Reflection Time

Throughout this semester, I learned so many advantages and plus that I can use for my future career from this class. Learning to write business letters, making a more precise resume, and thinking about how I want to go about my future career was all so helpful.

For the next 6 months, I will work on tweaking and perfecting all the letters we learned to do in this class by using them for my actual career. All these letters prepared me for what is to come and expected of me when I start a new job. I have to put more time and effort into the letters in hopes to gain the future job I hope to have. Reading articles and watching videos on interviewing and how to ace email etiquette was super helpful for me as these both are super common in messing up.

Overall, this class was a huge help in what is needed and required for my future career and gaining this experience from this class will guide me in the right direction throughout the course of my college career.

ASPCA

The organization that I would love to work for is American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). This organization is the first humane society to be established in North America. It’s the largest one in the world. ASPCA is a privately funded non profit organization which battles against animal cruelty.

On their Instagram, they post pictures of animals that are in need of a home and also about certain animals stories and how they got to where they are now. I love how their instagram helps to have animals be adopted. I feel like that is a good system they are perceiving since it helps show awareness to their cause. On their Facebook, they post live videos about them saving animals in the streets, where you can adopt pets at whatever locations, where you can donate, and people speaking out about animal cruelty and ways to prevent it. I also believe Facebook is presenting the right information for their social media and how to broadcast their information to viewers.

Future Career

As college is coming to a close in one year, the anxiety of being in the real world with a big girl job is very nerve racking. As I’m waiting for an internship, I have to start thinking about what I want to do when I start a job after college. Before I was a Communication Studies major, I was in the nursing field. After college, one of my dreams is to work in a hospital still but within the Public Relations field writing headlines and papers for the hospital itself. Another dream of mine is to work in a magazine company and writing reviews for makeup and skin care.

It’s so much to think about as I’m not a 100% sure about what I really want to do with myself after college. All I know is that writing is my passion and something I want to continue doing after college within my career.

Social Media & Emailing tips!

All of these readings relate to how you perceive yourself on a professional level. The first article I read was called “Personal Branding 101”. This article talks about how to discover and create your own personal brand. Easy ways to help relate this to my professional career goal is by a few that I already do such as have a resume, cover letter, an email address, and a facebook profile. Already there I am presenting myself with my own personal brand.

The second article, “The Career Hazard You Never Expected: Your Email”, talks about ways to control your email. Majority of workers only check their email during the weekend so some ways you can take control of your email is chose a specific time to check your email or set up a “Do Not Disturb” time on your phone. Only take charge of the one’s that are flagged as urgent but besides that, reply to others within a 48 hour time frame during business hours.

The third article, “15 email-etiquette rules every professional should know” gave valuable tips on what you should do when replying to emails on a professional level. Some tips I can take from this is including a clear, direct subject line for every email sent, including a signature block, write without humor so people don’t take what ever info the wrong way, and proofread the right way.

All of the other articles presented to me can connect professionally and give valuable advice when emailing an employer. Overall, I can take all of the tips and tricks to heart when I am contacting a future employer and learn from mistakes that people have done in the past.

Responses

While learning more about Informational Interviews, we had to watch a series of videos and articles relating to that topic. The first video I saw was called “The Informational Interview” with Joni Daniels. She describes what an Informational Interview is, “An informational interview is an interview you conduct when doing research about a job or company you are interested in being in.” She gives tips on how to proceed for an informational interview such as being courteous, being prepared, and find a common interest, etc. The second video I watched was called “How to request an informational interview” with Kate Warren. She gives tips on how to request one such as sending an email to the best person to contact, try to get an introduction, and don’t ask for a job straight up.

The third video I watched was called “Informational Interview 3: The Questions” Suzi would ask the questions of “what do you do?”, “what do you like and dislike about your job?” She would learn valuable answers from whoever answered these questions. The article I read about “Questions to ask during your informational interview” were very valuable for me to examine what could be asked of me when I go to get an interview for my future employer. The article “How to get the most out of an informational interview” gives pointers on what you need to do such as keeping your introduction short or setting the tone. The last video was called the “Do’s and Don’ts of informational interviews” which gives amazing tips on what to do and not to do. The video started with a guy running late to his interview and asking someone else about the history of the business. He was completely unprepared for it. The lady In the video was very prepared with questions to ask and was polite at the end by thanking the interviewer for sparing time for her. All of these videos and articles were valuable information on what I need to accomplish and do when I am partaking an informational interview.

The practice: mock interview was different than what I expected. I thought that being put on the spot with a friend would be less overwhelming but it wasn’t. I got tense and hesitated when they asked me a question and I had to come up with the answer right there and then. The first question was “Why do you want to leave your current company?” and my answer was about how Hershey Park isn’t where I see myself in the future since it isn’t connected to my major. The next question was “Are you willing to relocate?” and the answer was yes. If the job is something that I’m super passionate about, I would relocate in a heartbeat. The third question was “How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?” and my response was that I would have them calm down and tell them I will accustom to what they need and help solve the problem with a solution. The fourth question was “Would you work 40+ hours a week?” and my answer was yes. At my current employer, during this summer I would work 60+ hours a week so 40 isn’t as bad as that. The final question was “Why should we hire you?” and for this question, I had to sit and pause and think about an answer. I’m super hard working and will never fail to accomplish my set goals and deadlines. I would be a great plus to their company and will never let them down.

Overall, I feel like my practice interview went fairly okay with how I perceived it to be. Hopefully during a real and intense interview for my future employer, that I will be very impressive and hard working. The videos were great tips on how to stand out during an interview and I was very interested in hearing them all.

Beneficial Readings

The first article I read was called “6 Things You Must Do To Get Your First Job After College” by Susan Adams. She talks about what a majority of college students are not doing and what they need to do to set themselves up for jobs when they graduate. She includes many steps of advice including creating a LinkedIn, creating a blog, gaining an internship, having a mentor, use your college’s career services office, and join a professional development. All the tips she gives are making me think about what is really important for me to do before I graduate so I can find a job right out of college.

The second article I read was “7 Ways to Become Your Boss’ Dream Employee” by Lead McLeod, M.A. She talks about some tips you can do to make your manager/boss’s life easier and how to become a leader. The steps she gives not only gives me advice for jobs now but will prepare me for after college. Getting to know your boss is an important step in your job such as knowing what preferences he or she likes so they can appreciate you more. Meeting your deadlines are crucial so your boss can be flexible about what they need to do for the next upcoming assignments. Knowing ways that can make your boss appreciate you more are essentials to your job.

The third article I read was called “How to find a job after college” by Daniel Bortz. He gives five key tips now how you can launch your first job search and start your career. The advice he gives are essentially important tips that I can use now to start my career. I need to fix my resume so it can be used for every application out there. Including the right keywords will help the job search. The tip on applying to new job postings within the 48 hours it was posted is crucial to get a head start. Another set of advice he offers is to prepare for an interview even before you get the call. Learning more about the company while also brushing up on questions that could be asked is very important so you’re prepared when the time comes for the actual interview.

The last article I read was “10 Key Job Search Tips for New Graduates” by Alison Green. She gives tips on what new graduates should know when entering the job market. These tips are very important for me as I’m entering my senior year this upcoming fall. Finding a job before college ends is what my aspiring goal is. Since the hiring process could take months, I need to prepare so I can exit college with a job already on my tail. When I was creating my resume, I made sure to include all of my work experience. Even though its not much, it shows that I have independency and hard work. Practicing interviewing is key before going to an interview. Luckily, I took an Interviewing class last semester which gave me tips on how to correctly be an interviewee. The last bit of advice Alison gives is to not panic. Although I feel like I’m running out of time, we have so much time in our lives so we have no need to panic.

Overall, all of these articles give such amazing tips on how I can achieve greatness in my future job after college.

Job Hunting

While I was searching about what jobs I can get within the Media and Communication Occupations, I stumbled across a couple that spoke out to me. It was interesting to see what each job entails for you and what you can learn while entering this field.

The first job that spoke out to me was Editors. I love writing and doing something such as being an editor for a magazine company sounds like a dream. As stated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook, it says that editors plan, review, and revise content for publication. Your work environment can either be in an office or sometimes at home because of the deadlines given to you when on a set strict schedule. Because I am majoring in Communications, I have an easier way to becoming an editor. Back in May 2017, the annual wage for editors was $58,770. There are many types of editors such as copy editors, publication assistants, assistant editors, executive editors, and managing editors.

The next job that interested me was Public Relations Specialists. I’m minoring in PR so I can have the social media aspect to help it be easier to get a job. As stated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook, the duties that Public Relations Specialists have are write press releases and help prepare information for the media, evaluate public opinion of clients through social media, etc. To become one, you have to have a bachelor’s in communication or public relations. The annual wage in May 2017 was $59,300.

Although there are many choices and options for what field I want within my Communications industry, I believe that I will find the one that fits me in not only personality wise but also something that I can find myself be passionate about.

PRSA

I started my search with “Public Relations association”, and came across PRSA- Public Relations Society of America and International Public Relations Association: IPRA. I believed that PRSA was a better match to fit my goals for my future intention.

The first step I took when I went to PRSA, was to read about it. I wanted to know more about “Public Relations Society of America”. PRSA is the nation’s largest professional organization serving the communications community with a mission to “make communications professionals smarter, better prepared and more connected through all stages of their career”. PRSA represents more than 30,000 members that are comprised of communication professionals from every industry nationwide and college students. The 3 advocacies that PRSA focuses on are: the business value of public relations, ethics and diversity within the profession.

PRSA strives to read a more diverse profession nationwide. As stated in the website, “Many studies indicate that the industry still struggles to attract young Black, Asian, and Hispanic professionals to pursue public relations as their career of choice”. PRSA Diversity & Inclusion Committee is committed to help increase a more diverse setting within racial, ethnic, religion, sexual orientation, and gender differences to help spread to all levels of this organization. I believe that PRSA is an amazing organization for helping to broad out the public relations field in accepting everyone and helping people who struggle to fit in to join this career path.

PRSA supports conferences with workshops and on-demand training. This helps people come together and work as a team to solve what issue that arrises and also gather as a whole. PRSA also does awards for outstanding contributions to the public relations profession. Overall, I believe the Public Relations Society of America helps grant people not only a connection to the whole community within Public Relations, but also serves as a family for everyone in the field.

To learn more about PRSA, visit: https://www.prsa.org

Dream Job

Imagine being able to try and experiment with a product for a company and giving your honest review on how you enjoyed it. You write a huge article on why you believe this product is worth every cent to sell it to the audience. This image and dream is what I want to pursue in my future career. Working for a huge beauty company and writing reviews and articles is every girl’s dream for the one’s who are addicted to the beauty world. Social media has affected everyone’s lives in this century as it is the center of this generation. This is the main reason why I chose Public Relations as my minor so I can bring that social media platform to help tie together my Communication Studies major.

Two of my favorite things are: beauty products (makeup) & writing. Being able to get a career which supports both of my passions is adamantly the reason I changed my major in the first place.

Flashback to freshman year of college, I was a nursing major and never believed I’d ever change my major. Ever since I was a child, I was always intrigued in Science and the human body. Being able to heal sick people was ultimately my dream. I remember the day I confirmed that nursing was really for me. It was back in 2015, when my grandpa was in the hospital for Stage 4 Lung Cancer. I was sitting next to his bed, watching all these nurses walk past our room. The nurse assigned to my grandpa for that day was so cheerful and helpful and she was talking to me about what I wanted to do for my career after I graduate high school. I told her that I’ve always wanted to be a nurse and she was so proud that I’d chose a career that would not only benefit me, but help save people. My grandpa was my role model as he supported my passion of being a nurse. After he passed away, I wanted to continue my path in nursing to make him proud. I had plans of going to nursing school for so long but when I had a second of hesitation, I got extremely worried. Would I be good enough? Would I pass my exams to start my clinicals?

I realized that writing was truly for me when I was in this English course my freshman year of college and my professor was so impressed in my papers. Writing has always been easy for me since I was a kid. No matter the content and expectations given to me, I will put my 100% in the paper to receive an amazing grade. After that English course, my professor called me in her office to tell me that I received a 104% in that class which I didn’t think was possible. She was impressed in how well I can achieve and write and she passed me for the next English course that I had to take. That’s when I knew writing was for me.

After I switched my major, I felt like a failure for giving up on my dream. But after awhile I realized, that my dream wasn’t just being a nurse but also being able to write about what interests me such as makeup. Of course I’ll always think about what would’ve been if I never changed my major but I know I’m making my grandpa proud no matter the career I chose. Right now, I believe I made the right choice for my future career and I wouldn’t change anything.