Your Career and You: Thinking About and Trying New Things Is Fun

I’m writing this on the subway as I head down to Curry College for another day of doing what I classify as “fun.”

My “job” is overseeing the undergraduate Public Relations concentration in our Communication major, teaching most of the PR courses, and advising/counseling students. But it's more than that.

To me, it's having fun while helping others figure out their goals and life’s purpose.

Some folks who haven’t wandered through my world don’t understand what I mean by “fun,” especially when they learn that I’m a public relations professional turned college professor teaching the next generations of what I envision as our future professionals. What baffles them, apparently, is that I'm always smiling as I bounce along the sidewalks all over campus.

Why do I act this way? Because I absolutely love what I'm doing. Period.

As I say time and again, both to these skeptics and to my students, “If you’re not having fun doing what you do for a living, do something else.”

I realize this isn’t the “accepted” way of approaching adult life. But it has been my modus operandi for more than a quarter of a century, and I have no intention of changing…at least not changing the fun part! Maybe where I’m having fun, but not what I’m doing to have fun.

Trying new things…in new places sometimes…should be part and parcel of your career development. Stepping out of your comfort zone and testing your abilities gives you the self confidence that you can succeed in just about anything you try.

I’ve moved from federal government to technology to member services to healthcare in my professional PR career, from the US to the Philippines and back, and to Hawaii from Massachusetts and back to Massachusetts…all in the name of “trying something new.”

I’m not saying that everything will work perfectly every time. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. I know. Been there; done that…a couple of times.

But I also learned something about myself each time that added to my repertoire of career skills and abilities.

The excitement (disguised as panic??) of starting a new job...or starting a new job in a new location…or starting all over in a new location with the goal of finding a new job…is exhilarating. But it requires a firm belief in your own ability to succeed.

I’ve had conversations with two different friends in the past couple of days, one of whom has hit a point in her professional career where she feels like it’s time for a change…she just isn’t sure what that change will be. But the gleam of excitement in her eyes as we talked about the future said it all..."new things ahead!"

The other friend is on a mega-roll of good luck in her job. She has taken a lackluster PR program and moved it into nationally-recognized prominence. And we spent an hour on the phone brainstorming ideas for the next phase. The excitement in her voice painted a clear picture of a young professional eager to make her mark on the world…and she will.

In both these cases, my friends used the words…without my prodding…“having fun.” They are at that point in their lives/careers where it’s not just about the “job.”

It’s about doing something new that will make a difference in their lives and the lives of others...and having fun doing it.

"We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent. We must dare to think about 'unthinkable things' because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless." - James William Fulbright, "Speech in the Senate" [March 27, 1964]

Your Career and You: "PR 'Foreign Policy'"

I had a cup of coffee with a new friend the other day who wanted to try out some ideas on how, after completing her Master’s degree, she might further that education with “real-life” experience in the U.S. before returning to her home and family in Beijing.

We spent about an hour…first “session,” more to come…discussing her practical experience in China, which aspects of that experience she really enjoyed, and how she could build on the knowledge she has gained both from her previous worklife and from her graduate studies.

As might be expected, I was firing off ideas right and left, and she was taking everything in and processing it in terms of her own goals and objectives.

We parted with the agreement that I would introduce her to colleagues at upcoming PRSA Boston, Publicity Club of New England, Social Media Club of Boston and other events.

You’re probably sitting there thinking to yourself, “Okay, Kirk. This is ‘interesting’ but what’s the point?”

Good question. And one that we all, as professionals or soon-to-be professionals, should be prepared to ask and answer.

What’s the point?

Our world is shrinking at warp speed. At the recent Public Relations Society of America International Conference, I met and spoke with dozens of PR professionals from across the globe. They represented a host of practice areas as well as the gamut of public relations experience levels.

The one unifying theme in all the conversations was a desire on the part of each to practice public relations in a way that would make them…and their respective employers…proud…that would represent the public relations profession for what it is…an honorable, ethical field of endeavor.

No surprise here, but 21st century public relations has become a global concept.

What is tweeted in Boise is retweeted from Beijing to Bangladesh.

“Casual” statements in a CEO’s blog in Memphis are seen and responded to by readers in Moscow and Mozambique.

The challenge for us as professional communicators, then, becomes one of thinking “outside the box,” or, better yet, “outside the borders.”

I had a great chat with our Academic Dean at Curry College a few days ago during which he asked me a series of questions about my definition of the ideal learning environment for today’s (and tomorrow’s) students.

My response, in a nutshell, was that I wanted/expected students to be well-grounded in the liberal arts…to be familiar with history, literature, the sciences…and to be aware of events in the greater community outside their campus.

I always try to be crystal clear that the students I’m talking about are my Public Relations Concentration troops. Ideally this would encompass other disciplines as well, but I’m being the conservative here and am sticking with what I can (sort of) control.

Happily, the Dean shares my vision, so I see, as Rick said to Louis in “Casablanca,” the “beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

But that’s the reality, again. Our “world” no longer consists of friends and neighbors within driving distance of our hometown. And the impacts of our actions no longer affect merely those who are the immediate recipients of our message.

Ours is a world without borders which means that we must be aware of cultural and other differences and be prepared to communicate successfully with our various audiences.

It’s not a “new” world that we live and work in, but it is a different and rapidly-evolving world.

It’s a world in which, as communicators, our “foreign policy” will prepare us for events and opportunities that impact us and our clients.

Your Career and You: "What We've Got Here Is A Failure To Communicate"

I’m dealing with an internship situation right now that, hopefully, I can get straightened out soon before everyone gets discouraged and gives up.

The bottom line/root cause is, as goes that great line spoken by “the Captain” in “Cool Hand Luke”: “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

The irony of this particular situation is that it’s a public relations internship…and public relations (to me, at least) is about accurate, understood, and agreed-upon communication.

There are problems on all sides of this particular kerfluffle…expectations of the internship supervisor, expectations of the site supervisor, and expectations of the student intern.

Right now, the conversations are running on parallel tracks, all heading in the same general direction, but each just slightly away from the others.

And, unfortunately, that is how most misunderstandings are created…from general agreement but slightly divergent expectations of that agreement.

Will the world as we know it come to a screeching halt as a result of this? Doubtful.

Will some feelings be hurt? Probably.

Will important lessons be learned? Definitely.

Lesson 1: Be crystal clear on expectations of all parties involved. (Assumptions were made on all sides here.)

Lesson 2: Act quickly to clear up misunderstandings or miscommunications. (There was a delay, again on all sides, in acting on perceived problems.)

Lesson 3: Change procedures to ensure that, in future, the problem won’t bubble up again. (Done, with fingers crossed.)

In looking back at this situation, it’s pretty easy to see where the train jumped off the tracks.

Everybody was right.

And everybody was wrong.

It’s not the end of civilized life as we know it. But it is a good learning experience.

In the course of our careers, we (professionals, professors, clients, students, employers, employees…) sit in a room and talk at each other...a lot. And we assume that the other parties understand and agree with us.

Most of the time, things go as expected.

Sometimes, “we’ve got a failure to communicate.”

“Much learning does not teach understanding.”

– Heraclitus, “From Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers.”

Your Career and You: "Enthusiastic" or "Obsessive"?

I started thinking this morning…after a flurry of email conversations with someone about a request he had made (and which he had been assured multiple times had been taken care of)…about the fine line between being perceived as “enthusiastic about an opportunity” and being regarded as “borderline obsessive.”

While this is something I think about from time to time, I haven’t really gone much deeper than that. But I’m thinking I need to.

Why?

Because I’m always telling my undergrad Communication students at Curry College, where I oversee the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as my graduate Organizational and Professional Communication students at Regis College (a very cool part-time gig!) how important follow-up is and how they should be diligent in their follow-up on job or internship applications as well as PR outreach to media and others.

I forget sometimes, though, that “follow-up” can be interpreted in several ways, most of which are good…some of which are just two whiskers short of “creepy.”

“Good”?

Once a week…NOT on a Monday or Friday. I suggest this because of my own work schedules both present and past.

> On Monday, I’m preparing for the week ahead and/or dealing with some issue that bubbled up over the weekend.

> On Friday, I’m reflecting on the week that was and (mentally, at least) promising myself some downtime over the coming weekend.

“Bad”?

More than once a week…unless you actually have spoken with someone who suggested you “call back [fill in the blank].”

Why?

Because if you’ve left me a message…phone, email, note tied to a brick and thrown through my office window…I will get back to you…when I have time.

I hate to break this to you, but you are not my first priority, no matter how nice you are and how wonderfully formatted your resume (or news release) is.

On the job/internship side of this diatribe…I might be desperate to fill a position or eager to support the internship concept, but I have a “real” job to do as well, and I’ll get to the other stuff as quickly as I can.

On the news release side…if you’ve sent news, I will get back to you…I need your information and you are important to me.

However…if you’ve sent me a “my boss just got an award and he/she wants to let our customers know” release…well…….

I appreciate enthusiasm. My professional colleagues do as well.

I don’t appreciate stalkers or people who disrupt my train of thought or workflow.

Learning the difference between enthusiasm and obsessiveness is part of the “growing up” process for us. You will, as have I, get your hand slapped once in a while.

Take that act as “guidance” and not as “punishment.”

Be enthusiastic, and that enthusiasm will show…in the quality of your work…in the realization of your successes.

Be obsessive and…

Wait! Hear that sound??

Silence.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson - “Essays: First Series. Circles.” [1841]

Your Career and You: "Passion...Recognized"

I received an email recently from a colleague commenting on a Curry College alum (a Communication major...Public Relations Concentration, I hasten to add) who he had recently met. With permission of my colleague, here’s what he said:

“…I had the most delightful lunch with Bob Nolet. He is now the Director of Communications for the Plymouth Chamber and is right in the thick of everything social and project oriented. He is such a wonderful advocate for Curry College. From Plymouth Rock Studios right out of school, to The Plymouth Radisson and now the Chamber. This is a story worth telling of a young professional making his way with the tools he learned at Curry College.”

This a testament to passion and the joy that it can bring.

The colleague who wrote this didn’t know that “Bobby,” as I still call him, is a good friend/former student who found his calling and has excelled. There have been some “bumps” in the road, but he has confronted them, dealt with them, and moved onward and upward.

I write often about passion...for a simple reason.

To me, that’s what makes the difference between simply having a “job” and being engrossed in one’s life’s calling.

Passion is what makes you smile in the morning as you’re preparing to go to work.

It’s what keeps you at your desk a “little longer” at the end of the day because you are so excited about the project you’re working on.

And it shows in your face and your actions when you’re having lunch with someone!

Not everyone “buys” this seemingly over-the-top optimism, but I do…and it’s reinforced again and again by feedback I get from others, like my colleague above (who wasn’t aware of my connection to Bobby and, therefore, wasn’t “embellishing” his comments to make me feel good).

I’m not suggesting that a job that you’re passionate about is going to be perfect. I’ve learned over the years that there’s no such thing.

But it can be personally and professionally rewarding, and you will do everything in your power to make it as close to perfect as possible in the process.

The idea is to focus on those aspects of the job that really get you excited and throw yourself 100 percent into them. The other “stuff” you will simply have to deal with…that, for me, is the “professionalism” aspect.

Don’t spend valuable time fretting about the “warts.”

The result of this approach is going to be a level of personal satisfaction that will reveal itself to others…and will be recognized…as was the case with my friend Bobby.

“The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work brings you and the world’s need of that work. With this, life is heaven, or as near heaven as you can get. Without this – with work which you despise, which bores you, and which the world does not need – this life is hell.” – William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, “To His Newborn Great-Grandson; address on his ninetieth birthday” [1958]

Your Career and You: "It's Okay to Change Things"

I was coming home on the bus recently (MBTA…Boston’s answer to substandard transportation service), when the driver did something that almost all drivers on this route have done from the day I started riding.

She stopped at a railroad crossing.

We do this twice on the trip home…this particular location and another closer to where I live.

But there’s a difference.

The one close to home is an active rail line with trains passing through regularly.

The first one has been inactive for going on15-plus years. Trees are growing between the rails.

But the drivers stop anyway.

Why?

Because there still are “railroad crossing” signs there. And no one…MBTA, MBCR (railroad operator), or state…apparently has given any thought to the possibility that the signs…and the required stop-and-start of countless buses daily…should be changed.

In addition to unnecessarily halting traffic on a busy road, the slowing down and speeding up of each bus wastes costly gas, adding to the MBTA’s operating expenses.

I realized, observing this force-of-habit action, how easy it is to accept things as “the way they’ve always been.”

We have a tendency to accept/put up with sometimes annoying things simply because, whatever the action is…no matter how ridiculous or unnecessary it might seem, it has “always been done that way.”

My mantra is, and my undergraduate Communication students at Curry College hear this all the time, “It’s okay to change things.”

I’m not advocating flag-burning activism. I kind of like a little predictability in my usually chaotic life.

But…

If something strikes you as unusual, or a little voice in your head asks “why are we doing this?”, look to see if it can be changed.

At the very least, speak up and draw attention to the situation.

Complacency breeds stagnation…like an unused piece of equipment sitting out in the yard will start rusting and become unusable.

I once, as an intern working in the US Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Editorial Branch, questioned the way we were calculating reading levels for proposed training manuals. The existing system was laborious and incredibly time-consuming.

But it had “always been done that way.”

Well, I started tinkering…playing with various ways to derive the numbers we were looking for.

And I noticed a pattern that allowed me to create a formula for calculating them.

And I reduced the time required for this process by roughly two-to-three minutes.

Not a huge change in and of itself. But, taken over the course of a year of editing literally hundreds of manuscripts, the time savings was in the hours.

And the accuracy rate of the calculations rose as well because the process had been simplified…a win-win.

And I got an unexpected but greatly appreciated letter of commendation for my work…as an intern learning the ropes…not as one of the full-time employees who had “always done it that way”!

So, as my friends on “South Park” like to say at the end of nearly every episode, “What we have learned here…” is just because it has “always been done that way” doesn’t mean it always has to be done that way.

Maybe your idea doesn’t actually pan out…doesn’t improve the process in some way. But that is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t at least try it!

Go ahead. Be curious. Look under the hood to see how it works. And suggest changes if you think a change will make a positive difference.

A side, but important, benefit in this is that (as I mentioned in my Army example above) your supervisor or someone higher up in the food chain will notice your proactive effort to improve operations and recognize you for it.

It really is okay to change things!

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other." - Reinhold Niebuhr, "The Serenity Prayer" [1934]

Your Career and You: "Someone else will fix my mistakes"

I just had a flashback to one of the first undergrad PR classes I taught and a bizarre conversation I had with a student. (No, I won’t say where…I’ve taught as an undergrad adjunct professor at three colleges and as graduate adjunct at two.)

I’m currently full-time at Curry College, where I oversee the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and part-time at Regis College, where I teach in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communications area.

Anywho…we had had a news release writing exercise (take-home, by the way) and I was handing back the graded papers.

One young lady got an “”F” and was mightily miffed. How dare I give her a failing grade? She did the assignment and turned it in on time!

I commended her (sort of) on actually doing the assignment and suggested that perhaps, the next time, she might want to proofread her work before handing it in…to at least proof the headline of the release in which, for this assignment, there were two (out of six) words misspelled!

I asked her what she thought the reaction would have been if she were working in a public relations firm and produced this particular item.

Her response sticks with me even today, some eight years later.

“If I were working in a PR firm, someone else would have caught those mistakes for me and fixed them.”

Congratulations, my friend. You have just cemented your place in my “What the Hell Were You Thinking?” Hall of Fame!

There seems to be a mindset today among the up-and-coming generation that it’s not their responsibility when it comes to things like accuracy…attention to detail…fact-checking.

But, to bring it back to up-close-and-personal, it is your responsibility.

No, you don’t know everything, and you’re not expected to know everything. I certainly don’t, but I use a ton of reference materials…as well as the Internet…to help me verify things that I say…and spell.

The thing is…when you finally do wander out into the “real” world and start your career in whatever field you’re interested in…you will be expected to pull your own weight…to produce materials that accurately and professionally represent your client or your employer…or yourself.

I say this last aiming specifically at resumes and cover letters.

A friend sent me her resume last week…she’s a senior and has already survived my “Publicity Techniques” class where I go through a case of red pens marking up in-class and take-home PR writing assignments and driving home the absolute importance of proofreading one’s work.

I immediately fired back a response… “We need to talk…soon.”

I quit reading halfway through the resume…typos, verb-tense inconsistency, sloppy sentence structure…the list flows on…

She thinks I’m going to sit and patiently show her every single mistake and tell her what the correct form should be.

Unh-unh. Not going to happen.

I’ll point out the general categories of errors and, perhaps, since I think she actually cares, show her a couple of corrections to give her the general idea of what’s wrong.

But it’s on her shoulders to ferret out the rest of the problems and fix them. Then she can, if she wishes, send the repaired materials back to me for a final review. The responsibility lies squarely with her…or you.

It’s your life…it’s your future. No one else is going to do it for you.

Are you ready??

“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”
Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, “Unkempt Thoughts” [1968]

Your Career and You: "New Year...New Beginnings"

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m the eternal optimist.

For me, there’s always something new and exciting around the corner. All I have to do is move in the right direction and I’ll find it.

That attitude has carried me through close to a half-century of life as a Public Relations practitioner that has encompassed more than a dozen jobs.

I realize that I’m not wired like most people, but I refuse to accept any other way of living. Keeps me “young” mentally and spiritually.

This is an attitude that I try to convey to my students these days, both at Curry College, where I oversee the undergraduate PublicRelations concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and at Regis College, where I teach graduate courses in the Organizational and ProfessionalCommunications area.

Not everyone “buys” my optimism. There are those who think I’m unrealistic, unaware of the cold hard facts of today’s working world.

That neither bothers nor surprises me. I’ve wandered through life doing what interested me (usually) and having a ton of fun in the process. But I’ve also been closely associated with folks who neither felt like I did nor had the slightest interest in what our mission was.

Looking back on it, I’m able to see the outcome of their attitude…they’ve either stagnated in their jobs or they’re no longer doing what they disliked…they’ve moved on to something equally unpleasant in their mind but at least “not the same as before.”

Sorry. That doesn’t work for me. While I’m not totally into the “if life deals gives you lemons…” concept, I do believe it’s within my power to change my circumstances. (Got fired from a job I hated once…probably a little radical for a solution, but quite effective!...wound up doing something that absolutely resonates with me…teaching.)

The point to this is that you truly do…or should…have control of your destiny. But it takes some introspection…you have to have a heart-to-heart conversation with yourself about what it is you really would like to be doing. Then you have to chart out a path to that goal.

But you don’t do this alone. You do, of course, have to have that “conversation.” But you also can and should be talking to friends, significant others, teachers, mentors…anyone who can listen to you and offer an opinion.

Good decisions are usually made based on the input of others important to you. They often will be objective…not always…they’re your friends. But they will be a good sounding board against which to test your thoughts.

As I write this, I am (sort of) observing the Chinese New Year…the “Year of the Dragon.” According to my Chinese wife, it’s not going to be a stellar year…lots of cautions to be mindful of. But, you know, that, too, is “life.” A bagful of lemons out of which to create some delicious and refreshing lemonade!

Optimism lives large in my world, and this is an opportunity for it to strut its stuff. Here’s to a great year filled with new beginnings!

Your Career and You: "The Art of Kissing Frogs"

For some misguided reason, I thought the winter break from Curry College, where I ride herd over the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and Regis College, where I teach graduate Organizational and Professional Communications courses, would be one of solitude and meditation.

Nope…things were (characteristically for me) mildly insane. Tons of reading and writing, which, in addition to ironing clothes, tend to be my “therapy.”

Also, though, lots of talks with students, current and former, undergrad and grad, as well as other friends and professional colleagues, mid-level and senior-level.

Most of these chats revolved around job or job search dissatisfaction. Either the search wasn’t going as anticipated, or the job itself has turned out to be not so great.

This isn’t a new topic for me, but it is a new year, so let’s dive in.

My sage advice…not necessarily said exactly this way, but implicit in my conversations…was that “you have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince (or princess for the male gender).”

Career transitions…college to the fulltime, professional workforce, or job to job…are a baffling mix of timing, luck, research, and perseverance. Doesn’t matter where you are in the food chain; it applies at all levels.

The learning point here is that, no matter how carefully you plan your search, once in a while the train’s going to jump off the tracks. And there’s usually nothing you could have done about it.

What you can do is reassure yourself that it’s not a genetic flaw. Bad things happen to good people. Sadly, this was your time in the barrel.

So what do you do about it?

First of all, in my (sort of) humble opinion, you examine the frog’s warts. What makes them “warts” and not 18th-century “beauty patches”? In other words, is what you perceive as not pleasant actually par for the course and just not something you’re comfortable with?

Case in point. One of my friends, with whom I’ve been having a long-running dialogue, works for a PR firm…a very good PR firm, I might add…and is going through, to put it mildly, “mental and personal hell.”

The job has its good moments, but these are overrun by some totally suck-y moments. (“For every ‘action,’ there’s an equal and opposite ‘RE-action’”?)

Whatever the case, she’s miserable and wants a change. But she’s concerned that the “warts” she thinks she has identified as associated with a potential new opportunity might be too gross.

Hence the quandary. “Kiss or no?”

Another friend is just embarking on her maiden voyage into professional life. She’s open to either internship learning opportunities or entry-level jump-in-and-do-it positions. She’s not completely sure what “warts” are, but she intuitively understands they’re there…and she really isn’t too keen about the frog-kissing part!

There are no magic answers to these dilemmas. What you can do is what I have advised time and again…do your research…network…talk to your friends, teachers, whoever you can use as a sounding board.

Then you make a decision…pucker up…and kiss the frog.

If it’s meant to be, it will turn into your prince(-ess). I totally speak from experience here both from my previous life as a public relations professional and from my current life as public relations prof.

In both universes, I took a chance with opportunities that, on first glance, were absolutely not what I had envisioned myself doing. And in both instances, I found myself doing something that absolutely resonated in my soul.

Now, just to be completely clear, I also have vivid memories of a couple of swamp-reeking toads in my past, so it’s not a perfect world.

But I learned from those experiences, and I used that knowledge in other, future transitions.

And that’s the final, final learning point…learn from your encounters of the frog kind. Learn to distinguish warts from the mere bumps. And, when in doubt, listen to Three Dog Night!

“Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.”
William Shakespeare, “As You Like It,” II, I, 12

Your Career and You: "Looking Back to Look Forward"

As we tiptoe into the final weeks of 2011…a year that definitely has presented a boatload of challenges and opportunities…a few thoughts...

First, on the challenges, not the least of which has been the continuing train wreck that is our economy and its impact on my students’ ability to find a job post-graduation.

Some of them have beat the odds and found positions where they’re using the knowledge and the entry-level (or higher) skills gained through classroom studies and (often) multiple internships. Others are still on the hunt, and I’m doing my dead-level best to cheer and guide them on in the process.

I’m tempted also to say a challenge has been these folks’ “stick-close-to-home” mentality, and I totally that realize I’m not the best person to broach this topic.

Had it not been for a little skirmish known as “The Vietnam War,” I would very likely be winding down a “nice but not challenging” career as a college-level English prof somewhere in my home state of Georgia (“Go Dawgs!).

Didn’t happen that way, though. Spent two years in Saigon teaching “English as a Second Language” to the Vietnamese military, a total of eight years in the Air Force working in audiovisual services and public affairs, seven years as a civilian working in Army public affairs, and the remainder in private sector public relations.

So don’t do as I almost did…widen your horizons in your search for a job.

Today, as I inch closer to that mysterious “retirement age,” I’m teaching what I learned and did for all those years to undergraduate Communication students at Curry College as well as to graduate Organizational and Professional Communication students at Regis College. And, I’m having the time of my life!

And…I’m thinking about the immediate future and what’s next!

Still loads of things to learn and to share with anyone willing to listen. Still a burning desire to accomplish something “worthwhile” that will leave an indelible mark on the PR profession, either as a professional or as an educator.

As Leonard Cohen so aptly described it in his London concert warm-up, I’m “just a kid with a crazy dream.”

So what does this have to do with you and your own burning desire to move onward and upward?

Lots…not the least of which is reflecting on what you have accomplished and seeing what makes you smile on reflection and what you would like to take one more swing at.

This is where “opportunities” come into play…

I had a chat earlier this week with an advisee who had just learned that her application for a full-time position with the PR firm where she’s interning is basically dead in the water due to a recent loss of clients.

We talked for a while, and I asked her where else she had applied (I ask this regularly of my advisees just to keep them focused on the target…a job…with a dozen other “must dos” flitting around them).

Turns out she really hasn’t been doing much outreach; she’s been pinning her hopes on this now-defunct opportunity. But as we talked more, we realized that she had actually made and maintained some pretty solid contacts through her internships and family. Add some of my references...she’s off and running!

And this is the point of all this reminiscing…looking back on what you’ve done and who you know…and moving confidently forward in your job search.

It sometimes seems like your job search has hit a sandbar and is stuck. But when you stop and realize that high tide (aka: “a lead”) will lift you up and off, the future becomes a bit brighter.

So take a moment to look back and reflect on what you’ve done; then look forward to what you’ve made possible!!

“The Future…something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
Clive Stapes Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters” [1941], 25

“It’s Your Life…How Will You Spend It?”

 
As much as I love to just dive in and get things done, once in a while I have to stomp on the brakes, slow it down a smidge, and remember the old “Rome wasn’t built in a day” thing.

When I actually do “slow it down,” I’m always fascinated by what’s going on around me and how some folks are living their lives and spending their time. On the surface at least, most seem to be enjoying themselves and doing some pretty cool things.

I see others, though, who seem to be bogged down, slogging from one day to the other without any motivation to perk things up a bit.

It’s easy for me to get reflective at this point in my career. Been there and done it. Had some great successes; had some equally catastrophic disasters. Learned from both extremes.

If you’re just starting out, the question of “How will I spend my life?” can seem overwhelming. You’re more focused on getting through school with minimal damage to your ego and grade point average. You’re hoping against hope that, two minutes after you accept your diploma and shake the college president’s hand, an awesome job opportunity will fall out of the sky and land in your lap.

For those of you who are a little farther along in your career, the question morphs into “What’s next and how do I find it?” You’re focused on moving onward and upward, snagging that great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will validate your existence as a professional.

In both cases, the “end” is really just the beginning. You’re stepping out of your comfort zone in most cases, and there’s no absolute guarantee that whatever you choose as that next great adventure is going to work like you’re planning.

But that’s part of the deal. As I tell my students at Curry College, where I oversee the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and Regis College, where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, nothing is guaranteed in this awesome safari known as “life.”

But you have to be willing to take those chances, to try the unknown, to fall backwards with confidence into the waiting arms of your “buddy.”

This doesn’t work for everyone, and I’m not suggesting you should throw all caution to the winds as you plan for your future. You need to really get a handle on who you are, what you want from your career, and how you are going to achieve what, in your mind, is success.

How do you do this? You talk to people…your parents (yes, they actually do have a clue!); your teachers; your close friends (who actually have a view of you that others don’t…they’ve seen your up days as well as your down days); networking contacts (I’ve talked about this in at least one previous post).

It’s all about preparation…laying the groundwork and getting a handle on available resources that you can draw from. Yes, there’s work involved here, but it’s work that can and will pay off.

Hate to put it like this, but you don’t really have a choice. After all…when all’s said and done, it’s your life…how will you spend it?!?

"We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there." - Charles Franklin Kettering, "Seed for Thought: [1949]

Your Career and You: "Help!"

I'm staying on my "golden oldies" theme from last week thanks to an exchange of emails I had with a few former students over the past few days.

This week it's the Beatles...yep, the "Fab Four"...I was a fledgling engineering student when they exploded onto the U.S. music scene, and I dutifully went nuts along with the rest of my teenaged friends.

The Beatles' chart-busting "Help" debuted in 1965. I was unhappy with my major and was considering changing to something else...which now leads me back to my students/friends.

No one was asking for any life-altering advice, although they all know that I'm always available if needed.

One simply asked if I would pass along some information about an event that her firm has arranged for a client. The second was updating me on some recent changes in her personal life. And the third just needed a sounding board as she proceeds with a professional career-change opportunity.

The one who wanted my assistance in promoting her event got my promise to spread the news via my Facebook and LinkedIn connections. The one who updated me on her life changes got my assurance of a follow-up, in-person chat. And I spent about a half-hour with the third on the phone exploring the various positives and negatives of the opportunity she is exploring.

The take-away, in all three instances, is that the "system" worked. And that's the idea with friends and "help."

As the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." Sometimes you're facing a challenge, or a decision, or a life-altering event, and you know you have to do something, and you kind of know what to do.

I'm always advising/admonishing/counseling my undergrad communication students/advisees at Curry College as well as my graduate communications students at Regis College to not be hesitant about talking to friends/teachers/ colleagues when they're faced with a decision. Don't go it alone!

You just need to take that first step of voicing your need or your decision...of taking that first step. You get the momentum started...the thought processes rolling. Then you're off.

So do like the Beatles. Ask for "Help"!

Your Career and You: "Do Your Research...THEN Network"

I know it seems like I spend a lot of time talking about "researching" and "networking" in the course of my ramblings, but I keep getting reminders as I chat with students...AND professionals...about their job search.

This morning was no exception. The call was from a professional acquaintance who has focused his interest...but, or so it seems, not his attention...on an academic job search.

I say it like this because this fellow is not new to the job search world...he works in human resources. But our conversation this morning left me with the uneasy feeling that he's as clueless about how to go about looking for a job as are many novice job hunters.

First off...and today was the continuation of a conversation we had a couple of months ago...he knew absolutely nothing about Curry College (in which he professes to be interested) including not even knowing how to find us!

Now this latter part...the finding...isn't rocket science. It's a simple matter of going on to our website and looking under "About Curry" at "Our Campus." Maps and everything, including some great pictures of a beautiful campus.

But the thing that really got me was he had no idea what he really wanted to do. In the course of a very rambling chat, he bounced from "volunteer work" to "adjunct teaching," from "unpaid" to "paid." Nothing I could pin a definitive "here's what your next step should be" response to.

And that's the point of this monologue: We (aka "professionals") would love to help you in your job search...to give you feedback on your plans. Can't do this if you don't give us something to work with!

So do your research into organizations, job opportunities, areas of interest (or not). Then come to me for advice and guidance. Because then I will be able to go foraging in my address book and extract a name or two of colleagues who will be able to talk to you about jobs and places you are interested in.

It's simple. Do your research first to get a sense of the things that catch your attention and get you excited. Then do your networking with the ability to describe to your contact what you really are looking for and why.

Since I would rather make of him [the child] an able man than a learned man, I would also urge that care be taken to choose a guide [tutor] with a well-made rather than a well-filled head."
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne. Essays, bk. I [1580], To the Reader, ch. 26