Goal setting: founding and following my PR path

Looking back on four years of college, I now understand the power of setting goals. Yes, goal setting is empowering. When I was young, I kept things pretty simple in the goal-setting category. After being accepted to the University Honors program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, I immediately set my sights up graduating with a GPA of 3.5 or above. This number is the cutoff criteria for graduation from the program, so it seemed like a great baseline.

I wrote this goal down and began my mission. Each and every academic step I took and decision I made reflected this goal. Some classes I knew my highest potential was a B, others I knew I was slacking if I didn’t get an A; but each end-of-semester grade report exposed my measuring stick and told me how I was doing.

My next big goal became clearer as I progressed on the path of becoming a young PR professional and demanded more out of myself. After being cemented at three different PR internships, I set my sights on the best. My goal was to land a PR internship at a world-leading, prestigious and global public relations agency. Heck, look back at one of my first posts at on the PR path.

Landing an internship at Burson-Marsteller, a top ten PR agency worldwide, was my ultimate goal. I got to the final stages of the long interview process in 2009, only to be rejected due budget shortfalls. I could have pouted or been mad, but I used the rejection as a motivator to continue working toward my goal.

Landing an internship with Burson became my mission, my goal and my passion. I set up Google alerts to follow the company every day, and constantly brainstormed ideas for how my application might stand out from the 800 other young PR professionals who applied.

A year later in 2010, I applied and was accepted into the program. I start June 7 in Chicago’s public affairs practice. What an amazing feeling to follow a goal, dedicate yourself to making it happen and realizing that goal. Fulfilling goals is a feeling unlike any other and just when you think a goal might be out of your reach, it may just be closer than ever. Set goals, work hard and never doubt your determination. By the way, I did graduate with above a 3.5 GPA, checking off another goal on my professional pursuits.

What goal-setting success stories have you had on your path to becoming a young PR professional? Please share!

Is Twitter time useful time?

My journey on Twitter began about three or four months ago when I signed up for an account and tried to figure out how to use the site. After poking around for the first week, I became bored.

LinkedIn and Facebook had so many more useful features that held my interest. But after noticing that everyone at my internship was using Twitter and seeming to enjoy it, I decided to give it a second try.

Now I have jazzed up my profile page by adding a custom background and a main picture, but I am still looking for ways to use Twitter to my benefit. I am aiming to update my twitter at least once per day for now and see where it goes from there.

I have heard some talk about different topics related to Twitter like TweetDeck, searching Twitter using (#search terms) and sending @replies – but I am pretty unfamiliar with these topics. What is the purpose of the aforementioned tools on Twitter?

Conversation:
What do you use Twitter for? How can it help an individual grow professionally and network? What are some ways to spice up a Twitter profile?

Oh, oh it's magic - in the workplace

One of my first blog entries spoke about Burson-Marsteller being my dream internship, which is still true. I just thought it is necessary to document my appreciation for my current internship at the UW Oshkosh Integrated Marketing and Communications office.

As a student communications specialist, my main duties center around writing. I mainly write for the University news portal, UW Oshkosh Today but have also been able to write news releases, media alerts, along with marketing writing for the Admissions viewbook, and the alumni magazine, Engage. I have even got to do some photography, special event coverage, and magic tricks. Yes, magic tricks.

Growing up, magic was a serious hobby of mine. My father did some casual magic and still had some juice left in his trickery tank when I was old enough take interest. He passed on a few tricks and my obsession blossomed from there. My magical prime was in fifth or sixth grade where I spent every penny of every allowance I received on magic. From corny videos, to magic kits, to magic books - I had them all. Two suitcases full. While the obsession lost steam whne I hit middle/high school, my passion for magic has never diminished.

I don't remember how it came up in conversation, but somehow the subject of magic came up one day at my internship. I explained that I knew a good number of magic tricks, mainly card tricks; and the next thing I knew I was bringing a deck of cards to my internship every Friday. Our last day of the work week is enthusiastically referred to by the office as "Magic Friday". Everyone gathers around the middle of our office and I show one or two magic tricks with cards, numbers, and sometimes nickels and dimes. It's a great way to end the workweek and a great prelude to the weekend.

Magic Friday's represent more than an end of the week entertainment break or something to look forward to. Magic Friday's have rekindled my passion for magic and reassured me that the path I'm pursuing is right for me. It's not a coincidence that I found an internship that allows me to do magic tricks; it is a sign that I'm going in the right direction and evidence of how fotunate I have been.

Magic Friday's bring the office together, allowing me to connect with co-workers I might not have otherwise connected with through the 20 hours a week I'm in the office.

Beyond my passion for magic, the scope of work I've been given requires people to have trust in me. I feel like every assignment I get is meaningful and treat them accordingly. Thank you everyone at Integrated Marketing and Communications, especially Jaime Hunt, David Williams and Jeanette De Diemar, for trusting that I can get the job done and get it done well. Trust is the best compliment you can get as an intern, even more satisfying than stunning the Chancellor by magically changing nickels into dimes.

Be a proactive internship chaser

Having applied to over 30 internships since I was a senior in high school, I can tell you being proactive in trying to land your first internship - or any internship - will increase your chances of landing the position.

From what I've seen, students spend lots of time sending their applications out to different internships. And once they send the application, they too often just sit back and wait for a response email or phone call. The typical internship won't call or email back right away or even confirm they received your materials - which is why I suggest being proactive.

Typically, it's best to wait between 1-3 weeks to follow up. After the waiting game, find the human resources contact and CALL (unless they specifically say no phone calls). Don't leave a message initially, but make sure to log who you contacted and when.

A spreadsheet or hand-written log of internships you have applied for is very useful to stay organized. A typical log should contain: name of internship applied to, contact person, contact information, date you sent your application, date you initially followed up, date you left a message and any other information pertaining to each specific internship you applied for.

After 2-3 unsuccessful attempts at phoning your prospective internship, leave a detailed voice message saying (in this order) your :

• Full name
  
• Why you're calling - e.g., "..to follow up on an internship application I submitted on [insert date].."
• The action you would like them to take - e.g., "..I am calling to check where you are at in the internship selection process and to see if you received my application and would like to set up an interview.."
• Phone number with area code
  
• Re-state your full name, that you are following up on a submitted internship application, and your phone number
• Thank you, Mr. or Ms. [last name]

After you leave a voice message, also send them an email saying essentially the same thing as above. Don't be afraid to be annoying. As long as you are polite and don't send a parade of messages at your prospective internship, you are only increasing your chances of getting that interview.

For most professionals, contacting potential interns is not the atop their priority list - so let's make their job easy by standing out from the rest by being proactive, polite and professional.