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: "Yearning for Learning"

I just spent a remarkable three days in San Francisco at the Public Relations Society of America’s annual International Conference.

As usual, I came back home with a headful of information gleaned from the breakout sessions I attended as well as the countless encounters I had with other PR professionals attending the conference.

My undergrad Communication students at Curry College have a little difficulty wrapping their sleepy heads around this thing that I do so regularly.

“You’re a teacher, Kirk. Why do you spend your money and your time traveling to these things and then ‘all’ you do is sit in rooms and listen to other teachers?”

Logical enough question with a (in my mind) logical enough answer.

I can’t not be learning. Nor, apparently, can thousands of other like-minded souls.

I wasn’t always consciously like this. Back in prehistoric times…right after graduating from the University of Georgia (planned) and joining the Air Force (unplanned)…I thought I had checked off the “learning box” on my life’s resume.

But I started traveling to other parts of the world (Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Virginia) and realized that I was pretty ignorant when it came to “worldly affairs.”

This epiphany actually occurred when I got married and brought my foreign-born wife, who had…and still has…a thirst for knowledge and curiosity about life in general, back to my country.

I gradually realized that, as I was introducing her to America and American ways, I, too, was learning new stuff…and I liked it!

And so it began and continues…my seemingly never-ending quest for knowledge. I collected a couple more degrees in the process and ultimately earned my “APR” (Accredited inPublic Relations) designation from PRSA.

What I realized in the process, though, was that I wasn’t alone.

The more I went to PRSA and other organizations’ programs, the more I saw and interacted with others just like me.

In some cases…PRSA, for example…I see hundreds of familiar faces year after year, as well as hundreds more new faces…new “students” in the learning game.

They’re seasoned professionals as well as soon-to-be new practitioners. They’re from all parts of the US and from all over the world.

But they…we…all share a common trait…a yearning for learning that keeps us motivated and energized…and coming back for more.

That’s the great think about our profession. We are expected by clients or employers to either have the answers or know where to find them.

Complacent mental inertia doesn’t play a part in this…curiosity (something I also write about frequently) and a thirst for knowledge do.

In my world, there’s always something new to be discovered just around the corner or a bright shiny new object to figure out how to use.

As I indulge my curiosity and thirst, I find that I am better able to address the challenges of the modern-day world of communication…especially public relations. And I do so with confidence born of learning.

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Remarks prepared for delivery at the Trade Mart in Dallas [November 22, 1963]

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: "Don't Be Invisible"

I’ve noticed recently, especially since I launched a “Social Media Communication” course at Curry College, where I oversee the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the undergrad PR courses, the incredibly low profile that a majority of my students have.

It’s not that they’re not aware of the need to “see and be seen.”

It’s just that they don’t seem to have grasped the true meaning of “social media presence” in today’s ultra-wired world…the need to “see and be seen” on at least the most popular platforms.

If they were studying science (I’m gonna hear from the Biology Department on this!), this might not be so much of an issue. But they’re Communication majors, and the very name implies a knowledge…and utilization…of current avenues for both getting the message out and being “seen” by others.

It’s not confined to my troops at Curry, however. I’ve been invited to present a seminar on social media’s role in career advancement and job search at Regis College, where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area. The objective is to present a clear explanation of why social media, in this case LinkedIn specifically but also other platforms, is a “must be there” reality today.

I “get” that not everyone is or is going to be social media savvy. But I’m not talking about “everyone.” I’m talking about college seniors and grad students who are feverishly combing online job sites and (or at least, I hope) career services job listings at their college or university.

Note the emphasis on “I hope.”

Colleges' career services offices, from what I saw in my peregrinations about the state a few years back as a part-time professor at several colleges in the Boston area, are a woefully underutilized resource. Granted not all are what I would classify as “with it,” but the majority have databases that can at least pry open the employment gates so that you can catch a glimpse of the wonders that await you.

At Curry, I'm happy to say, we offer a robust selection of services and resources for both current students as well as alums...and people find jobs or internships regularly by taking advantage of the advice, assistance, and guidance offered.

But that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

The other is establishing yourself “out there”…creating an online “you” that I, as a potential employer, can access and learn more about you.

An obvious start would be LinkedIn…populated by employees, employers, would-be employees, employment specialists (recruiters), and others. To use my explanation (that those smarter than I absolutely hate), it’s the professional’s Facebook. Yes…before you start spamming me with your protestations…I know it’s much more than that. But let’s K.I.S.S…Keep It Simple, Savant.

And there are other “value-added” options such as Twitter (where you can post frequent and regular comments about events in the news, your own observations on life/business/college, etc.), Pinterest (where you can create boards to post articles, cartoons, and such that show your interest areas)…your blog (created with a clear vision of who you are or want to be and populated with regular posts showing the depth and breadth of your thoughts).

I’m not suggesting you have to be using all these, or even most of these.

What I am suggesting is that you have a presence on at least one so that, if I meet you at a professional event (PRSA, Social Media Club, IABC, or elsewhere) and you give me your card, I can do a quick Google search or visit the website that you indicate on your card to find out a little bit more about you…and…perhaps…pass on your name to someone who I know is looking to fill a vacant position.

But this isn’t going to happen unless I can find you online…so don’t be invisible!!

"As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish he'd stay away"
Hughes Mearns, "The Psychoed"

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: “Coffee Helps, Too!”

I’m often asked…usually by my bleary-eyed undergrad Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration, but also by my grad students at Regis College, where I teach in the Organizational and Professional Communication area…how I manage to seemingly always be chipper and energized.

My response is invariably some rendition of “oceans of coffee.”

And, while I do slurp down about three mugs in the morning with my breakfast, that’s usually it for caffeinated stuff until…if the day allows…I settle back for “teatime”…a tradition born of marvelous days at the Peninsula Hong Kong.

“Coffee,” for me, is rapidly becoming a euphemism for “I love my work!”

And little has changed in my transition from public relations professional to public relations professor.

With only, perhaps, one instance in my professional career where I was genuinely miserable, the bulk of my working life…even when I was a civil engineering intern as a high school senior and college freshman back in the 60s…has been a wonderful mélange of challenges and learning opportunities that helped shape who I am.

Why? Because I was and am allowed and encouraged to try new things, to step outside my comfort zone and do stuff that I thought I didn’t know how to do.

Ø  I taught “English as a Second Language” in Vietnam armed with a major in English/18th-century British Lit (and an M-16 semiautomatic rifle by my side).

Ø  I catalogued (typed information cards for) roughly 1,000 films for a job with absolutely no clue as to what they were about...OR how to type…taught myself…which explains (if you could see me doing this) why I type the way I do!

Ø  I’ve now been teaching undergraduate and graduate college courses for going on 10 years with no “formal” training in how to actually do this…just relying on my love for my profession and pleasure that I get from passing on my knowledge.

The point of this rambling is to emphasize, as I do time and again, that I was doing and am still doing something that I genuinely love.

The challenges were…and are…invigorating. I have to get and hold attention, focus on detail, and present information that will be of use to students at some point in the (hopefully) near future.

What this means is that I have to be on top of my game…to be current and proficient in the technologies and techniques that comprise 21st-century public relations practice.

Which means that I can’t just load my camel at the end of a day of classes and head for the oasis of my wonderfully comfortable chair for a snooze.

I have to be combing the news, reading the professional publications, scanning the Internet in search of new and exciting things that have bubbled up to impact the public relations profession or public relations practice in some way.

What this means for you as a future public relations practitioner (or whatever your chosen field of endeavor will be) is that learning never stops.

Yeah, you won’t have to take exams (at least not those administered by evil professors on a beautifully crisp fall Monday morning) to test your absorption of knowledge.

Instead, you will be tested “real-time” by work requirements and work-related incidents that will try your professional knowledge and skills.

And your success or failure will affect your employer’s success or failure.

The lesson here, grasshopper, is to find your “coffee”…that shot of energy disguised as a profession that invigorates you…that gets you bouncing out of bed in the morning eager to get on with the day.

Find what you love doing and want to become what I refer to as "the world's walking expert" in doing. Make it yours. Own your successes and learn from your mistakes.

And…a well-brewed mug of fresh-ground espresso doesn’t hurt!!

"Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new."
- Francis Bacon, "Apothegms" [1624], no. 247

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)