Become your own Client
Transitioning into my senior year, I realized that I needed to brand myself as the perfect candidate for any internship or employment opportunity. The economic climate not only requires job seeking students to search high and low for open positions, but also requires students to further differentiate themselves from other candidates.
Sherrie Bakshi wrote in PRSA’s Blog, ComPRhension, about building your own personal brand by marketing “your skills and qualifications to your internal and external clients, as well as your peers.” I agree with her advice and created my own list of personal branding tactics.
Create a website showcasing YOU. The internet has a global reach, which can be an amazing tool in showing potential employers what you have to offer. When I was looking for a summer internship, I bought a domain name and created a simple website displaying my portfolio, résumé, biography and contact information. When professionals asked for samples of my work, I just sent over the link in an e-mail. It is easy to do, shows that you are proactive and is more effective than attaching several documents to an e-mail.
Utilize social media in PR terms. Instead of updating your status with college drama or tweeting about last night’s wild party, utilize your accounts like a professional. Retweet interesting PR news or pose questions to your followers initiating a dialogue. A potential employer will be impressed if they find your Twitter account and see that you pay attention to changes in the field and current events. They would also trust you to manage their social media accounts after seeing the fantastic job you have done with yours.
Freelance work is the key. After working with a non-profit client in one of my PR classes, I sought out other opportunities to hone my skills and add to my résumé. I created some promotional materials for businesses in the area, wrote press releases for a jazz production company and worked at some interesting events. Some were paid and some were not, but the point is to gain as much well-rounded experience as possible.
Network. Network. Network. In Miami there is an endless amount of Tweet ups, networking events and communication professionals mixers. This summer I attended a couple of them and made so many new contacts. The professionals were surprised and glad to see me take initiative. I asked for business cards, distributed mine and followed up with an “It was so nice meeting you” e-mail the next day. Thanks to a PRSA Communicators event, I landed another paid freelance job.
This guest post was submitted by Alexa Ferra. She is currently a senior at the University of Miami. She is majoring in public relations and sociology with a minor in marketing. Alexa is the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) President for the University of Miami Chapter. You can find her on Twitter here and view her website here.
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