Your Career and You: "I Know You Don’t Know…So Ask Me!"

One of the fun things about teaching is the opportunity to help young (and sometimes not-so-young) current and future professionals figure out what’s next in their lives.

Some of them kind of have an idea what they think they want to do. Others honestly have no idea under the sun what the next step(s) should be, and they look to people like me for advice.

I’m always quick to reassure them that, at their age, I had no clue either. But I also didn’t feel like I had anyone I could turn to. They do.

Not complaining…fact of life…and the times. Colleges have learned a lot since I accidentally graduated with my English degree nearly 50 years ago. If nothing else, we’re no longer using quill pens to meticulously craft our papers!

I recall being terrified of most of my professors and in total awe of the others. They were wicked smart, and I figured I was the least important aspect of their respective jobs.

Oh yeah…haven’t mentioned this in a long time…I’m a card-carrying charter member of the “Introverts of the World Club.” Taking that ginormous step forward to actually ask someone who I only knew from an hour in the classroom for advice was a huge step for me…still is, to be honest.

I try to impress on my students, both my undergrad Communication students at Curry College, where I teach full-time, and my graduate students at Regis College, where I teach part-time in the Organizational and Professional Communication area, that I’m here for them…always…any time.

All they have to do is what I did NOT do…reach out and ask for advice or help.

What I figured out…after it was basically too late…was that my professors did have a clue, and they could have helped me sort things out.

Maybe. Maybe not.

You see…(tune out for this part if you’ve heard it before)…after having started off as a Civil Engineering major, I transitioned to English…mainly because I couldn’t draw a straight line with a straight edge…a prodrome as I discussed with my Crisis Communication Management class at Curry the other night…a sign that things may not be quite right.

I had a budding interest in 18th-century British Lit, so I focused on that for my degree.

Okey-dokey. Now what?!?

Reader’s Digest version…later got degrees in Business Management figuring I would “do” some sort of business. Took a Public Relations course as an elective, and the rest is ongoing “history.”

I’ll talk another time about how I’ve used aspects of all those areas of study in my actual life as a public relations professional. For now, just know that they weren’t a “waste of time” as some folks are wont to say. They were/are “value-added.”

So what’s the moral of this story?

Very simply…don’t write off your professors as “heads-in-the-clouds” know-nothings.

Talk to them. Find out more about them as individuals with lives and not just as “that person who I had for XXXX.”

Who knows? You might stumble on someone who is doing or has done exactly what gets you excited and would like to try.

I know you don’t know…so ask me!

"But where's the man who counsel can bestow,
Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?"
Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Criticism," pt. I, 71 [1711]

Your Career and You: “On the Eve of the New Year…Reflections and a Fresh Outlook”

I was camped out in a local mall recently while my wife was at her acupuncturist’s getting treatment for a variety of aches and pains.

Although I had survived the holiday season with minor damage, I was in a spectacularly foul frame of mind...all prepared to grouse my way through the waiting period.

Then I stopped off in one of the department stores where (unknown to me) they were having a “door-buster sale” with amazing markdowns on stuff. Wound up getting an awesome deal on a shirt. Whee!

But it’s what happened while I was in the process of paying for the shirt that changed my mood.

The fellow ahead of me was chatting with the salesclerk…a genuine gentleman himself…and mentioned that he had just returned from Afghanistan…he’s a State Department veteran and has been embedded with the troops there for a while. Now he’s home and looking forward optimistically to the safe return of our other personnel.

The three of us talked for a few minutes as he was wrapping up his purchase; then he left and I, too, made my purchase.

Turns out the salesclerk had studied Communication in college (Radio major) and then had worked in the business for a number of years. His daughter is now also studying Communication…love it that some “traditions” run in families!

I, of course, got in my usual plugs for the Communication major at Curry College where I oversee the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses. And, since my unknown friend (I totally forgot to ask his name…uncharacteristically absent-minded of me) was a former radio guy, I also plugged Curry’s student-run radio station…WMLN-FM.

Hey! I’m a PR guy…what’d you expect?!?

Cutting to the inevitable “chase” here…my outlook on life in general changed dramatically, and I walked out…and started this post…in a splendid frame of mind.

What happened, you ask?

A simple interaction with other people whose life experiences I found fascinating and who reminded me that we all go through a series of changes/bumps in the road/challenges.

Some of us emerge from our challenges re-invigorated and ready to take on even more challenges. Others, sadly, don’t wind up this way…and there’s not a whole lot I, personally, can do for them other than listen, sympathize if possible, and empathize if appropriate.

But the bigger picture here is my realizing that, as Rick said so well to Ilsa in Casablanca:  “It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

The “secret,” if there be a secret, is find...

> satisfaction in what you’ve accomplished,

> encouragement in what you can do,

> comfort in knowing you’ve done your best, and

> confidence that you are ready and able to take on what lies ahead.

The New Year is on our doorstep, my friends. Let’s make it a great one!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
Away!

“Tomorrow” from the Broadway hit, “Annie”

Your Career and You: “’Tis the Season…for Action”

I’ve noticed a “trend” these past few years that I’ve been teaching…that of some…not all, mind you…some…of my students putting their brains on cruise-control in mid-November and not re-emerging into reality until mid-January.

Need a spring internship? “I’ll look during the holiday break and hopefully find ‘something.’”

Need a recommendation for an internship or job? “I’m sorry to bother you this (Sunday) evening, but could you write a letter of recommendation for me…oh, and they need it tomorrow morning.”

Sadly, these are all real-life examples not only that I have run into at Curry College, where I teach most of the Communication Department’s Public Relations Concentration courses, but that my colleagues at other schools have experienced as well.

I realize that college is considered by many to be a “transitional period” between high school (youth) and working life (adulthood) and, therefore, deserving of good times.

Fortunately, though, there are enough others (hence the some up above) who recognize the seriousness of this time in life and dive headlong into the “maturing” process…and have fun along the way as well!

These are the ones who I champion and shepherd carefully along the way.

My belief is that these young men and women will go out, heads held proudly high, and get those entry-level positions that will put them solidly on the road to success.

The others? Well….

This time of season (mid-November until mid-January) is a great time to take stock of your assets - resume…work/internship experience…network of contacts - and start fine-tuning each.

Things change. Priorities shift. Does your resume reflect those changes?

Even at this point in my sketchy career, I re-visit my resume regularly to see if what it says about my previous life as a public relations professional and my current life as a public relations professor still “sounds” like me.

The same holds true for work and/or internship experience…does your resume show you at your best?

I always remember the young fellow who asked a human resources colleague and me if his summer job as a waiter in a restaurant back home should be listed on his resume.

We simultaneously asked him, “How long have you been doing this job?”

His response: “Five years.”

Us: “Yes! You’re demonstrating longevity. You’ve been developing customer service skills, relationship skills…all the things that go into the making of a public relations professional!”

Networking…I’m gearing up for the PRSA Boston/Publicity Club of New England “Holiday Party” in a couple of weeks. I always look forward to this event…no agenda…just an evening of camaraderie…and networking, and I’ll walk away with at least a half-dozen new contacts that I can turn to for possible internship opportunities…or jobs…for my students.

Start today…reach out to someone…a professional who you’ve met either as a speaker in one of your classes or at a professional meeting (or on the golf course, as did one of my students a few years back when he was working as a caddy)…and send him or her an email expressing your appreciation for the advice he or she shared.

It’s a small gesture that can pay big dividends by starting a relationship. There’s no guarantee that anything will come of your effort, but you never know until you try!

The main thing is to take positive steps so that you will be prepared for the inevitable event…graduation and…gasp!...”real” life! Take action…today!

"I will not steep my speech in lies; the test of any man lies in action."

Pindar, "Olympian Odes," IV, l. 27

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: “Optimism and Opportunity”

I’m gearing up for the PRSA International Conference held this year in San Francisco. Although I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to go to almost every conference since I joined in 1981, I’m still looking forward to attending.

You’d think this would be “old” by now…that I would be looking at this annual pilgrimage as a burden…“I have to do this as a public relations professional.” But that’s not the case.

Instead, I find myself getting increasingly excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Ø  New things to learn

Ø  New people to meet

Ø  New cities to explore

This is something I try to hammer home to my undergraduate students at Curry College, especially those in my Public Relations Concentration who will (I hope) follow my footsteps and will make the PR profession their career “home.”

They soon will be venturing out into the professional world and need to understand the value of taking advantage of opportunities to learn, to meet, and to expand their horizons.

The optimism aspect is, or should be, obvious…a firm belief that learning new things and meeting new people is beneficial…that good things will come from these actions.

The opportunity part comes from the interactions that take place throughout the conference…in the breakout sessions when public relations professionals share their experiences and lessons learned as well as in the many relationships that are sparked among the conference attendees.

It’s a proactive endeavor, though. You can’t stand in a corner and wait for them to come to you…something that took me a couple of years to learn.

At first I just went to the conference and chatted (hesitantly) with folks at the dinner table or sitting beside me in sessions.

Then I figured out that, if I wanted to really get my money’s worth from attending, I would have to reach out and engage in conversation with people.

Now this is a “duh” moment for a lot of you, but, as many of you know…I rarely miss a chance to remind you!...I’m an introvert…not good in crowds of strangers. So imagine if you can me walking into a ballroom jammed to the rafters with unfamiliar faces! Not a pretty sight.

But I kept at it.

Why? Because along the way, others reached out to me and made me feel welcome which, in turn, encouraged me to reach out to others.

I’m not saying all’s wine and roses now, but I’ve gotten reasonably comfortable cruising the crowd to pick out familiar faces and, at the same time, walking up to total strangers, sticking out my hand, and introducing myself.

The outcome?

Ø  I’ve made awesome new friends from across the country, as well as from other countries.

Ø  I’ve met fascinating PR professionals from all walks of life.

Ø  I’ve established contacts in the areas of the PR profession that I’m interested in who I can turn to for advice and counsel.

In short, I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth by attending both PRSA events and those put on by other organizations.

And I know that the same will hold true this year in San Francisco.

I’m optimistic that I will come away with a boatload of new acquaintances whose knowledge and expertise will broaden my own capabilities.

And I am determined to take advantage of every single opportunity that arises to do so.

"Art is long, life short; judgment difficult, opportunity transient."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" [1786-1830], bk. VII, ch. 9

Your Career and You: “Smiles Go Miles”

One thing I’ve become aware of as I wander aimlessly around campus and around town is the growing number of otherwise intelligent humanoids patrolling the pathways with their faces stuck in some sort of mobile device.

Eye-to-eye contact apparently is neither practiced nor, it would seem, encouraged.

It suddenly (today starting out dark and dreary) occurred to me that I’ve overlooked an important aspect of career advice when discussing careers, internships, job searches, and everything in between with my undergraduate Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration, as well as with my graduate Organizational and Professional Communication students at Regis College.

I hammer home the absolute necessity of having good writing skills, being able to conduct basic research, and having some degree of creativity in program development and planning.

But I haven’t been talking as much as I should about the fact that, at least in the public relations profession, human contact is kind of part of the whole package.

At some point in your life, you will be required to interact with others…employers, co-workers, potential clients…media.

And “texting” isn’t going to cut it. You are going to be required to actually look someone in the eyes and talk to him or her. (Cue anguished wail)

A good way to become comfortable with this (alien) concept is to start practicing as you roam about campus between classes, on your way to lunch, heading back to your residence hall…

Instead of feverishly checking your phone to make sure you didn’t miss that all-important IM from your friend who you just saw three minutes ago in class, look at fellow students…and professors…who might be walking in your direction.

Make eye contact.

Say “good morning/afternoon” as you pass.

You might be surprised to see that they won’t suddenly burst into flames or turn to stone.

In fact, they just might talk back to you!

Now I know I’m suggesting something very foreign to your current level of experience, but trust me…really cool things happen from these adventures.

You meet interesting people. I often tell my students about starting a conversation with a fellow in an elevator at a PRSA International Conference several years ago. I commented on the interesting attire that he was wearing. He turned out to be the Director of Tourism for Kenya, and he was on his way to a function where he would be recognized for the amazing PR programs he had created to promote tourism in his country. Very cool!

You make new networking contacts. I try to attend two or three events...public relations, community, social...a month, and, each time, I walk away with a minimum of four or five business cards of interesting people I’ve met. Some of them make it into my database depending on circumstances; some don’t. But the database steadily grows…and I have contacts not only for personal activities but also as potential resources for my students’ internships and jobs.

You find jobs. I often (some would say “too often”) talk about my move from Massachusetts to Hawaii in search of a new start on life. I hit the ground running, with more than two dozen informational interviews scheduled before leaving Massachusetts and dozens more within a couple of weeks of hitting Hawaii. I scored three serious job interviews within a month of arriving…all from contacts made at PRSA Hawaii, AMA Hawaii, IABC Hawaii and other meetings that I either finagled my way into or was invited to attend. And I wound up with what probably the whole world now knows was the BEST public relations job I’ve EVER had!

All this and more has happened for one simple reason.

I looked at, smiled at, and spoke to someone.

“Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.”

Christina Georgina Rossetti, “Remember” [1862], l. 1

Your Career and You: "Life's Little Surprises...Talk to People!"

I was in Chestnut Hill (MA) Bloomingdale's the other day looking at things I couldn't afford, didn't need, and, of course, desperately wanted, when a sales assistant caught my eye.

If you don't know, I'm a transplanted Southerner and am absolutely genetically incapable of not speaking to folks I see in stores, on the street, and just about everywhere else (except the subway, where weirder people than I seem to congregate).

Well, I said "hello" to Geneva, the sales assistant, and we struck up a conversation.

Turns out she is from Americus, Georgia, a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my own hometown of Dublin. Instant connection there!

What a coincidence!

Also found out her son was born in 1978...the year Margaret and I moved from Hampton, Virginia to a state where, watching the weather reports earlier that year, we declared "only crazy people live." (Note: Except for a three-year sojourn in wonderfully laid-back Honolulu, Hawaii, we've been here ever since.)

Also turns out Geneva used to work for Boston Edison (now part of NStar) and knows my friend Walter Salvi, who now heads the community relations activities for NStar.

What all this means both for you and for my Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as for my graduate students at Regis College, where I teach in the Organizational and Professional Communication area, is that the world is really, really small.

You never know where you might run into someone who has some sort of connection with an organization you're interested in working for. The "trick" is to connect with that person.

It's called "networking," and I preach the sermon almost daily in every class.

• Go to professional meetings for associations in the area you're interested. Here's my list of regulars: Boston Chapter, Public Relations Society of America; Publicity Club of New England; Social Media Club of Boston.
• Take advantage of special programs offered by organizations in your desired career field. I'm on the mailing list for several PR firms and other organizations, and I go to as many of their programs as possible...to learn and to network.
• Go out with your friends and your friends' friends...some of the best leads come from casual conversations over a beer/soda/chocolate milk.

And, talk to folks in the stores where you shop and the restaurants where you eat. Once again, just like my chance meeting with Geneva, you don't know who knows who.

This is what makes up what I think of as "life's little surprises." Learning how to look at people and speak to people can open up Forrest Gump's "box of chocolates." And, in the midst of all those yummy goodies just might be a connection that you can use.

"The man seeking his first job or trying to change the job he has should remember that third parties can approach employers as friendly middlemen. First of all, people he knows, experienced friends with knowledge and contacts, can broach the matter for him and can presumably be depended on to do a friendly service. Professional and trade associations know what goes on in their fields." - Edward L. Bernays, "Your Future in Public Relations" (Richards Rosen Press, 1961)

Your Career and You: “Use Your ‘Wings’!”

I was driving home from an appointment this morning when a bird darted out into the road in front of me. Now this isn’t an uncommon thing, but this particular bird caught my attention.

First of all…he (I’ll assume it was a “guy” bird until told otherwise) didn’t strike me as being the brightest candle on the menorah.

And the look of sheer panic in his beady little eyes told me he really hadn’t thought this through very carefully.

So he hunkered down and picked up speed…running.

My Thoughts...

“It’s a road, for Pete’s sake!...And you’re a bird!!

Why in heaven’s name are you running across the road trying to beat the oncoming traffic?!?

Some Almighty Being gave you wings…not to use as decorations…to fly.”

Then, me being me, I started thinking about conversations I’ve had recently with students at Curry College, where I oversee the Communication Department’s undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most PR courses, and at Regis College, where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area.

While some of the folks with whom I’ve been chatting both in person and online seem to have their respective acts together and are diligently mining the career opportunities that they discover, others…not so much.

These latter “birds” only bubble up to the surface sporadically…usually when panic sets in because the month’s rent is due and they realize where they are in the jobsearch process.

So why “wings”?

“Wings” are my metaphor for “contacts”…people who can help you rise out of your current situation and soar over the others…your competition for that job.

Where do you find these wings?

In a number of ways:

• In-person networking (professional events like your local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, American Marketing Association, Social Media Club and others)
• Online networking (professional groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms)
• Existing relationships (former professors, advisors, classmates, mentors, your family members…this list can go on forever)

The point here is that you don’t have to “run” through your job search. You can take advantage of the uplifting support of new and existing friends, colleagues, classmates, teachers…anyone and everyone who can give you a boost.

Sometimes that boost is a referral or a suggested place to look.

Other times, it’s a comforting reassurance that you’re not in this alone…that there are others on the sidelines who believe in you and are cheering you on.

Whatever the case, they’re there for you, so take advantage of them.

Use your “wings” and, with luck, soar into a new opportunity or a fresh start!

“No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.”

-William Blake, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” (Proverbs of Hell, l. 15) [1790-1793]

Your Career and You: "Try New Things" *

I was sitting in my “regular” coffee shop in suburban Taipei this morning all comfy with my Americano (aka: “black”) cuppa, freshly-baked raisin bread, and English-language newspaper ("Taipei Times") all ready to chill and ease into the day.

Suddenly I realized that someone was standing beside my table.

I looked up to see a young fellow looking eagerly at me and apparently screwing up the courage to speak.

He then introduced himself and asked if he could sit.

Now the misanthrope in me doesn’t like to be disturbed pre-caffeination.

But the Southerner in me can’t say “no” to a stranger’s outreach.

Dammit!

So I invited him to sit, and we chatted for about 30 minutes about the United States, politics, Taiwan’s growth in general, etc.

Finally I realized he wasn’t going to budge, so I decided to end this unplanned but not totally unpleasant disruption of my routine. I wished him well and left.

As I was walking back home, I started thinking about what had just happened and why.

First…my perspective.

As my undergrad Communication students at Curry College , especially my Public Relations Concentration disciples, figure out pretty quickly, I like to try new things.

I’m not an “early adopter,” but I’m usually pretty quick to jump on the bus.

But…as they also learn…I can be a pretty stubborn creature of habit and don’t like it when some things change…as when my morning hangout here in Taipei, The Bread Societe’, remodeled while I was “away.”

Slightly different clientele…still somewhat upscale, but different in an indefinable way.

Which means I will be cruising the neighborhood to see if there’s another comparable hangout where I can jump-start my mornings.

Anywho, back to this morning and his perspective…

I have to give “Steady” (the young fellow’s chosen English name) credit. He was willing to, on spying a foreign face, step up and start a conversation… in a language that, for him, was unfamiliar.

He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he was willing to take the chance…to try something new.

Kind of threw him off when he learned that I am a college professor…my colleagues here (Taiwan) get a very high level of respect (hint, hint)…but he plugged ahead.

And we both had a rather pleasant time of it.

There’s a lesson to be learned here.

“Routines” can be a good thing…until they turn into “ruts.”

It’s nice…like wearing an old pair of shoes…to keep doing the same things day in and day out.

But you don’t learn in a rut…and you certainly don’t progress in a rut.

So be willing to step out of your comfort zone.

Network...Start up conversations with total strangers on the off chance that you might meet someone interesting or learn something new.

Learn...Take courses on topics that you know nothing about but think, from the description, could be interesting or add to your skill set.

Explore...Look at job possibilities or internships outside the “normal” selection that your academic advisors and career services counselors offer. (Note: I am not suggesting that either of these latter options is wrong!)

Try something new!!

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”- Yogi Berra

* Note: Post slightly edited 06-02-2013 to appease local (Taiwan) readers.

Your Career and You: "The Future...It's Here...Now"

This is that glorious time of the year when birds are chirping outside my window and students are doing meltdowns in my office at Curry College, where I tinker with the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses.

It’s that wonderful time when the first flower buds peek tentatively toward the sunny sky,...

...and a look of total panic gleams in the eyes of seniors facing the grim reality that, in spite of their best efforts, they are facing the end of life as they’ve known it for four-ish years and graduation is upon them.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the first or only person to say this, but that’s the thing about the future. Sooner or later…it turns into today.

(Cue bloodcurdling wails.)

It’s not just you students who hit this unavoidable wall. I accidentally read my driver’s license the other day, did the math, and concluded that I’m officially and inescapably a “senior citizen.”

Totally unfair. I’m too young to be old. Don’t have time for it. But it’s here…now.

The problem is, I don’t really know what I want to do when I grow up. I had a ball for some 40 years working in public relations for various organizations in various and sundry mundane and exotic locations.

And I’ve been as happy as a pig in mud (little Southernism there!) for the past 10-ish years teaching both undergraduate and graduate public relations courses to up-and-coming generations of practitioners.

But…like many of my students (not all, mind you…some of them are frighteningly organized and prepared)...I’m still trying to figure out what’s next. “What will the next phase of my life bring?”

This is where it gets tricky. I’d like to just continue doing what I’m doing. But my professional self says I should get out of the way and let someone else….someone earlier in his or her career…take the reins. Bring fresher ideas and fresher experience into the classroom.

But, to quote my ever-despairing students, “I don’t want to graduate yet. I’m not ready!”

All the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of life aren’t in place yet. Or so you might think.

This is where we get serious.

You are ready. You just don’t realize it yet.

The pieces are there. You just haven’t figured out how each piece fits with its counterparts to complete the picture.

This is where I, and my other professional colleagues, come in.

Talk to us, for heaven’s sake! Ask us how we got where we are today. Ask us what we wish we had known when we started out. Ask us…!

I’ve been invited to talk to the First-Year Honors Students at Curry after spring break. My plan is to tell them just what I suggested above. How I got where I am today. What I wish I had known or had access to earlier in my career as well as while I was in college. What I would do differently knowing what I know today.

And I will share my boundless optimism for their future.

The resources available to students are mind-boggling:
· Career Services offices are ready and eager to provide advice, suggestions, recommendations…job opportunities.
· Faculty advisors can share personal experiences and professional connections.
· Local and national associations (the Public Relations Society of America, for example, as well as the Boston Chapter, PRSA) have professional and job-search resources.

Take advantage of all these options. I did.

The future is a world limited by ourselves; in it we discover only what concerns us and, sometimes, by chance, what interests those whom we love the most." - Maurice Maeterlinck, Joyzelle, Act i

Your Career and You: "Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave..."

 
No, I’m not going to get all Sir Walter Scott-y on you. It’s just that this particular phrase from “Marmion” provides a cool intro to my thoughts on networking and why you must do it.

Last night, we hosted the second annual PRSA Boston/PRSSA “Your Career in Public Relations” event at Curry College, where I lead the Communication Department’s undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the undergrad PR courses. (I also teach in Regis College’s Organizational and Professional Communications graduate program, but Curry is where I hang out most of the time.)

The program featured a panel of PR professionals who briefly talked about their respective careers, and then we broke off into what I refer to as “speed dating” sessions where attendees had a chance to meet one-on-one or in small groups with professionals from areas in which they had an interest.

Every single speaker…ranging from fresh-out-of-college (she actually graduates in May) to senior practitioner (two of whom, like me, have made several significant job switches in the course of their career)…stressed time and again the vital importance of networking as part of your job search.

As one speaker put it so well, “Networking is not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing investment in your future.”

Couldn’t say it better myself. I’ve said time and again in previous posts that networking…making and nurturing contacts…is one of the most important aspects of the job search/job refinement process. Some people do it very well; others not so much.

And it’s not easy, especially for those of us who, again, as I have said a bazillion times about myself, are “card-carrying introverts.”

The thing is, you don’t know what you don’t know…and networking is one way to fill in some of the gaps.

Fewer and fewer jobs, especially in the public relations profession, are being filled through time-worn traditional media advertising.

Word-of-mouth is becoming more and more the norm. “I’m looking for a (fill in the blank). Who do you know who might be a good candidate?”

So what does this mean for you, the job seeker?

It means, simply, that you have to put yourself “out there.” You have to “see and be seen.”

It also means that you have to do your homework and become aware of the opportunities for you to be “out there.”

What are the professional PR-related organizations in your area? Bookmark their websites and check regularly for upcoming events. Subscribe to their newsletters if they have one so that you receive notifications and can keep up with other activities that they might have going on.

Here in the Boston area, for example, we have a plethora of organizations from which to choose: Boston Chapter, PRSA; Publicity Club of New  England; Yankee Chapter, IABC; Social Media Club of Boston; Boston Women Communicators, and probably a couple that I’ve missed.

I regularly attend PRSA, Pub Club, and Social Media Club events, and I’m never at a loss for new contacts and new job or internship opportunities for my students.

I take a pocketful of business cards and make my way around the room, either chatting with folks who I already know and catching up on their activities since we last crossed paths or…not easy for the king of introverts!… walking up to strangers, introducing myself, and starting a conversation from scratch.

Sometimes I come home with a pile of business cards; sometimes just two or three. But, in both cases, they are either new contacts or I have updated information for current contacts.

Again, I’m not the best example of this craft given my own personality issues. But my contact database is continually expanding, and I always have new possibilities for my students’ internships or job searches.

So take a cue from Sir Walter…build yourself a “tangled web”…not “to deceive” but to benefit from...with a network of contacts that you can draw on now and forever.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." - Jane Howard