If I knew all the words

A little bird sent me a direct message on twitter the other day that I should weigh in on a conversation I am most certainly passionate about.

I mosied on over to PROpenMic and weighed in on a conversation about requiring students to participate in social media in their college courses. Now, this conversation was coming from students not professors or practitioners.

I was pretty frustrated with the post and a majority of the replies from other students who agreed they felt like it was a chore. Social media has changed my life as cheesy as that sounds, and shaped my career. My first reaction was “Do you ever complain openly about writing a paper for your Writing class?” because that is what I would compare participating in social media for your PR class to. Your professors give you an assignment for a reason, you can fight it all you want, but in the end you can:

A.) Do the assignment

B.) Not do the assignment and fail

-Or-

C.) Drop the class and potentially the Major

It’s your choice, you’re a big girl or boy at this point in your college career and your professors are not here to baby you because you don’t like an assignment.

Okay, that is my rant.

What really frustrates me is what these students do NOT SEE! What I would give to go back and be a part of the social media courses they are teaching now! I Think I ask my old professor just about every week if she would video her classes and send them to me. I’m very impressed with the high level of conversation her students get into on their Twitter chats. It makes me proud to say I am a product of the same professors and School of Journalism and Communication (*cough University of Oregon cough*).

Here is my Note to those students who feel they should not be required to participate in Social media.

Dear SM Student,

I’m sorry you feel as though you are being “Forced” to learn about social media. My first question for you is, “what do you want to do with your life?” or “what is your dream job?” Is it being a sports journalist, CEO of a fortune500 company or Manager at McDonalds? Whatever your dream job is social media can help you achieve your goal or assist you in advancing within your company. But you don’t know this yet, because you are resistant to participating in social media as a useful business tool.

Your professors are trying to teach you a skill that will put you miles ahead of your peers applying for that same job. They are trying to teach you a skill that  senior level managers and account directors, VP’s and Presidents in so many companies don’t understand—Social Media. Hiring managers at these companies you want to work at so bad are looking for the next great Social Media talent who can teach the organization about the wonders of Twitter and Facebook and how they can help their company reach its consumers. Your professors are trying to provide you with the tools to be that  next great employee with the social media skills.

We are in a Recession and it is going to take years, not Months to get our job market back to an expectable level. I guarantee you will graduate and have a panic attack that you have no idea how you’re going to land a job–I did. But you know what I did, I used the skills I learned in my Social Media class and I put it to use. I pitched myself to hiring managers on twitter—Beat that Elevator pitch! Try selling yourself in 140 characters—it ain’t easy. But it worked. I found a creative way to sell myself and my skills that caught the eye of quite a few hiring managers. I got the job.

I continue to use my twitter account and blog that I created for my SM class to advance my professional career. I interact and network with key opinion leaders in my industry and they know who I am! This wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t TRUST my professors when they said, “leap- And the net will appear!” The net did appear and now I have a huge network of professional, professors and mentors who I can bounce ideas off of.

Social media is not a fad. It is the future. It is the future of every business and every organization. If you’re not looking for a job in public relations you can use these skills in any job whether it be to promote yourself and your services or to help promote your brand message and build relationships and two-way communication with your consumers.

Take advantage of the advice your professors are giving you, be a sponge and soak it up. It’s harder to continue learning when you’re working at a full-time job. You begin to yearn for the days you sat in class. My Blog and Twitter account have acted as wonderful supplements to my resume. I no longer have to send along writing samples, I just direct potential employers to my blog.  It is not only highlighting my ability to write, but it is also highlighting my social media skills.

I will bet money that no matter what your career may be, that your future employer is either already in the social media sphere or is looking to dive in. That means they are looking for someone with ideas and knowledge about how it works…. You could be that person.

Clean up your act online. Your employers WILL Google your name— that is not a myth. Stop complaining about the work, and start caring about your future. Social media is the future. You’re paying to go to college, start caring about where that money is going toward.

I apologize for being harsh, but this is a reality and it seems as though, you need a reality check.

Sincerely,

Staci

Last Friday, January 29, 2010 marked one year since I was “22 and laid-off”. What a year it has been. I’ve always been told, “Life’s a roller coaster, enjoy the ride!” Although, through my eyes, this roller coaster has been nothing close to enjoyable…

Frustration is the best word to describe how I’ve felt. I understand I was 22 years-old, new into the professional world and was lucky enough to still have my parents to fall back on. But my stubbornness wouldn’t allow me to fall into bad habits. Yet, I had no choice.

Thankfully, I was not married with mouths to feed, or a mortgage to pay off. I do realize that. There are so many people in that situation. But it did affect me in both good and bad ways.

I joined this company in October 2008, after I spent my summer in Europe. I spent August and September job hunting, packing my life and moving North. After 10 interviews and hundreds of resumes and tailored cover letters, I received my first professional job.

This job was different, it wasn’t in a field I knew a lot about. I mean, how many people know about the Biotech industry? I’d never even heard the word. But I was ready to jump in and learn.

I spent three months grasping as much knowledge that I could about the industry, working in a large agency and managing client relationships. I’ve never been so eager to learn–science flew over my head in high school and I completely avoided it in college. I all of a sudden was reading about cancer cells, therapies and spitting out acronyms like it was a second language.

I learned so much from everyone I worked with, but I think I left the company with something better than industry knowledge; I left with the most valuable professional and life lessons I could have ever imagined learning in my lifetime: Nothing in life is certain, be prepared for everything.

I left the University of Oregon a naive  young journalist with this great outlook on what my professional life would turn out, and it is nothing like I imagined, but it is perfect. The professional world is fast pace, harsh and political like you could not imagine.

Being laid off is one of the most confusing feelings. You have ten different emotions flying through your head, and the questions, they could consume you for the rest of your life. Asking the “what if’s….” and “why me’s” but when it comes down to I’ve learned it’s a little bit of politics, but mostly about money.

I remember the moment after the door was closed behind me, my heart sank, I knew what was happening. I looked up and saw her talking, I couldn’t hear what she was saying, as the words came out of her mouth, “I’m sorry to tell you, we’re going to have to let you go…..” she went on and on and I couldn’t form a thought, I just wanted to leave. I went back to my cube and was met by a friend who hugged me as the frustration melted to fear mixed with anger, with a twist of terror. “I am 22 and unemployed”, I thought this had to be a sick joke, I’d just started there, three months earlier!

Out of my own pride I refused to pack my things in a box, I left with my possessions spilling out of my arms and my purse. Here I was with no job, no friends or family to comfort me, and my crumbled future in my arms.

I went home, packed a large bag and moved to Medford, Oregon to work for my family business until I found another job in Seattle. To me this was short term, I couldn’t comprehend being in Medford for more than a few weeks, if not for my pride, but for my sanity.

I made looking for a job my new job. I had friends and mentors sending me links to job positions in Seattle. I reached out to as many people as I possible could and tapped every networking opportunity available. Every waking hour was spent searching for companies I was interested in working for and writing numerous cover letters telling these employers why I’m the best fit for the position.

My desire to be back in Seattle was my pure motivation. I’d become attached to the city and my life there, I’d just gotten started and all of a sudden it was ripped away from me. I drove up from Southern Oregon to Seattle multiple times in a two month period to attend multiple marathons of interviews. Out of the 100+ resume’s I sent out, I went to at least 10 in person interviews and was offered 3 jobs.

I turned what could have been a year  or more of job searching into a two month sprint to find what is now a great job. It was tough to turn around after you’ve been laid off and your spirits are down to find the energy and will to push forward and continue to search.

Some days you want to give up, other days you come to a dead-end. But I was 22 years old, I wasn’t going to settle, I had my whole career ahead of me. When I began my search I said I wanted to stay away from health care. But I found that in those three months I had learned so much about the field, for the first time felt like I could look at a job description and say, “Hey I can do that!” So I continued to persue looking for a job that had to do with Advocacy Relations. I have passion for the experiences people have gone through, and to help tell their stories is one of the most rewarding jobs.  I found the perfect home.

Now, I’ve almost been at my new job for a year and I look back on the experiences I went through and realize it was such a great life lesson to learn at a young age.

I now know…..

• To be prepared for anything and everything

• Just because I’m a “cheaper” employee, doesn’t mean you’re not expendable; and just because you’ve been at a company for 15 years doesn’t mean you have a solidified position- it’s a business

• Keep going, no matter what. You have good days and bad days but the search will come to an end, just don’t give up

• Utilizing your connections and network can provide good leads, but also it provides good practice

• Save save save. You never know when that  rainy day is coming, and how long you’ll be stuck in the down pour… be prepared financially

• You’re constantly proving your worth at your job. Make yourself an invaluable employee so that you don’t have to ask the “what if’s”

To anyone that has been laid off, I feel for you. All you can do is keep your head up and move forward. Don’t look back, that is behind you.  I never thought at 22 I would be laid off. But it happened, I adapted and moved forward and I’m a better person for it. I’m no longer naive about my professional life.

Read my post from last year on What I wish I would have done before I Lost my Job.

To all of those that have supported me through this roller coaster, I thank you. I couldn’t have done it with out you. A few to mention: My Family: Mama Stringer, My dad, Ken, My Brother, Matt; Jessica Lomelin, Kelli Matthews, Scott Wayne Indiana, Laurel Yamaguchi, Bridgette Quinn-Greenhaw, Libby Whittemore and all of my friends.

Seth Godin once posed the question:
“Are you better at what you do than you were a month or two ago?”
I find this an intriguing questions because as I had found over the past year I was not improving my skills, I was simply trying to learn the ropes.
What I’ve found is that you can do both at the same time. You will never advance in your job or even land the job you’re striving for unless you constantly work at improving your skills.

Here are a few thing to help get you started:
1. Make a list of your Skills you want to improve- This is not only a good place to start, but this is also a good thing to know because you will be asked the question “what are your weaknesses?”  in an interview, or you will be asked to improve on your weaknesses for a development goal. But don’t just pick something easy, find weaknesses/skill that you can truly achieve, but will also give you a challenge.

2. Brain storm – Brain storm a list of rescources that will help you turn your weak skills into strengths. Maybe it’s keeping up with your blog to enhance your writing skills, or taking online classes at Linda.com. But find ways to achieve your goals.

3. Schedule time to work on your skills – If you don’t actually take the time to asses your skills  and work on them, you will never move forward. You can increase the time you put out a project, but if your skill that needs improvement is your grammar, then take the time to re-read your project before you turn it in.

4. Take your time- If you’ve already admitted to yourself that your skills need some improvement, then take your time to actually work toward improvement. Take an extra five minutes to asses your work and make sure you’ve completed it to the best of your ability.

5. Save Compliments - If you or your co-works or professors have noticed an improvement in your skills and have commented on it, save the compliment. It helps to look back at encouraging works to keep your momentum going in the future. Also, if it comes down to a promotion, you have proof that you’re moving forward and working hard to improve.

Take some time to improve your skills in the new year.

Word of Mouth is one way to gather a following. When you sit down to dinner with family friends and someone mentions these plastic horses they’ve seen on the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon, and you begin to wonder what they are doing there? Why did someone tie these plastic horses on the ground? Then you tell your friend who realizes they’ve seen these horses too and they tell someone else and the cycle keeps repeating… until you have a word of mouth epidemic and Oregonians are still trying to solve the mystery of the toy plastic horses.

These rings are used to tie up horses and carriages in downtown portland. Not many people notice these rings until one local artist, Scott Wayne Indiana started a project, The Horse Project. To participate in the project you must buy a toy plastic horse locate a ring, and tie the horse to the ring. Then take a picture and send it to Scott Wayne Indiana and he will post it on his Web site  39forks.com.

Scott tied his first horse to a ring in 2005, and four years later these little horses are showing up all over town and have inspired many Oregonians and visitors to participate in the Horse Project.

By beginning somingthing as intriguing as finding toy horses tied to the sidewalk it sparks interest and begins conversations. This leads to conversations about tiny horses during coffee, dinner, and drink. And there fore we have word of mouth marketing.

Although, Scott Wayne Indiana was not trying to promote himself and his art, he was simply trying to get people to notice their surroundings, to notice small details such as rings in the sidewalk. And what a great way to do it.

Props to you SWI, thank you for opening our eyes to the small details in our world.

A month and a half ago I was laid-off from my job. Unemployment is scary for a 23-year-old who is fresh out of college, and laid-off from my first “real” job. I’m not going to lie; it has been the most confusing time in my life. Every other day my plan changes on what I’m going to do next. Should I stay in Seattle, should I move home and save money, should I go to grad school? So many decisions, I wish someone would choose the right one for me, and I’d put all my faith in them and do it. Making these choices is such a great life lesson, but man it is stressful.

I am in a decent position, unlike many others who have families to support, mortgages to pay, I was able to take a position working at my family business, although, I’ve been forced to temporarily move out of Seattle to the Podunk town of Medford, Oregon (don’t get me wrong I do hold a place in my heart for Medford) where I have zero-friends and my dad seems like a ghost that shows up every 3rd Tuesday of the months that end in “Y”.  I’m getting by with the overwhelming support of my friends and family and  I know things will be okay; I just have to trust this. And I’m also doing work that is keeping my skills fresh and helping me advance our company.

I think about the week leading up to when I was laid-off every day, and I think of the moment I was let go, and feels like a vivid nightmare that replays every night. I loved my job, I loved the agency I worked at, and I loved the people. I looked up to my supervisor and hope we can keep in touch, because she is an amazing woman.

But, I was naïve about the situation. I didn’t think it was going to happen to me.  And there are things I wish I would have done before I lost my job, that may or may not have made a difference, but If I would have done these things, maybe I wouldn’t have to place part of the blame on myself.

I wish I would have asked for extra work. I was working at a communications agency that did everything from public relations to advocacy relations to advertising. It was very well rounded. I was working in advocacy relations, which was new to me, but soon became my passion. But the week before I was laid-off thing definitely slowed down, even weeks before that my work had slowed. Now this may not have been a direct effect of me being laid-off. But I could have assisted in different areas of the company to let executives know that I can be used in other areas of the agency. I received my degree in public relations, and also have knowledge of Social Media, which was being utilized at the agency. If I had offered to help out in these other areas while I was caught up on my work, the executive team may have noticed that I could have been utilized in multiple areas.

I wish I would have networked with more people. I worked on a very small team that was tucked in a far off corner of the agency. I didn’t meet many people in my four-month stint there. I never took the time to socialize, or even take advantage of meeting people through the extracurricular activities that were set up for us, Which means I wasn’t networking with my coworkers. They didn’t fully understand my capabilities and the value I could have brought to other areas of the agency. I’m kicking myself now for not making those connections and relationships, which could be assisting in my job search.

I wish I would have kept track with my network. Finding a job is about networking. I didn’t take the time to the day I was let go to take a look at the relationships I had made and write down their contact information. I was in shock mode when I got back to my desk to pack my things, I didn’t fully think of what I needed to take with me besides my personal belongings.

I wish I had an emergency fund. As a recent graduate I was just starting to become financially independent from my parents. Like most recent grads, I had to borrow money from my parents and was just going to be able to start paying them back when this happened. I’m still learning about saving and budgeting, but I wish I would have made a large effort to put aside a large portion of my money each month, so that I would have a safety net now that I am suffering.

I wish I wouldn’t have been so naïve. Nothing is certain in this life or your career. This economy is going to be out-of-wack for at least the next five years. In history it has taken at least five years for our nation to pick itself up and dust off its shoulders from the moment we’ve hit rock bottom, I still don’t believe we’re at rock bottom yet. It is scary for everyone. And I think everyone needs to know you aren’t safe. You need to be working extra hard and taking as many precautions as you can in case something happens to you.

I wish I wouldn’t have taken my job for granted. I remember the day I had to sit down and talk finances with my roommates. As soon as we wrapped up the conversation on a Sunday evening at 10:30 pm they all said in unison, “Man I wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow!” I looked at them all and said, “Please just be thankful you have a job.” I think about all of the mornings I got up and complained about getting ready and riding the bus. If only you know what I’d give to be at a job and know what I was doing with my future.

These are things I wish I would have done before I lost my job. Your life can change in an instant, and I cannot change these things I wish I had done, but I can pass along the wisdom to others. Not many people are laid-off from their first job in their twenties, although unfortunately I think it will begin to be more common than not, these are things to think about if you are at your job, whether it’s your first or your tenth position. Nothing is certain.

On a Final note, Today while reading Vanity Fair there was a pullout quote that said, “your dream Job is finding something with a salary and health benefits.” and it’s so true. Currently, yes I have future goals for my life, but I am NOT thinking about them right now. I’m focusing on today and finding a job for right now that has benefits and a salary I can live off of. Not 5 years from now. But I thought this was an interesting point that a dream job now solely involves a salary, benefits and a 401k.

On a final final note, no matter how you cut back, my biggest advice is to keep your health insurance. One accident or major illness can land you thousands of dollars in debt. If COBRA, the coverage you can get from a former job, is too pricey, find deals on ehealthinsurance.com. or look into high-deductible coverage; it has cheaper premium (you’ll just pay more out of pocket if an emergency strikes) but health insurance is so important, make sure that isn’t something you sacrifice in these hard economic times.

Update: Thank you for everyones support I accepted a job offer last week! And will be sure to take my own advice!

In our fast pace world it has become harder and harder to meet people through a traditional courtship. And our favorite Web 2.0 sites are making it much easier to show someone you’re interested via their widgets and services. TheFrisky.com blog posted this rundown on ways to flirt online. They say, “Sure, the Web has made many aspects of our lives easier, but it’s also complicated a few things—specifically, how we date, flirt and meet potential love interests.”

Being a twenty-something I still have faith in the traditional ways of meeting people, at a bar, the grocery store, or that mix-up of drinks at Starbucks- He grabbed my triple grande soy latte, and I grabbed his grande americano- you know how it goes. I’m sure it will diminish as my career and priorities shift and I will become more dependent on the untraditional methods of finding a mate. But I find this whole process interesting as my generation has been spearheading this technology revolution.

I love Drew Barrymores line in He’s just not that into you she says, “Now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies- it’s exhausting!” And it couldn’t be more true, you have to check all of these different applications to see if you’ve been “poked” or someone sent you a gift. And the interpretation could kill you. There is no guide book to online flirting, so how are you supposed to interpret a poke? was it friendly or playful?

It is interesting to watch the trends in older generations using dating sites like Match.com increase. Definitely wasn’t somethingn I expected- I have a hard enough time teaching my mom how to turn on her computer, let alone teaching her how to upload a picture and a profile to one of these sites. I would have imagined that this phenomenon would have skipped that generation and hit mine.

It does scare me that younger generations will be more dependent on this way of life- Communicating through Web 2.0 applications more than through human interaction. And does this lead to poor grammar?

Does this form of communication work against our english and grammar teachers, because when you use text messages or twitter, you have to simplify your messages, sometimes reducing the words and removing correct punctuation confusing it’s and its, a simple, but significant differance between the two words just to fit it into the 140 characters allowed?

But then again, does it help to simplify your message. I have found that working to cram my tweets into 140 characters teaches me to be sycnt and percise with my message, like a lead in a newspaper article.

There are pros and cons to both, but what I guess my point is we’re definitely moving quickly to a 2.0 world- especially when our flirting happens online, but what will this do to future generations? Will they become dependent on technology to be the liasion between human interaction? Will children fall into the trance of the online preditors, because they are comfortable online?

How can we as the Web 2.0 crusaiders prevent future generations from using the web and its tools incorrectly? Do we begin to teach classes on online ettiquet and safety?

What do you think?

I’ve been at it again, updating my resume. And it is just around the corner for the senior PR students at UO, who are wrapping up their campaigns and focusing on their portfolio reviews. I remember one thing I struggled with the most was my resume. Thanks to the career building class taught by Bill Morill and the Career Center at UO, they taught me a lot about writing my resume. But I’ve learned more from playing around with it, looking at others, and having people look over mine as well.

Although this class was great in introducing me to the descriptive verbs to describe the tasks I’d accomplished, it also closed my mind about the format of my resume. There are so many different ways you can format your resume there is no wrong way.

So here is some advice I wish someone told me:

1. Keep your Resume to one page, and one page only: After 10 years of experience you are allowed a second page! But no one is going to read your resume if it is longer than one page. This helps you to be concise and use descriptive words to describe what you’ve accomplished.

2. Your visual presentation of your resume says a lot about you. Spice up your resume. Add some fun fonts and colors (just make sure it’s legible) and even print it on a nice thick resume paper. It will set your resume out from all the others, and the employer will know you put in extra effort to make it enjoyable to look at.  Note: Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT use a Word Template. SO boring. If I were looking at your resume and you used a plain word template it just lost about ten points!

3. If you got the skills, flaunt them. Highlight an unusual skill you poses. It doesn’t have to be that unusual, but for instance Social Media is a great skill to highlight as much as possible in your resume. So many employers these days are looking for new talent that hold that skill set. So don’t be shy.

4. Be Adventurous. Re-format your resume multiple times. I was so stuck in my way of having my resume cut and clear and to the point. But, recently decided to take a chance and write a short profile section explaining some of my skills, and I think it will help the employer know me that much more. By writing my skills out in sentences this freed up more space for bullets under my experience section.

5. Put another set of Eye balls on it. I’ve already had 3 different people look at my resume this past week, and have another person tomorrow. Be open to suggestions, fresh eyes come with fresh ideas.

If you have any other tips for writing resume please comment! I know there are plenty more

The University of Oregon’s Career Center provides this PDF packet on how to write good cover letters and Resume’s, it is a great resource and you can download it here. Page 3 has a great list of verbs to use when describing your skills!

Happy Resume writing and I’m more than happy to be another set of eyes! Good luck!

Recently, I’ve been asked to put my social media passion into action. This is exciting for someone who has been blinded by my daily routine and the grind of the working world.

Since graduation, I’ve had minimal time to focus on my blog, tweeting valuable information, and exploring the social media sphere. One thing I’ve noticed over the past seven months is that I stopped actively learning, and for a topic I am so passionate about I am extremely excited to begin exploring again!

Now I’m working on a social media strategy for a company that you wouldn’t quite expect to use social media as a valuable tool. I feel limitless, which is basically like handing me the world on a silver platter.

But, this doesn’t mean I am going to dream up some crazy ideas of how to “jump in” that is unreachable for this company. I need to get back to the basics and deliver a strategy that they understand and doesn’t make them want to run in the other direction.

It is never to late to continually learning, and that is what I love about Public Relations- is that there is always knowledge to grasp, you can learn something new everyday.

And here I go, back to the basics.

I’ve never really understood how people have a hard time deciphering what Public Relations Professionals do, What we do is in our title. We build relationships with the public in simple terms. It’s not just PR professional marketing and branding seem to interchange with both PR and Advertising. These cartoons below help to describe what Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing and Branding actually are.

A lot of the time PR people use branding behind their methods, and call on advertisers to relay that brand message. Marketers are used in every aspect of PR, AD and Branding. They all may stand alone, but when used together they can expand the message being relayed to the audience.

I am a very lucky person to still be employed. But in the past two days I’ve receive word that 4 acquaintances have lost their jobs. One of which is a very respected peer and friend from the social media sphere. Today he repeated a comment someone made to him about his current state of unemployment, and my mom said this to me when I got home from my graduation trip in Europe: Your new job is Getting a Job!  and it’s so true. Looking for a job can be full time unpaid work, but I guess it does pay off in the end.

The Chicago Tribune wrote a great article titled, The Job of Finding a Job and provide 5 tips for the job search:

5 tips for the hunt:
1. Make finding a job your new job.
2. Tell everybody you’re job hunting.
3. Search online but also press the flesh.
4. Consider jobs outside your field.
5. During phone interviews, stand up to project more energy.

I really think #4 is an interesting tip. Because I ended up taking a job that wasn’t necessarily what I received my degree in. You can look for a job that is outside of your field but maybe dips more into your passion, such as social media, or advertising. Having your job be challenging will make you work harder.

Be patient. losing a job can be tramatizing. But be confident in your self and your skills because the minute you lose that confidence you take a step backwards. Keep your head up and good luck.