company (and the play on words relating to his company).
Subject: The Fate Of Your Business Card
Mr. [President],
I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that I think you lost a client around Copley yesterday afternoon. The good news is that your business card has not gone to utter waste.
While waiting for the B Line at Copley Station, my eyes drifted to the floor – as they’re wont to do when attempting to avoid making eye contact with questionable-looking characters in T stations – and eventually settled on a small, white business card.
At this point I’d like to make it clear that I don’t usually go about picking foreign pieces of paper off the floor. However, this unassuming piece of litter caught my eye: upside down in one corner, I made out the name “[Company].”
“Hmm,” I thought, “I think there’s a PR firm somewhere around here called [Company]. I wonder if that’s the same one.”
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that I had suspected correctly: sure enough, I picked out “Communications” in tiny font underneath “[Company].”
“What luck!” I mused, “I’m a student of communication at Boston University, and I’m graduating in May! Surely this calling card is a sign.”
I was even more delighted to discover that the business card was not for just some company peon, but for the President himself (you, if my research has lead me to the correct Facebook profile)! Oh rapture! Who better than to learn about this fine establishment than from the [Big Cheese of Company]?
Mr. [President], I have taken the liberty of stalking you briefly via Facebook and Twitter, and you strike me as a pretty darn respectable guy (and let’s face it: coming from BU and having an interest in dancing it up, it’s hard not to be). I can’t imagine that you’d be heading up a company that does not meet your personal standard, and I’d love to learn more about it. I’ve taken a look at [the company website], and I have an idea of the “what.” Still, what interests me is the “how.”
If you’re still reading this novella, it means one of two things: 1) you’re having an incredibly slow evening (or day, depending on when you read this), or 2) you find it interesting, either due to how engaging it is, or due to how hilariously pathetic it is. If it’s the latter, then you can at least thank me for providing your new media class with an example of the “DON’TS” of social media. If it’s the former, well, then you can agree with me that your business card has not gone to total waste. I’d love to chat with you at some point to learn what goes into making [your company so gosh-darned cool].
Feel free to message me back via Facebook, or to contact me through E-mail or my mobile. I’m also on Twitter (@bmfalc), but I will confess that I’d be disappointed if your response consisted of a mere 140 characters.
Have a wonderful weekend, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Brittany
[my full name and contact information]
If that doesn’t convey my personality in a semi-business-casual, I don’t know what will. I had nothing to lose, and I had a serious piece of real estate in my wallet. I’m still waiting to hear from the president. If I don’t get a response by the end of the day, I’ll probably send a quick Tweet. Worst case scenario, I get a brush-off, but if things work out, I could be the next case-study of COM. I’ll keep you posted.
That said, what unconventional acts and situations have landed YOU a job? Post your comments and experiences here.
Welcome To the World’s Worst Scavenger Hunt
Posted by: Incrys on: April 7, 2009
That’s what the job hunt is. It isn’t as simple as typing up your résumé and a Mad Libs cover letter filled in with your name and experience, getting a phone call for an interview, reciting your five strengths and weaknesses and why you’re perfect for the position, and then receiving a phone call less than a week later to start negotiating your salary. I wish it was that easy.
Actually, no, I don’t. That would be so incredibly boring, and I doubt I could tolerate such an easy professional life for even a week. As countless advisers, professors and professionals have said, it isn’t what you know: it’s who you know. Especially in my field, public relations, which is so, well, relationship-focused, the face time you get with contacts is worth infinitely more than a generic, faceless cover letter. Of the dozens upon dozens of contacts I’ve made, maybe a handful have pointed me in the directions of still more contacts . . . some of whom may point me to even more contacts . . . and so on, and so forth. Eventually, ONE of these people that I meet is going to know someone who’s looking for a sassy, new-media-savvy PR professional with a penchant for coffee, swimming and ballroom dancing. Okay, perhaps not the latter three items, but I like to dream.
That said, I can’t claim to be a guide in this hunt. I can’t even be too sure of what the clues are, or if I’m getting hotter or colder, but I can say with honesty that I’m after that final prize as much as the next Corporate Barbie, and I’m going to share my experiences from my personal hunt for that practically fabled salaried position. Read, learn, enjoy, and share.
