fail

This week my inspiration is myself and my embarrassing moments: “How to not get an internship.”

I am graduating from college in December (scary right) and have been painstakingly looking for a summer internship to build experience and networking. After uploading a new resume to the Eagle Network (It’s UNT’s job site) I started applying for internships.

Well, after not hearing anything from the three places that I had applied at I thought that my resume and cover letters were just not cutting it. Then I got an email and phone call from someone saying they had been trying to contact me but my number on my resume was wrong. Let me just tell you that was the most embarrassing moment of my life, and I have had plenty of chances for my cheeks to turn bright red. Luckily, this place still gave me a phone interview, and now I have an in person interview! (cross your fingers for me!)

This embarrassing and somewhat traumatizing moment in my life got me to thinking; I can’t be the only person who has made a simple mistake or error trying to get an internship or job. There just had to be some common errors that people make, and ways to check yourself as to not turn out like me.

1.Check your resume- don’t just create or update it periodically, check it before you send it every time. By reading it over before submitting it you can avoid having mistakes like your phone number, email address or the wrong information for references.

2.Do your homework- before you apply for a job or internship at a company look at their website. What do they focus on as a company? Tweak your resume and create a cover letter focusing on key points for that company it will show you’re interested in working with the environment they already have.

3.Don’t be afraid- If you have class or work when the company wants to interview you tell them. It will not only show them that you are committed to school and have your priorities in order, but that you are not afraid of them. (thanks Professor Bufkins for this tip)

4.Watch your attitude- if you show up confident and excited to be interviewed with a knowledge of the company the hiring manager will notice. If there was a choice between two people, one with great energy and was excited to work, the other one was yawning and looked bored the one with a great attitude would get the job every time.

5.Be prepared- the same thing we have been told for years and years. Guess what? Its true. If you come prepared for the interview with writing samples or your portfolio, answers to questions prepared and a knowledge of how an interview is conducted your interview will be more professional and flow much easier.

So, these five things seem pretty simple, and most of you are probably thinking “ I do all that already”, but do you do all five things consistently? The last thing I thought I would need would be a refresher course in how to write a resume- reality check I did.

Priorities.

I know that everyone has a list in their heads of what things are the most important. To some it is an education, others is serving the country and some people think that a family is the most important thing.

Let me also start by saying that I am not writing this to say that anyone’s priorities are wrong, or should be in a different order.

I work in an advising office, and I see students every day who think that education is the most important thing. There are the few who show up on time, with everything needed in hand completely prepared to map out the rest of their college career. Then there are the other students. The ones who show up late or not at all and don’t even remember what their majors are. These students, the ones who say that education is a priority and then don’t commit strike a nerve, to get what you want you have to do what is asked and even what is not asked.

Going on job interviews is no different story. I have not personally been the one interviewing perspective employees but have heard stories about perspectives sounding very enthusiastic on the phone and having an amazing resume show up with wrinkled clothing and alcohol on their breath.

By now you may be thinking what does this have to do with public relations? So what if kids show up for appointments late and perspective employees don’t show up dressed appropriately? In the public relations profession you wear many hats, that is no secret.

Working for an agency will require you to put the same amount of effort to all of your clients, and working for a company requires dedication to that brand. If you have an amazing proposal for a client, and show up in your pajamas completely unprepared your brilliant idea means nothing.

It is also important to prioritize your values. The PRSA has its code of ethics, and each employer will have their own set of rules to live by. What happens when something is in a gray area, or a client asks

you to lie for them? Do you do it? Ethically speaking, no you politely decline but depending on where you prioritize honesty you may be sucked into a tornado.

Prioritizing your life, values and ethics is only one part of the equation. Writing down a list of items, or telling yourself what you think is important means nothing if you are not committed and focused. Working for a specific client may be the most important thing you have to do at work, but if you do not act professional to that client and come prepared to meetings that priority means nothing.

I guess what I am trying to say is to think about what is a priority in your life, really think about it. Once you have a list of two or three items in your head make a plan on how to accomplish them and stay committed. If you have to contradict your values in order to reach your goal, think twice and see if there is another way around it.

Enthusiastic

Last week I wrote about how angry I was with Sonic for their lack of promoting their social media and website. They have so many opportunities that they are missing and I kind of feel bad for them.

This week is the opposite. FC Dallas (the Dallas area Major League Soccer team) embraces social media and makes it work for them. Although it is a different industry, I think the same basic rules apply. I went my first FCD game of the season last week (we have season tickets) and even before we left our apartment I was pleased with their up to date promotions.

A few hours before we left for the game, I got an email with a pre-match itinerary and game-day statistics. It gave me a list of bars to visit in the area, discounts on merchandise and the “players to watch.” I would have been ecstatic if this was the extent of the “social media” for FCD.

While in the car on the way to the game, the official twitter of FC Dallas, started tweeting pictures of people tailgating and having that “game day experience.”

Once we got to the game, on the programs was their Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare information for everyone to see. They were also running a special on FourSquare, that day it was an extra 15% off a scarf.

While we were having a pre-game drink, the president of the soccer club came on the big screens and announced if you followed him on twitter @FCDQuinn and show your account to a bartender he would buy you a beer.

During the game, Twitter updates continued as well as Facebook polls. After the game a thank you for coming tweet came out as well.

Now, this may seem like a normal social media plan for some people reading my post, but if you were around FC Dallas a year or two ago, none of this was in place. There was virtually no Twitter or Facebook interaction and Foursquare? Forget it. This post is basically giving two thumbs up for whoever decided to turn their PR around.

Now, this is not to say I don’t think things could be improved on (they always can be.) Before the game, or after, what about tweeting the players handles so fans can follow their favorite? I follow Shea personally.

Also, what about for away games, have people upload pictures of them supporting FC Dallas for a pair of free tickets to the next home game. They could be at a bar, a party, at home etc.

Twitter is a fast paste medium. I know that the big screens are for the game, but if you could incorporate a twitter stream of some sort for people to tweet into, that might grab people’s attention. This idea may be a little harder to pull off than the others, but I think it would work well.

I understand that when you’re at a soccer game, you don’t necessarily pay attention to your phone for updates, pictures and peoples comments. I really thought that FC Dallas did a good job of keeping people engaged but not distracted. If only other companies (sonic) would implement social media plans.

Reluctant.

My inspiration this week is a Route 44 Vanilla Diet Coke from Sonic.

On the side of the Styrofoam cup there is a “create your own flavor” how-to guide. There are three steps to adding flavors to your ordinary drink in order to create almost 400,000 combinations. There is also a list of the flavors available on the other side of the cup.

Nowhere on the cup is anything about Sonic. No website, Facebook page, Twitter account or even phone number. This got me to thinking. Professor Bufkins always says to promote all parts of a campaign (including social media) on all other parts.

Sonic could have easily printed a website or Facebook page on these cups, so why didn’t they? At first I thought it was because the cups were printed before social media became a big player, but then the copyright information says 2011 so it ruled out that theory.

Sonic had my attention. I don’t normally pay this much attention to my cups, and I can easily Google Sonic- Americas Drive-In but why should I have to? In this day in age isn’t it faux pas for a company not to at least put their website on promotional items?

I took this thought one step further (at this point my boyfriend was getting tired of my rant so I decided to blog instead). Sonic has thousands of combinations and directions, as previously stated, on their cups with similar information on their bags for food. Why not turn it into a contest? Visitors to the Sonic Facebook or Twitter pages could write their favorite combinations for a week, then based on likes the “favorite” could become a special for a month or two.

After ranting about Sonics’ lack of motivation to use social media I had another idea for them. Between the hours of 2-4 in the afternoon Sonic is famous for its half price drinks. Why not incorporate Four Square into that equation. During happy hour checking in to sonic could lead to a free small tater tot or upgrade in drink size, and if it is not during that time frame, give the happy hour prices.

As an avid Sonic soda drinker ( I swear by Diet Vanilla Coke) I would defiantly take part in the social media part of Sonic, and the people I know who use Four Square, and some that don’t, wish more businesses would use it.

I know I am not the only one with these ideas, and I wonder if Sonic has something in the works. I hope that companies do not think that they are above social media, or that they cannot apply it to their everyday business plan. Sonic could have printed a website, or gone above and beyond and created a contest on social media with their cups, but instead- I am left Googling “Sonic America’s Drive-In website.”

Clown.

Some people may think of PR professionals as “flappers” or “clowns (or so I have been told this week.)They don’t see the behind the scenes work, and think that the news magically appears on reporters desks. The public sometimes thinks that our only purpose in a company is to speak to them when something goes wrong.

Although calling us clowns seems distasteful, in some ways it’s true. We juggle, a lot. There is always something that needs to be updated, sent out, or created. A campaign is always being created, tweeked, measured or changed and a company always tries to respond to its customers.
That’s where we come in.

We are constantly deciding which medium is the best for our market. Do we take on Twitter? What about Facebook? A blog? Once that question is decided three or for more pop up. Who is going to update them? How often? How are we going to respond to comments?

Juggling social media is not our only task. Along with getting Google Alerts with comments from Facebook, we write press releases, fact sheets, backgrounders, position papers etc. for reporters. Do we get credit? No, but that is not the point. We all know when a story we helped with airs, and that little smile comes across our face.

Along with the daily multi-tasking of social media and helping create news, we must keep our clients and the stakeholders informed. Newsletters get written and sent out, conference calls get made and meetings with power points get presented.

Looks to me like we are juggling.

Lets add in another clown-like trait, tight-rope-walking. There is a fine line in Public Relations. Not only between what is ethical and what is not, but how to keep your personal life and work life separate. With social media, keeping comments to yourself do not exist, especially if you choose to put them online. Many people have lost their jobs for saying something inappropriate or posting a picture online.

It may not be painted in clown makeup, but PR professionals have a smile painted on their faces, epically during a crisis. We are responsible for getting the news to you, the public during difficult times. Even if that makes us upset, mad, angry etc. We have to put on a normal face, to talk to you.

We also have big shoes to fill. The people who have practice PR well have set the bar high for soon to be graduates. You may not know their names because they have not been in the news, and they are not famous like Charlie Sheen, but they handle situations with class and grace. Their shoes are like clown shoes to me. Maybe one day I will be able to fit into them, but at first young PR professionals might be awkward and trip or stumble.

So you see, when people call us clowns to them it may be an insult. I respond by saying yes: I juggle every day, I also can walk a tight rope, wear a smile and have big shoes to fill. In a way, we are clowns, it just depends on your perspective.

Crisis.

For crisis communication teams everywhere, social media has been lending its
helping hand in getting information out during situations across the board. Most of the time social media works as a partner with a crisis communication team, helping put the fires out and keeping everyone safe.

Sometimes, it backfires. Social media is just that, social. Anyone who has an option or hears a rumor can post their thoughts for everyone to hear- even if it is wrong.

Rumors of deaths and breakups, shootings and hook-ups have all started via social media, Twitter in particular. As long as you can say what you're thinking in 140 characters or less, the possibilities on Twitter are endless.

Texas Women’s University had a threat made by a student last week, prompting the University to go on an immediate lock down. Students who signed up for the “pioneer alert” received a text or email stating not to go on campus.


It took TWU over 30 minutes to update their website at all, and when they did it was a simple statement “the campus is on lockdown please stay indoors and do not come to campus if you are not there yet,” or something along those lines. After an hour, @twunews had yet to report anything. After I mentioned them and the lack of response (and a few students retweeting it) they finally updated a tweet saying the same generic statement as the website.

Although to this point the communication had been vague, It was consistent. The consistency stopped there however; the local news stations started to report different stories, some were that the suspect was somewhere on campus with a gun, others tweeted that the suspect had fled campus. No one knew the real story because TWU or @twunews had yet to release any more information.

An hour after the lockdown began, TWU finally posted a press release on their website stating some basic facts of the case, and calling the all clear on campus. TWUnews then tweeted that if you were in your car you needed to leave campus;at the same time local news stations were tweeting the all clear and for students to return to classes as normal.

The miscommunication between twitter users can cause more confusion in a crisis situation instead of getting information out to the public.

Although the TWU case is the most recent, cases involving twitter miscommunication, and social media in general go back as far as the Internet. Miscommunication in general has been around since the beginning of time, and with social media it is becoming easier to get confused.

Are companies and universities taking miscommunication due to social media into account when they add it into a communication plan? Or are they assuming that social media is only a tool that can help, not harm?

Creeper.

Let me start this post by saying two things.
1. I am not a stalker, creeper or peeping Tom.
2. I really do love Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.


When Facebook first started it was exclusive. Exclusivity was one of the reasons its popularity grew so rapidly. Facebook started with expanding to different colleges and eventually removed the registration requirement of having a “.edu” e-mail addresses, and the exclusive angle slowly wore off.

Facebook’s market has expanded from college students in the United Sates, to anyone with internet access in the entire world. Seven year old children have pages, celebrities and journalists have pages even my grandmother has a page.

If exclusivity is not drawing people in to social media than what is? Why are people signing up for sites like Facebook in masses?

There are now games to play, a constant status feed to look at and pictures galore. Facebook has redesigned itself several times. The most prominent reasons are differing expectations from potential members and privacy concerns.

You now have countless privacy options ranging from being completely open to completely hidden. All those privacy settings fly out the window with “opt-in” options on some websites. You can log in with your Facebook name and password, and the company has access to all of your information.

If that is not creepy enough, Facebook is launching a new option where you can click through your friends and check who you have a crush on. If they are single, you will get an email stating that they are available, and if they are in a relationship, an e-mail will notify you if things go downhill.

Facebook saw how successful Foursquare had become and wanted a piece of the action. It now has a plug-in called “Facebook Places.” You can check in wherever you are; in your house, in your car, at school, at work etc. and it will show up as your status.
Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and even Linked In are all intertwined. If you post something on your Foursquare or Facebook account, it can show up on your other social media pages (depending on your settings).

I don’t know about you, but I think this is a little “Big Brother.” I don’t think we need to make it any easier for your creepy neighbor or robbers to come in and steal or kidnap you. I know that you can change your settings to private and only your friends can see your information, but come on now, how many of you really know all of your Facebook friends personally.

Twitter is even worse, because if you tweet where you check in on Four Square, anyone who chooses to follow you will see where you are.

From the marketing side, Four Square and Facebook Places are both great tools, I get to see who has visited my business and how many times along with what tips they have for other customers. As a consumer, Facebook relationship updates and tracking where I go still feels like I am giving up to much of my personal information to whoever decides to listen at that point and time.