I had an unexpected...but totally unsurprising...email from a newly-graduated senior earlier this week relating to his job search post graduation. Basically, he had no clue how to start (and apparently has done zero preparation for) this new phase of his now-adult life.
He's posted his resume on Monster.com (now there is a giant waste of time!), is (finally) on LinkedIn, and is following me on Twitter. Oy!
I say "unexpected" because this fellow has not once spoken to me in the four months I've known him...including the two classes he took with me this past semester!!...about his interests or intent after graduation.
Now the reality has set in, and he asks "which companies should I apply to?"
Nothing about "here's what I'm interested in" or "I've done a couple of internships and have found that I like/am good at..."
Nope. Just "which companies should I apply to?"
As perfect an example of "kneejerk" job search planning as I have come across recently.
I also said "unsurprising" earlier because I am constantly nagging my PR concentration troops at Curry College, where I oversee the Public Relations concentration and teach most of the PR courses, to start their planning early...like NOW...in their sophomore year, junior at the latest. Don't wait until final semester of your senior year!
Most of them are starting to listen to me...some not so much. And there's not a whole lot I can do other than keep on nagging.
And a few...like this fellow...choose to ignore my advice.
So be it. As the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." The same holds true with some college students and life preparation. Just like doing assignments ahead of time rather than 10 minutes before class.
Back to my young feller and his now-jerky knee.
I suggested (two days ago...haven't heard "boo" since) that he venture over to Curry College's Career Services office to look through their excellent database of job opportunities and other information and get his thoughts focused on areas he might be interested in or jobs that sound like something he would like to learn more about.
Then, I suggested, he should get back to me with a better focus on what he'd like to explore. I'm delighted...as are many of my PR (and other fields) colleagues in the Boston area and elsewhere...to help young people out with their initial foray into the working world. But we're not mind-readers; nor are we miracle-workers.
The bottom line, as I sit here in rainy downtown Taipei, Taiwan, on vacation(-ish), is that, particularly in today's highly competitive job market, planning and preparation are crucial to success. Kneejerk actions simply will NOT work!
"Amid a multitude of projects, no plan is devised." ~ Publius Syrus (42 B.C.)
| AUTHOR: | |
| QUOTATION: | |
| ATTRIBUTION: | |
The past two weeks have been filled with activities and emotions that, while normal...especially in academia...still manage to raise stress levels to astronomical highs.
End of semester. End of year. End of college life. On to the "other side" for my senior student friends at Curry College and my graduate degree friends at Regis College.
If it's possible to be "fearfully intrepid," they're doing it. I can tell in part from Facebook updates, scattered emails, and ad hoc meetings in the Student Center and elsewhere.
The training wheels are off and the water wings stored away. Resumes are undergoing...again...review and edit.
To put it in the words of the inimitable Phineas T. Barnum, "It's SHOW TIME!"
And it is, my young friends. You're moving on into what is, for most of you, the third ring of the circus that is life. The first was high school; the second, college.
I call it "circus" for good reason. There will be thrills; there will be chills; and, occasionally, they will send in the clowns when things don't go well.
But you will always have the safety net beneath, even if you don't see it. It's your family...your friends...and, yes, your professors...all of whom will be there cheering you on and ready to pick you up and dust you off when you trip...as you will once or twice...along the way.
But you will succeed. Why? Because you can, and I believe...deeply and fervently...that you can.
You've made me very, very proud...as your professor, your friend, your mentor, your nagging conscience. You've discovered the spark that will light the way to your future.
You're ready to move on to the other side of life...as an independent, capable, promising young professional.
Life is good.
"Farewell to you and the youth I have spent with you.
It was but yesterday we met in a dream.
You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky.
But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn.
The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part.
If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.
And if our hands should meet in another dream we shall build another tower in the sky."
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet - "The Farewell"
It's the end of yet another semester and another year, and all kinds of thoughts are racing through my head.
"What difference did I make this year?" ... "Will my superstars continue to shine post graduation?" ... "What did I learn?"
These thoughts started bubbling after a chat I had with a student at Curry College...a graduating senior, I learned...who had switched her major to Communication and found that she really enjoyed the field, in particular the Public Relations aspect.
My response upon learning this? "I wish we had had this conversation a year go, when we could have worked out a plan of action for you."
We parted agreeing that we would continue this dialogue over the summer and that I would work with her to help identify some potential avenues to pursue for employment.
To put it mildly, I was surprised that this student had just now floated onto my radar screen. Am I the only faculty member with whom she has come in contact who has urged her to explore her options...her strengths...and her passions?
She's a very good communicator. Didn't this strength show through in any of her other courses?
She's very focused and organized. Ditto.
She loves thinking through and solving problems. Hmmm...
But that was then...and now she and I have a plan. And maybe these attributes simply didn't rise to the surface previously.
That's what makes this gig I'm doing now so much fun...opportunities to uncover, usually by accident, budding PR superstars. Not only that, but being able to work with them to sort out the myriad possibilities available to them depending on their interests and their strengths.
It's often a pleasant surprise for both of us, as in (me saying) "I had no idea you were interested in that area. Cool! Let's figure out where you should start looking!"
And, from the other side of the conversation: "I've always been interested in that area. I just didn't know that I would also become interested in public relations and that I could combine those two interests."
Your basic "win-win."
It all starts with simple but meaningful conversations, though, and you, as a student/soon-to-be graduate, have to take the lead. I can't read your mind. Talk to me.
Mention to me, even casually, things that you enjoy doing...hobbies, leisure activities, books you've read...stuff that gives me a clearer picture of you the "non-student," the human being.
Then I can start mentioning to you things that fall into one or more of those areas of interest that have a public relations (or other...I really don't expect everyone to want to go into PR!) focus.
Talk to me!
"And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand." - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, "On Talking."
Nope...not my typo. Belongs to a student (graduating senior, I might add) who asked me if I would be so kind as to provide a reference on LinkedIn.
And for those of you who wonder why I take great pleasure in banging my head against cement walls...
It seems like I've been on this rant forever...it definitely (or defiantly according, apparently, to some students' versions of SpellCheck) feels that way to me!
And I've now taught at five Boston-area colleges, finally landing at Curry College where I head up the public relations concentration and teach most of the undergrad PR courses. I also teach, though, graduate communication courses at Regis College...similar problems lurk there as well.
But I can't let go. Not when I get something like this: I was wondering if you could write me a recommendation for Lindkin? If you can that would be great I appericate it alot!
Not all requests made of me are of this caliber. Most are actually professional-looking; a few not so much.
I keep telling my young disciples, "Attention to detail is a defining characteristic of a professional communicator."
I've seen water slide off a duck's back slower than this advice is ignored.
Then I had the pleasure of reviewing a student's resume this afternoon. He had already had it vetted by two different faculty members, neither of whom caught the error in his 15-word-total address block at the top.
I don't know where their minds were during the resume review process...don't want to go down that alleyway!
But the question remains: "When are you ("student") going to learn how to write properly? What do I need to do to get your attention as you're preparing to enter the professional world and your cover letter and resume are going to be your initial introduction?"
I'm tired of hearing the banalities like "Well, you need to understand that they grew up texting and Facebooking... grammar, punctuation, and spelling haven't been a part of their formative years."
To use a quote from 4077 M*A*S*H (one of my all-time favorite TV programs) Commander Colonel Sherman T. Potter: "Bull-hockey."
As the communication profession continues to evolve, certain factors remain unchanged, among them "accuracy of information."
Ivy Lee, arguably one of the "Fathers of Public Relations," had this to say in his Declaration of Principles: "In brief, our plan is...frankly, and openly, on behalf of business concerns and public institutions, to supply...accurate information concerning subjects which it is of value and interest to the public to know about." (This was 1906, folks.)
Telling me you "appericate" my help doesn't cut it.
"I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back again." - Oscar Wilde [1854-1900]
Yep, it's that time of the year again when the soft breezes waft gently, squirrels play "chicken" with oncoming cars, and students get all googley-eyed at the thought of summer... as well as, for some, their future.
The inspiration for this week's ruminations was a chat I had with a student in my "Principles of Public Relations" class at Curry College where I oversee the COM Department's public relations concentration and teach most of the PR courses.
This particular student...a sports-enthusiast (no surprise there)...had learned of possible job openings at ComCast SportsNet in the communications area (BIG surprise there).
Why?
He's a senior. I've known him for about a year. Never a peep about interest in communications as an actual career field.
How can this be, you ask?
Easy. Not everyone who pursues a Communication major actually plans to work in communication. That's the beauty of this particular major...the knowledge and skills that you acquire in the process prepare you for an amazing variety of work environments.
You pick up, of course, writing and speaking skills. You learn the intricacies of interpersonal communication. You fine-tune your presentation skills. You learn how to communicate both in a business and a social environment.
Take all this and combine it with that particular area of professional life in which you truly have an interest...finance, education, criminal justice, you name it...and you have a leg up on your entry-level competitors who specialized in just one of these areas with no communication exposure.
But, back to my student. He indirectly was asking if I would grease the skids on his application for a marketing position reporting to a friend of mine. I didn't have a chance to grill him on his motivation, but I fully intend to do so.
Why? Because he will have zero qualifications other than a diploma and a love of sports and hasn't done anything to differentiate himself from the herd of other applicants who will be vying for this very same position.
It's a smidge late in the game to turn the clock back and start all over again. Other folks have been racking up internship after internship, homing in on their strengths, preferred work environments, areas of interest, etc.
And it's not like I haven't been yammering on and on about the importance of internships in all my classes.
That's how I got my start in public relations...as a Public Affairs Intern working for the US Army Training and Doctrine Command at Ft. Monroe, VA. Learned virtually everything there was to know about the career field. Took to it like a duck to water.
I was late to the game myself, having entered the world with an English degree and an unnerving interest in 18th century British literature.
Eight years in the Air Force had given me a chance to (accidentally, I hasten to emphasize) develop basic PR skills including writing, public speaking, event planning and management, crisis communication, and a myriad others. Thus to the Army as a civilian public affairs guy.
So, back to the student. I have to get clear in my own mind what it is he hopes to accomplish here. Does he think he is going to waltz into an interview armed with a shiny-new sheepskin and a smile and nail a coveted entry-level job?
I obviously don't have the answer to this puzzle yet, but I will have before I offer to intervene on his behalf with ComCast SportsNet.
But this episode lends even more credence to my ongoing mantra of "internship, internship, internship." Why?
> The economy is still faltering along...optimism is dawning but not fully in place.
> Competition even for entry-level jobs...especially for entry-level jobs...is brutal.
> You have to differentiate yourself from the rest of the flock.
> Successful internships make a difference...a big difference.
I hope I will be able to report in a future post the successful resolution of this situation. I'm not filled with great hope, but I'm also not always right. Fingers crossed on this one.
"Minorities are individuals or groups of individuals especially qualified. The masses are the collection of people not especially qualified."
Jose' Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses [1930], prologue
This past week, I had conversations with a couple of my students, one in the graduate communications program at Regis College, the other in the undergrad communication program at Curry College, about “volunteer overload.”
Both have hit that “eyes rolling back in the sockets” stage where they’re wondering if their heads are going to explode from all that they’re handling.
And, in both instances, I was able to assure them that they will survive but that they need to learn how to pronounce a very powerful two-letter word.
“NO.”
Now you can utter this little jewel all Louisa May Alcott-y sweetly and gently. Or you can roar like King Kong when he figured out that his Empire State Building escapade was going to end really badly.
Either way, you have to learn how to say it.
I also would love to say that I’m speaking as one who has mastered this fine art. Can’t.
I, like my students, am at pretty close to maximum overload. Between graduate thesis reading, book reading/review writing, exam grading, and new course development, in addition to the ever-evolving responsibilities that came with my election to the Public Relations Society of America’s Board of Directors…my head is going to explode.
Not looking for sympathy (unless you just happen to feel so inclined…hint, hint!). Just stating the situation.
We do this to ourselves for all kinds of reasons. A feeling of obligation. A desire to belong in some way. A worry that “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done.” A fear of being ostracized for not being “a team player.”
The list can go on for pages. The bottom line is…we do it because we don’t know how to say “no.”
The obvious and very real danger…in addition to our own mental/physical self-destruction…is that, inevitably, something either doesn’t get done, or it gets done poorly.
Either way, we let someone in addition to ourselves down. We disappoint someone we care about. We embarrass ourselves. Or worse, we embarrass others.
There’s not a secret solution to this conundrum (I’ve used this word twice in the past week; has a cool sound to it, yes?). There’s only your (or my) facing up to reality and realizing that you can’t possibly take on another project. You’ve hit your upper limit on effective, efficient productivity, and it just isn’t going to turn out well.
You then have to look the requestor squarely in the eye and say, “Thank you so much for thinking of me for this project, but I really can’t take it on at this time and deliver what both you and I would feel is a product we both know I’m capable of.”
Note that I haven’t said “boo” about helping find someone else to fill the void.
Unless you truly have just had a conversation with a friend or colleague who expressed a desire to do exactly what you have been asked to do, don’t offer to help. Because if you do, you will have done just what we’ve been saying not to do…you’ve said…albeit indirectly… “yes.”
So take stock of where you are in projects, both mandatory and voluntary. Do a realistic calculation of how much of your time is going to be consumed in total.
Then form your lips into a circle and say… “No.”
“‘Yes,’ I answered you last night;
‘No,’ this morning, sir, I say:
Colors seen by candlelight
Will not look the same by day.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, The Lady’s “Yes,” [1844], st. 1
Two separate incidents within the last couple of weeks have given me cause to reflect on what seems to be a growing trend in "responsibility avoidance."
The most recent was an article in the April 3 Boston Sunday Globe about the state's Transportation Secretary who apparently was...or chose to be..."out of the loop" on matters relating to falling light fixtures (yes..."falling," not "failing") in a heavily-traveled Boston tunnel.
The other cause for reflection was a meeting with an internship advisee who is having problems with his internship; he puts the blame squarely on the person in charge of the organization he's interning with.
The similarity between the two events was what caught my attention. Basically, neither individual is admitting that the problem might really be his fault.
While I'll give the student a little leeway on this matter based on his youth and relative inexperience, I have a little problem with the guy at Transportation.
He's not a "newbie." He was a successful attorney for quite a few years (hmmm...lawyer...transportation secretary...I won't wander down that path!), so he theoretically has some business management smarts.
This fellow admits he didn't consider the public's "need to know." To which I ask, "What is it about 'public servant' and 'public's need to know' that isn't connecting?"
For the student...what is it about communicating with your supervisor that you're not getting? Why aren't you sitting down for a serious conversation about your needs as a student-intern and the organization's needs?
In both cases, I would offer that the root cause in both cases is fear of being held accountable. "If I don't ask, I can't be blamed."
That works maybe once in a blue moon, but rarely more often than that. As we see more and more, in the media and in daily life, people are being held to their responsibilities. They are being evaluated on what they are supposed to do.
So, to use a phrase from my favorite television program, South Park, "what we have learned here" is you have to ask questions...you have to make sure you have the answers... and you have to hold yourself accountable for your actions and your responsibilities.
It's called "being grown up."
"When a member of my family complains to me of having bitten his tongue, pinched a finger, or the like, he does not get the sympathy he hopes for but instead the question:
'Why did you do that?'"
Sigmund Freud, "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" [1910], ch. 8
