The Digital Job Hunt

Almost every element of our lives has gone digital. We now go shopping, keep up with long distance friends and apply for jobs via the Internet. For example, if you’re currently searching for a job and aren’t on LinkedIn, you’re doing something wrong.

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to get your resume on a digital platform. That way, employers can easily gauge your skills and expertise. According to Jeff Bullas, two professionals now join the LinkedIn network every second! More importantly, the majority of people are now using social media to find jobs. As many as one in six workers and over 22 million people have now found their most recent job on the web.

The question is, “How do you stand out from the crowd?” In today’s digital age, it’s important to make sure that every aspect of your job hunt process is on the web, and that includes your portfolio.

Let’s say that you’re applying to a company that’s out of the city or state. Your first interview will probably happen via phone or Skype. If that’s the case, you won’t have the opportunity to physically show off samples of your previous work. What you can do is casually say, “You can check out my digital portfolio to see a few samples.”

Simply including a link to your digital portfolio on your LinkedIn profile makes you stand out from the rest. LinkedIn is great because it allows you to upload your resume. It does not, however, allow you to upload work samples, and that’s where you really shine.

If you’re not design savvy, or don’t consider yourself to be a creative person, don’t worry. There are many websites out there that provide templates so that you can easily fill in your information. I happen to fall into this category and created my digital portfolio on Wix.com. There are many websites out there that are similar to Wix. You just have to find the one that works best for you.

Once you finish your portfolio share it with everyone! You didn’t do all of that hard work for nothing. Share it on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and don’t forget to ask for feedback. Others may see something that you may have missed or might have a great idea for how you could enhance it and make it even better.

Do you have a digital portfolio? Have you seen results because of it? Share your thoughts below, and check out my digital portfolio! I’d love some feedback! 

Johnny Cupcakes Does Social Media Right

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to hear Johnny Cupcakes speak at my school. If you’re not familiar with the man behind the clothing brand, I suggest that you check out his inspirational story. 

While hearing Johnny speak he offered a number of different valuable tips to the audience. Naturally, I took a picture of him during his presentation and posted it to my Instagram account.

 Shortly after, I received a notification that Johnny Cupcakes had liked my photo!

As a public relations practitioner who often tweets for clients, I automatically assumed that his PR team was behind it. It’s not uncommon for companies to hire PR people to do their social media. This includes everything from writing statuses and tweets to blogging and engaging with fans. I was so excited that I tweeted about my Johnny Cupcakes experience right away.

I expected that to be the end of my Johnny Cupcakes journey, but I was wrong. Johnny direct messaged me almost immediately to let me know that it wasn’t his social media team, but him! Consider me shocked. It’s not uncommon for smaller businesses to do their own social media, but it’s almost unheard of for a company as well established as Johnny Cupcakes.

Let’s face it, not many Presidents and CEO’s have time to sit at a computer and tweet for a few hours so it’s completely understandable that they’d hire someone who knows the ins and outs of social media. There is, however, an important lesson that any business, whether big or small, can learn from Johnny Cupcakes.

It’s important to engage with your fans, customers and clients via social media! That’s what social media is all about. Communication is no longer a one-way street. When your target market engages with you, engage back, whether it’s good or bad. Johnny Cupcakes probably had at least 100 tagged tweets, Instagram photos and status updates that night, but he still made time to reach out to little ole me. Thanks to his excellent social media skills, I'm now a Johnny Cupcakes fan for life. 

Startup Vs. Corporation

Photo courtesy of: http://umdpsyc.blogspot.com/2012/02/ever-considered-joining-startup-company.html

It’s no secret that the job market has been tough. As my college graduation date gets closer, I’ve been weighing my options and researching companies, both big and small. One common theme that has continuously popped up is that Young Job Seekers Prefer Working at Startups.

According to the new study by PayScale Inc. and Millenial Branding, when comparing startups vs. corporations, Gen Y prefers smaller companies because of the flexibility and freedom they often encounter. For example, members of the Gen Y group launch most startups, meaning that they get social media and won’t restrict its use as much. 

8 Reasons To Choose A Startup Over A Corporate Job goes on to assess the risks associated with taking a job that will, most likely, pay you less. Mashable defines a “small company” as one that is under 100 employees. What does this mean for you? You’ll be given the opportunity to do more. There’s more than enough work to go around. You’ll probably have to wear many hats, and will therefore get hands on experience you may not have at a big corporation.

Another benefit is that your work will be recognized, as will your failures. Because of this factor, you’ll have to take ownership for your work. Coworkers will notice if you’re slacking off, and mistakes won’t go unnoticed. Your work ethic will be better than ever, and who doesn’t want that?

Working at a startup also provides for an amazing atmosphere. Since there are so few employees you work closer together and really get to know your coworkers. Unless you’re a social recluse, it makes the work place a happy and inviting place to be.  

I personally tested out this theory by scoring my first internship...at a startup. So far, the theories hold true. I’ve been given assignments that before, I would have never thought I would have had the opportunity to work on. Since I’m in such tight quarters with my coworkers, I learn a little bit about every project going on in the office. Lately, I’ve listened in on conversations about video editing, graphic design and marketing, all topics outside of my expertise.

Most importantly, I’m given the opportunity to spread my wings everyday. Talking to my bosses isn’t scary or intimidating. They’re open to almost any idea I come up with, and the potential to grow is limitless.

Have you considered working at a startup, or do you find that working at a corporation suites you best?

Rocket Hub

I had a great time at the Rocket Hub event at Full Sail University. 

Music Publicists

My most recent class at Full Sail University has been teaching me about the importance of artist managers. Artist managers handle the business side of whatever industry they happen to be working in. For example, artist managers can work in fields such as music, literature, or film. In class, we recently watched a video featuring Marc Oswald, the music manager of many successful artists such as Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy.

I love this concept of music management given by Oswald. You can see from the video that public relations is included as one of the spokes of the wheel. For the purpose of this blog post, I thought it would be interesting to explore the duties of public relations practitioners in the music industry, or music publicists. Any good public relations practitioner knows that his or her duty is to act as liaison between their client and the media or press. Specifically, music publicists take care of media relations for a music group or musician and must work directly with the artist’s management to uphold their image.


Just like the music manager, the publicist must wear many hats since they handle all areas of the artist’s public image. For example, a music publicist might oversee an interview with a talk show host or media representative. Prior to the interview they make sure that the topics to be covered are appropriate. Additionally, they may work with marketing to make sure that the messages communicated are an asset with the artist’s image.


Today, the role of music publicist is changing. Like with many careers, the Internet has greatly affected the way that public relations practitioners in all fields work. Social media, especially, has greatly changed a publicist’s duties. Artists can now talk directly to their fans and the media through social media channels. For example, every time Lady Gaga tweets to one of her 25,240,891 followers, she is sending a message to both them and the press.

Many people would think that this might make a music publicist’s job easier, but often times it can turn into a public relations disaster when artists fail to contact their publicist prior to posting. When a post does go awry music publicists usually face their biggest challenges. Damage control then becomes their highest priority. Whether a music publicist is writing a press release for an artist’s newest concert tour or cleaning up scandal, they must work directly with the artist's management in order to maintain their overall image in a favorable way. 

eReaders

Since attending Full Sail University I’ve become very familiar with ebooks. The majority of our class textbooks come in this format, and after my eyes lost focus from reading on my MacBook, I decided it was time to invest in an ereader. 

By now, I’m sure the majority of you have heard of ereaders. As a matter of fact, the latest study from Pew Internet states that 29% of people in the United States own either a tablet or ereader. Tablets have dominated the industry for a while now, but Business Week predicts that ereader sales will triple by 2016. So far this year there have been 25 million ereaders sold, and any reading enthusiast will tell you why. 

As an avid reader and Apple lover, an iPad is high on my wish list, but at the same time being able to read outdoors is a huge must for me. The LCD screen featured on tablets doesn’t allow you to read outside as easily, but the e-ink display found on ereaders gives the look of an actual book, and makes it just as easy to read in direct sunlight. In addition most are smaller and lighter than many books, making it easy to hold and take from one place to another. To me the biggest perks are the battery life and price. My Kindle Touch has a two-month battery life, making it easy, convenient and stress free. Furthermore, the basic Kindle model costs only $79, which was a huge plus to a poor college student like myself. 

Over the years I’ve collected a huge number of books, but just as the iPod meant the death CDs, many predict that the same will be true for paperbacks. Paperback book sales have dropped by 25%. With the expected rise of ereader sales, and the lower cost of ebooks, I can’t say that I disagree. If you’ve visited your local library lately you may be shocked to find that many are offering the option to rent ebooks as well. Do you think the fact that libraries are supporting the trend adds credibility to it? Do you have an ereader? 

Photo courtesy of: http://keithjinternet.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/ipad-vs-nook-vs-kindle/

Personal Learning Networks

One important thing I’ve learned while studying at Full Sail University, is to build and maintain personal learning networks (PLNs) via the web. For those of you who don’t know what a PLN is, it is anyone that you engage and exchange information with. Think of it as your social network, but one that is more gauged towards learning. 

Photo courtesy of: http://www.olecommunity.com/the-power-of-personal-learning-networks-wait-what-is-a-personal-learning-network/

Blogs can be an excellent source for PLNs, but they need to be written by credible sources. I have a number of public relations blogs in my PLN. One of my favorites is Richard Edelman’s 6 A.M. blog. As the president and CEO of the world’s largest independent public relations firm, Richard Edelman can certainly be considered a reliable source for any public relations practitioner. I find his blog posts to be extremely helpful because he writes about what he is currently doing in the field. For example, on March 5, he wrote about his trip to Vietnam and China. Readers not only get a first hand look into the life of a public relations practitioner, the blog also offers information on how public relations is practiced in countries all over the world. 

Another one of my favorite daily reads is the blog PR in Your Pajamas. Written by Elena Verlee, founder of the Cross Border Communications agency, this blog covers a wide variety of different topics within the field of public relations. For example, on March 13, the blog featured a post titled, 7 Critical PR Lessons for Launching Start-Ups. I found this post to be extremely beneficial while working on my business plan in graduate school. 

These are only two of the blogs in my PLN, and not all of them are public relations related. It is important that your PLN covers a wide variety of topics. My PLN is also comprised of technological and social media blogs that I find to be extremely beneficial. Consider setting up a really simple syndication (RSS) feed for all of your favorite blogs. Google has a great RSS reader that can help you get started. You can also use your Twitter to keep track of your PLN. Both writers of the blogs above have Twitter accounts. By following your favorite blogs on Twitter, you can easily find out about blog updates and new posts.

Which blogs do you consider to be an asset to your PLN? Do you a use a different reader for your RSS feed? 

Public Relations Society of America

I’m sure many of the public relations professionals out there know about and are a part of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). If you’re in the PR business or are aspiring to be, I highly suggest that you visit the trade association’s website to see all of the great things they have to offer.

For starters, I recommend that you become a member of the trade association because there are a number of different benefits. First off, by becoming a member of PRSA, your professional value and credibility are greatly improved. PRSA has created a Code of Ethics that all PR professionals should live up to and guarantees a standard of success for PR practitioners across the board.  In addition, PRSA offers professional accreditation through their Accredited in Public Relations (APR) credential.

Second, PRSA is constantly posting articles and screening webinars that offer professionals a chance to stay current on upcoming strategies and trends. According to the website, members will now have access to more than 50 webinars in 2012, all for free. PRSA makes it easy to do research as well with their members-only database of case studies, articles and research.

Last, PRSA offers incredible networking opportunities. There are more than 50 different chapters across the country that allow you to connect with local professionals in your area. In addition, you can join specific Professional Interest Sections. Sections cover nonprofit, employee communications, travel & tourism, new professionals and more. Membership with PRSA also includes access to the PRSA Jobcenter that offers career advice and job openings.

If you are currently in college you should check out if your school has a student chapter, or Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). If they don’t, consider starting one yourself. Once you graduate you’ll be able to join PRSA at a discounted rate.  

YouTube Trends

I recently watched a speech on Ted given by Kevin Allocca. The first line of his biography alone is enough to grab your attention. “Kevin Allocca watches YouTube videos. For his job.” He is the trend manager at YouTube and his speech, titled Why videos go viral, discusses how YouTube sensations come to be.

Allocca begins his speech with an astounding statistic. Over 48 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube every minute. My first thought was probably something close to yours. If that much content is being uploaded, how does anyone stand out?

Allocca makes it simple to understand. He attributes it to three different, and recently new occurrences. The first, are tastemakers, or influencers. These are the people that have a wide variety of followers, and with one tweet can cause a mass of influx to someone’s YouTube post. For example, think Tosh.0 or Jimmy Kimmel.

The second occurrence is linked to communities of participation, or culture. Once the masses become aware of something, they spread the phenomenon even further. They tweet about it and even make their own parodies, in turn, creating viral videos.

But before a video can accomplish any of that, it needs to be unique and unexpected. It wouldn’t matter who the tastemaker for a video was if it was lacking entertainment. Simply said, videos have to stand out in order to go viral.

After listening to Allocca’s speech I began to think about how this trend could be applied to all areas of social media. With so much content, no matter the medium, being added to the web, how is it possible that anyone is able to make a splash? I think these same three occurrences or phenomena could be applied to the Internet as a whole. Let’s look at blogs, for example. According to Web Designer Depot, there are over 100 million active blogs on the Internet. It’s safe to say that in order to have a successful blog you need original content. You also need followers to read your blog and spread the word, so to say. If you have the first two and could get a tastemaker to endorse your blog, the sky would be the limit.

Photo courtesy of: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30311/10-Amazing-Blogs-About-Blogging-to-Start-Reading-NOW.aspx

As our culture continually changes and the public becomes the gatekeepers of information, I think that content will become much more quality driven. Tastemakers will still influence the masses, and the Internet clearly isn’t going anywhere soon, but I believe that the content that drives those trends will begin to improve.

Love.

I saw this very funny picture, courtesy of Duffey Communications, on Facebook today and couldn't resist sharing. I really couldn't agree more! :) 

Twitter: Breaking News via Social Media

My previous post discusses the impact of social media on our everyday lives. Social media is utilized daily by a wide variety of demographics, and the statistics from 2011 support the growing trend entirely. According to Edison Research, in 2011, approximately 46 million Americans over the age of 12 checked their social media sites several times on a daily basis. While the article refers to Facebook as the driving factor behind most of the statistics, there’s no doubt that Twitter is catching up.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/twitter-worm-hits-googl-redirects-to-fake-anti-virus/7938

Since the site’s launch in 2006, the social media platform has exploded with users. The most recent example of the website’s popularity was displayed this past weekend when music icon, Whitney Houston, passed away. According to this article on Mashable Entertainment, Twitter released the news of Houston’s death before the mainstream press.

Many people, myself included, might say that the primary job of the press is to break stories as they happen. Considering that the first tweet about Houston’s death went out 27 minutes prior to any news station mentioning it, it’s safe to say that the press let us down in a way.  The press does deserve a little slack though. It’s not like this happens on an everyday basis, but it’s not the first time Twitter has outdone mainstream news.

Not only did Twitter break the news first, but the first reported tweet about the incident even alluded to the possible cause of death.  Twitter user @AjaDiorNavy was the first person to tweet about the incident. The tweet claims that Houston was found dead in the bathtub, a fact later restated by celebrity gossip website, TMZ.

While TMZ doesn’t register to many as the most credible website, it’s astounding that someone on Twitter not only reported Houston’s death first, but may have also reported it right.

So far, there are not many incidences where Twitter has broken a top story, but no one can say what will happen in the future when Twitter’s popularity has doubled or even tripled what it is now. Will the general public become the first source for breaking news via social media sites? How did you first find out about the news of Houston’s death? 

Defining PR

One question that I am constantly asked is, “What is public relations?” Even though nearly every business must utilize the public relations industry in order to succeed, many people don’t even know its main function. If you ask any public relations practitioner, they may give you the standard definition, to create and maintain relationships between a company and its public. The problem with this answer is that, like any industry, the world of public relations is much more complex.

If you search for job postings in public relations you will see an array of different industries seeking PR pros. For example, education, government, medical and entertainment are all options.

I found a very funny article from PR Daily titled, 33 (more) signs you work in PR. It literally made me laugh out loud. Anyone that works in the PR industry can spot a fellow practitioner, but for those of you who don’t know this article breaks down common PR characteristics.

While reading through the list I thought, “Yup, that’s me!” about nearly every trait. For example, number 11 states, “In your personal life, when people try to help you stuff invitations, assemble gift bags, etc., you take over the project because you can do it more quickly.” Most PR pros are extreme multitaskers. Many people might even classify them as ADD. There is usually so much to be done in so little time that multitasking is a necessity.

Another favorite is number 16, “People assume you attend parties and meet celebrities for a living (and you let them think so, because it’s better than the reality of being chained to your phone and laptop).” The public relations field that I would most like to go into is entertainment. When I tell people this they usually respond with, “Oh, so you want to work with celebrities for a living?” While, yes, it would be exciting to brush elbows with the rich and famous, that would hardly cover all aspects of the job.  

PR pros are first and foremost, researchers. We are constantly researching our clients to see who is saying what about them.  Reputation is everything, and maintaining a positive one for an unruly client can be the biggest headache.

According to this CNBC article, public relations is ranked seven on the list of most stressful jobs in America. It’s no wonder that PR pros are stressed out. Most of the time, we are dealing with people and incidences outside of our control. One of my favorite examples from pop culture is when Britney Spears went crazy and shaved her head. It’s the classic instance of a PR nightmare. Her publicist couldn’t do anything to stop her; he/she simply had to deal with the aftermath.

Photo courtesy of: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/02/19/britney-spears-shaved-head/

While this post doesn’t give you a complete look at the hectic world of PR, I hope that it at least gives you a better idea. Hopefully, I’ll never have to deal with a ‘Britney’ incident, but that’s just a risk I’ll have to take. The fast paced and unpredictable craziness of the PR world is what I love most, and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. 

hootsuite

Today’s world heavily relies on social media, and websites like Facebook and Twitter have become an integral part of most people’s daily lives. As these outlets continue to change the way that people interact with one another, it also changes the future of public relations. Since the main goal of any PR practitioner is to obtain free publicity for their client, social media outlets can be one of their most useful tools. Many companies get free publicity just from the fact that happy customers are writing statuses, “tweeting” and blogging about how happy they are with a product. At the same time, negative feedback must also be monitored and responded to in a timely manner.

With that being said, all of these social media channels can sometimes become overwhelming. Unless updating statuses, tweets and posts is your main job, it is almost impossible for anyone managing multiple accounts to keep up. Luckily, the website hootsuite has come to the rescue. The self-proclaimed “leading social media dashboard” gives frequent social media users a variety of tools that makes life on the web a lot easier.

First, hootsuite lets you to add a number of your social media profiles to the site. For example, users can add their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blog, but those are just a few of the options. The site is a huge time saver in that you can monitor and post to all of your favorite websites from one place. Hootsuite makes it easy to navigate between different networks by structuring users’ home pages in tab format.

Different streams within the tab make it easy to see who’s saying what.

Many social media companies will find hoosuite to be a huge advantage because of the custom analytics tool. It allows you to track company and product mentions and follower growth. In addition multiple users can be added to one account. So, if your company monitors the Twitter page of a local fast food chain, for example, more than one person from within the team can contribute to updates and customer replies.

One of my favorite tools to utilize on hootsuite is the scheduler. Let’s say that you know you have a jam packed day tomorrow, but still want to keep up with your updates. You can schedule up to 50 updates to happen throughout various times of the day. Even better, if you want the update to appear only on Twitter it takes only one click.

I’m pretty new to hootsuite, but so far I’m obsessed! It will definitely be one of the tools I use most as a public relations practitioner. In the past I have used Twaitter, but once I was introduced to hootsuite I considered it to reign supreme. There are a number of different sites that allow you utilize many of the tools I’ve talked about. Six Revisions has posted a useful article that compares the pros and cons of different sites here so that you can decide which one is best for you!

Do any of you currently use hootsuite? If not, which social media dashboard is your favorite?