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Go explore. Now.

August 5, 2011 By Becky 5 Comments

You’ve got to have an insatiable appetite for exploration.

That can mean whatever you want it to mean. But if you get too comfortable, you might sit back, relax and not even realize you’re missing your life. I found this series of videos and can’t possibly think of a better way to explain why you should spend your life in a state of curiosity.

Eat something you can’t pronounce. From a menu you can’t read.

When I was growing up, we had a rule in our house: you have to try it. My brother and I were not allowed to be picky eaters. We had to take two legitimate bites. If we didn’t like it, we didn’t have to finish it, but not trying something just wasn’t an option. Hearing stories of what my Dad ate during his world travels for work made me curious about food, and I’ve kept that hunger (pun totally intended) into my adult life. Some of my best meals have been from street carts in Shanghai to hole in the wall restaurants in Rome to trailers on the highway in rural Michigan. You never know when something confusing on a plate might be the next best meal of your life.

Try something completely foreign to you. Something you don’t understand or don’t think you can do or that terrifies you.

I’ve written before about living your entire life like a bucket list and I can tell you first hand how something you think might be one crazy adventure just might change your life. I can’t imagine if I’d never picked up a guitar or started messing around with a camera. Fear of the unknown can be paralyzing, but if there is any part of you that finds the skill of another interesting, do yourself a favor and try it yourself.

The same goes for meeting new people. Reach out to people you admire. Ask other people about their lives and interests. You’d be amazed what you don’t know that you don’t know. Or the friends you’ll end up making.

You don’t have to travel the world to find interesting places. Start in your city. Get lost with a friend. Take a different route home. Just for fun.

Finding a spot that makes you feel all tingly inside is the whole point of traveling. Wherever you choose to go, try to get off the beaten path and enjoy seeing things you don’t see every day. While you’re at it, try to really notice what’s going on around you. Know that you can always come home – but going somewhere new before you get there makes it even better.

Plan your next adventure. Enjoy it. Let me know if you need someone to go with you.

Filed Under: inspiration, Life

Recognizing Change

July 25, 2011 By Becky 15 Comments

It’s always sort of amazing to see how incapable people are of recognizing change as it happens. We need milestones as points of comparisons to make us realize something is different.

This morning I got my daily email from 4sq & 7 years ago, a service that tells you where you checked in the year before on this day. One year ago today I was in a car with Peter Shankman (at that time better known as @skydiver) cruising down the highway outside Chicago to go jump out of an airplane. I lived in Michigan, was working for a company I didn’t feel held much of a future for me, was bored out of my mind on most days and went to Chicago for the weekend because I let my new friend talk me into crossing something off my bucket list.

It was one of the best days of my life. It was the day I realized I wanted to live my bucket list, not talk about it. A year later, I’m living in Chicago, loving my job, spending time with awesome friends, doing a ton of photography and skydiving on weekends. I’m a graduate of the Freefall University AFF Program at Chicagoland Skydiving Center and on track to become a licensed skydiver this summer. One year. I decided what I needed to change and I made it happen.

Sometimes things happen to you or around you that force moments of reflection. And sometimes you have to force yourself into it because you know you need to come out the other side doing things differently. If you even noticed I hadn’t posted anything here in well over two months, you were witnessing the time I took to force myself to recognize change. And, to redirect.

I was spending most of my free time worrying about the content I was creating for one website or another. I needed to step back from the blogging life to look at where I was now compared to where I started when this little writing project came to life. I needed to re-evaluate intentions. My pursuit of being such a widespread content creator was driving me crazy and had become about something completely different than why I’d started.

I talked with colleagues and friends about the types of things I was doing that seemed to matter (and the ones that didn’t). I talked with my mentors about the industry I was attempting to contribute to and how it all seemed to be getting stale. I asked if I was making a mistake by abandoning this stuff altogether. I found myself on a steep learning curve in my new job and needing to focus harder. I stopped making excuses and started getting serious about fitness. I started devoting weekends to jumping out of planes and making new friends who would change my perspective on life. I made time for free time. I went on photowalks. I explored my new city.

And I had enough people ask me why I seemed to be disappearing from the online circles in which I was so active for so long and if I ever planned to come back that I finally knew for sure I was actually contributing something.

So here’s the deal.

  • I’m not going to worry about SEO or link love or Google rank or any of the things that seem to be important to a lot of other bloggers and I’m just going to write stuff that matters. Stuff that helps people or makes them think about something in a different way. Stuff that encourages people to get out of their own way or gives a voice to young professionals just trying to figure everything out. Stuff I need to publish somewhere because it’s cathartic to just to write it. Stuff that shows my point of view to people who might want to work with me on something. Stuff that points out positive examples of what’s going well in this industry instead of another post about why a company screwed up. Good PR for Public Relations.
  • I’m going to pick back up with the Influencers Series on this blog, because getting to know people offline and learning about what really inspires people I respect really matters to me, and if analytics don’t lie, those posts really matter to other people too.
  • I’m going to keep writing for Ragan’s PR Daily, but more in the form of posts you see here. I’ll leave the daily news snippets up to other editors and focus on contributing pieces aimed totally at helping young PR professionals.
  • I’m still going to occasionally contribute to Social Fresh, because I believe it’s one of the most legitimate resources out there for serious social media knowledge sharing.
  • I’m not going to write about skydiving here anymore. It’s a separate part of my life and I need to keep it that way to maintain sanity. But I will share videos, photos, stories and milestones in a place dedicated to my journey in a place way more appropriately titled: beyond the bucket list.
  • I’m going to dedicate a more serious online presence to my photography. Because taking photos makes me happy, and occasionally makes me money. And I like when those two ideas overlap.

If I wake up in six months and feel like that isn’t working for me, then I’ll change it again. Because it’s my life and my time and I’ll do what I want.

And now I’m going to encourage you to do the same thing. Step back from your projects. Take a break and force yourself to look at how you’ve changed. Get a bit of perspective on what you’re contributing and where you’re ready to cut things out to make time for what you really care about. Hopefully you will find yourself totally on track toward your goals and loving what you’re spending your time working on. Hopefully you won’t let things overwhelm you the way I let them overwhelm me for a while. Recognize change and don’t be afraid to act on it.

Don’t wait for a milestone. Create one.

 

Filed Under: Life

Guest Post: Be in the Moment

May 10, 2011 By Becky 2 Comments

This is a guest post by my friend Aaron Strout. He’s someone I’ve had plenty of interaction with online, but finally met for the first time during SXSW. We had a great first meeting and among all the things we talked about, one thing Aaron said really stood out. He talked about truly being present wherever he was. It’s so easy to scan the room or obsessively check for new tweets in that conference environment and it takes serious, focused effort sometimes to behave otherwise. I asked Aaron to write about it and offer some tips for those feeling a little disconnected to “real” life. Enjoy.

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Be in the Moment
by Aaron Strout
Party on the bus

While social networks like Facebook and Twitter provide great opportunities to connect with old classmates, friends, co-workers and family, they can also promote a kind of ADD that leaves us all feeling a little empty. For me, my “social” interactions tend to exhibit the “mile wide but inch deep” syndrome where I feel like I am engaging with lots of people but very few in a meaningful way.

During South by Southwest Interactive — one of the largest interactive conferences in the world — this same “mile wide” issue tends to be exacerbated as many of us who work in the online/social media space come together in Austin, TX for 5 days. The problem is that even over the course of 5 days, one can only connect with so many people beyond a 60 second, “hey, what’s up?” in the hallway.

This year was different for me, however, and much of that is thanks to some very wise words that social smarty and co-founder of the Social Media Club, Chris Heuer, shared during dinner on the Thursday night leading up to SXSW. A few of us were sitting around the table at Art’s Ribs and Jay Adelson, former CEO of DIGG, asked Chris, Jim Storer and me what we wanted to get out of SXSW this year. As someone that has attended three previous SXSW’s, I rolled my eyes and exclaimed that I just wanted to survive this year. Chris paused for a second and then responded with a simple yet profound answer. “Wherever I go, I want to BE there,” he exclaimed. We all chuckled at first and then quickly realized the importance of what he’d just said.

Over the next five days, I took up Chris’ mantra and put it into practice. What I can tell you is that it made for a much richer and more satisfying experience than the typical saccharine feeling I get when spending time with large groups of people. Most fitting was my bookending breakfast with Becky Johns, author of this blog, on the last day of the conference. I had never met Becky in person,  but the two of us have several mutual friends and we decided to connect face to face while she was in Austin. As a result, Becky and I had breakfast at the Driskill talking about our SXSW experiences while reliving meaningful conversations and connections we made during the conference. That hour long conversation was, of course, the inspiration for this post.

While it can be hard to be that focused during any extended period of time, here are six things I kept in mind to help me get the most out of my personal interactions. I plan to use them at any event in the future, big or small.

  • When connecting with someone, put your phone, laptop or tablet away. If you are in the middle of sending an e-mail/tweet when you bump into someone, let that person know that you will be with them in a minute and finish what you’re doing so you won’t be distracted.
  • Make eye contact and concentrate on not looking around the room/hallway/restaurant. Let the person you’re speaking with  know they are the most important person in the room.
  • Ask questions beyond, “hey, what’s going on?” A few that worked for me were, “what was your favorite session so far?” or “what key takeaways have you found?” Once you’ve asked, pay attention to the answer.
  • Plan on spending at least 5-10 minutes with that person irrespective of who is in the room or what is taking place. Trust me, these interactions will be more meaningful than anything else you can do while you are at a conference or meeting.
  • On the “let’s be realistic” front, if you bump into someone you don’t want to talk to, extend a hug or a handshake and let them know you’re headed to an appointment or an important session. Lying is bad, but it’s easy to get sucked into looking around the room for the next person to talk to or get distracted by your phone if you aren’t emotionally invested in your conversation.
  • To take this to the next level, send a tweet, e-mail or Facebook message to the people you talked to after the fact and let them know how much you enjoyed running into them.

Learning to truly be in the moment is an important skill in a world where important interactions are happening in both our physical and digital worlds. How good are you with truly being present? Are you spending meaningful time with the people you want to spend time with? If you aren’t, maybe it’s time to think about how you can change that.

Filed Under: Communication, Events and Conferences, Life Tagged With: , ,

Your GPA Doesn’t (Really) Matter

May 3, 2011 By Becky 31 Comments

A friend who works with the alumni association at my alma mater asked an interesting question on twitter.

Does GPA matter?As responses poured in, the overwhelming sentiment was that college GPA matters very little in professional success. While many college students stress over grades, those of us beyond academia and into our professional careers have seen how little it matters in comparison to experience, networking skills and the desire to grow.

Children go through school being taught that a grade is the determining factor in performance. But in the professional world, that’s not how it works. Your bosses won’t tell you which questions will be on the test. You don’t study information to be tested on it once in your job. Your college GPA is a combination of several factors but isn’t really the best indicator of how you’ll perform in the working world. We all know that person with perfect grades who struggles socially or that person who couldn’t care less about school but seems to have no trouble making great things happen in their life. Book smarts and street smarts are very different things.

Take your classes seriously. Do the work. Show up and learn something. Meet your professors. But I’m here to tell you, the GPA you leave college with doesn’t matter. Here’s what does:

Knowing how you learn
Spend some time during college figuring out how you best learn and retain information. Some people need to see it, some need to hear it, some need to write it and some need to practice it before it sticks. As an employee, you’ll need to learn new things as you go, remember them and prove you’ve absorbed the information.

Applying theory to real-life situations
It’s one thing to recite the 4 P’s of marketing or learn how the purchase decision funnel looks on paper, but things won’t always happen in the marketplace the way they do in your textbooks. Learn how to take fundamental information and proven best practices and apply them in new situations or projects. The real world will always throw new variables at you, so knowing how to adapt theory to life is crucial.

Time management
Learn how much time you need to research, write a paper, get to your classes and jobs on time, fit a workout in your day and still have something of a social life. Learning how many hours you have in your day/week and how to divide them up to get everything done is a vital life skill. In your professional life, you’ll need to know how to manage your time to meet deadlines, tackle to-do lists and not want to bang your head against the wall in the process.

Relevant professional experience
Jobs, internships, student organizations and volunteer projects in your industry will prepare you best for the working world. Do as much as you can to really work in your field during college and learn about what you want to do (or in same cases, what you don’t want to do). Your future employer will take your experience as the absolute best indicator for your potential in a new position.

A portfolio proving you can produce work
Keep samples of your best work from classes and internships. Many employers will want to see your work before hiring you. If you’re not building a portfolio through things you’re required to do before you graduate, then produce these things on your own time. Practice writing articles, press releases, pitches, designing publications, compiling clip reports, research summaries or anything else you might be hired to do. Practice is important.

The ability to give and receive feedback
Learning to accept both praise and criticism is incredibly important. You’ll have employee reviews with your boss someday so being able to hear different types of feedback, internalize it and adjust behavior accordingly will matter to your job performance. It’s also important to learn to how to give feedback to others. When you collaborate with colleagues on projects you’ll have to know how to offer both positive and negative comments on others’ work.

Presentation skills
Offer to be the speaker on behalf of your group in your classes and learn how to present your projects as an intern. Being able to convey ideas clearly, speak confidently with your bosses and discussing your experience in interviews will be an important part of your professional life.

Writing skills
It’s sad how many students leave college lacking solid writing ability. Focus on developing this skill because it will matter in everything from reports to pitches to emails. You don’t have to become a blogger, but finding places to practice writing content and having it edited will really help improve your skills.

Your network
You’ve heard it many times: “who you know is more important than what you know.” It’s true. Build your network before you need and get in the habit of meeting new people, nourishing your relationships and helping others by making introductions. You are most likely to find job opportunities through your network. Build it!

Chime in professionals, what else matters more for students than GPA? Or am I wrong? Is GPA more important than I’ve made it out to be?

Filed Under: Jobs and Internships, Life Tagged With: , , ,

This is the REAL Big Picture

April 21, 2011 By Becky 3 Comments

Today I came across the keynote Mitch Joel delivered at Radian 6′s Social 2011 Conference last week in Boston. It’s incredible. If you care about social media, you need to watch it. If you care about marketing, you need to watch it. If you care about how communication is evolving, you need to watch it. If you care about how technology has impacted our assumptions about access to and experiences with information, you need to watch it. If you’ve ever had a customer or ever want a customer, you need to watch it.

It’s about 45 minutes and the video is broken up into 4 parts. If you don’t have the time or focus to dedicate to it right now, bookmark this and come back later. But, I PROMISE this keynote is worth seeing if it’s your job to communicate with anyone on behalf of your company or client. While you’re at it, you might want to show your boss, too.

Without a doubt, this is the best keynote I’ve ever seen that looks at the big picture of where digital communication fits in with the broader landscape of media – both traditional and social. “Social” is a mindset, not a sales tactic. Be ready to take notes. Some seriously important takeaways for the future of business are here.

Bravo, Mitch.

Filed Under: Communication, Customer Engagement, Events and Conferences, Marketing, Social Media and Blogging, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Great PR teams are like great bands

April 19, 2011 By Becky 1 Comment

Dave Matthews BandHave you ever seen a band perform that seems effortlessly in sync? It’s a wonderful thing to watch a group of people, all responsible for a different part of a song work together toward that perfect harmony. Though it might seem strange to compare, a great PR team should be built to function the same way. Think about the role each person on your team plays toward the greater goal.

You’ll need a drummer. Someone with a good sense of rhythm, timing and a natural ability to keep the beat. This person will be a great project manager and will have an easy time keeping track of the status of a campaign or project and have an eye on the timeline and budget. Be sure you’ve got a team member assigned to keep things moving at the right pace.

You’ll need a lead singer. This person should be comfortable with a front and center role and has to be comfortable in the spotlight. This person should be a good presenter, a good public speaker, have confidence in conveying the team’s ideas, have good media training and be comfortable speaking about the team’s progress with management or the client. Having a point person associated with the project makes it easier for other colleagues to funnel information to the team through a visible source.

You’ll need backup singers. A lead vocalist will only sound better with a strong supporting staff to fill in the harmony. These people are talented, know the music (project) and know how to play a supporting role. For every great superstar, there are likely a handful of people who don’t want the spotlight but want to significantly contribute to the success of a campaign. Build a strong staff who can stay on track behind the scenes and work well with the rest of the team.

You’ll need someone on acoustic guitar. It’s so important to have someone with a really solid understanding of what you’re working on who is able to step back from the project and all its creative elements and strip it down to the basics to make sure you’re building your campaign on a solid foundation. With all the bells and whistles stripped away, are your messaging efforts focused on insights and communication methods that are right for your audience?

You’ll need a lead guitarist. Someone who just wants everything to sound great but knows how to add a little flare. On your team, this person should keep the big picture in mind, work toward the common goal, but also know how to pepper in some fun ideas and flavor. It’s good to be a risk taker, especially during brainstorming. It’s good to push the envelope and be a little fearless when it comes to crazy new tactics and ideas. It’s okay to steal the show for just a moment, as long as that moment builds toward the ultimate campaign goal.

When you hear a great song and see a great performance, it works because everyone has a role to play, is great at their job and is focused on making the right contribution toward the final project. PR campaign teams should work the same way. Let your favorite band lead by example.

Now go rock on.

Filed Under: Jobs and Internships, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Influencer: C.C. Chapman

April 13, 2011 By Becky 2 Comments

C.C. Chapman and Becky JohnsFinally getting the chance to connect with C.C. Chapman at SXSW was a major highlight of the conference for me. He and I had spoken many times, mostly over twitter and have bonded often over our mutual passion for photography. We found ourselves at the same party the second afternoon of the conference, recognized each other right away and hugged out our new friendship. Only in this social media world can you feel like you’ve known someone for years and jump right into meaningful conversation upon your first physical meeting.

We managed to schedule some time to have breakfast while in Austin and spent the morning chatting about taking photos, creative passion projects and admiring the beautiful scenery behind the Four Seasons hotel in Austin. That time totally reinforced why C.C. is someone I consider an influencer.

C.C. ChapmanPart of what comes along with this Influencers Series is shooting a portrait of each person I feature. Most of the time it’s easy, but taking portraits of another photographer is a little more difficult for some reason. Maybe because you know the other person, like you, tends to be more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. I managed to get a shot that totally captures C.C.’s infamous smirk and happy personality and discussing how we both approach portrait shoots was really interesting. Of all the interviews I’ve done for this series so far, bonding with someone over a shared passion has been one of the highlights.

In addition to being an extremely talented photographer, C.C. co-authored Content Rules, a really great business book aimed to help marketers and communicators create compelling content around their brands, products and ideas. He’s also the founder of Digital Dads, an online community focused on fatherhood. He’s an incredible speaker, inspiring blogger and a great person to follow on twitter.

As we got to talking about passion, he told me about growing up learning about photography from his grandfather. From shooting on his very first Bugs Bunny camera to learning how to develop photos in a darkroom, from a very early age C.C. enjoyed capturing his world through photographs. It was fun to see how his face lit up talking about it and also how this hobby and passion of his informed some of what he wrote about in Content Rules.

The thing I love most about other photographers is hearing them talk about about how they see the world differently than most. It’s nice to find friends who notice the little hidden beautiful things and are able to see the world as a collection of moments to snap the shutter. I highly recommend checking out CC’s work on Flickr and connecting with him. He’s definitely one of the good guys.

Check out the rest of the Influencers Series.

Filed Under: Influencers Tagged With: , , , ,

Welcome to PR Daily

April 12, 2011 By Becky 5 Comments

Pretty cool news to share, I’m now officially a contributor for Ragan’s PR Daily editorial staff.

You probably already get PR Daily in your inbox every day, but if you don’t, go ahead and subscribe. It will be worth it. Everyday, you’ll get a handful of articles, blog posts, tips, charts, stats, studies, infographs and otherwise helpful pieces of content aimed toward helping you become a better communicator and PR pro. Much of the focus is on writing skills, industry issues/trends and how social media fits into the business.

I’ve been a contributing writer for both PR Daily and Ragan.com for quite some time and am thrilled to be on the editorial staff to continue to contribute content but also have the chance to draw attention to the great work of others publishing helpful information for my industry colleagues.

This isn’t a huge change from how I already share content on twitter or the types of things you see linked in my blog posts as sources of inspiration. And nothing is changing with my job at Cramer-Krasselt. I’m still AE of Agency Communications and totally dedicated to the agency. The PR Daily thing is in addition to my job and offers another outlet to share my writing and help move the PR profession forward by getting the right information in the hands of pros. By now, you probably know me well enough to know I have a habit of keeping steady side projects.

And here’s what this means for you:

1. I’m looking for the very best content online aimed at helping or educating PR professionals. If you’ve created it or stumbled across it, send it my way! Let’s all do a better job of sharing insights with each other.

2. Part of the gig is writing a weekly column about networking tips for young professionals. If something is bugging or confusing you and it’s networking related, speak up. Others may be wanting to discuss the same issues and it might be a good topic to raise to the rest of the PR Daily community.

3. If you’re a PR pro and there are topics, trends or issues you feel need to be discussed with our colleagues, get in touch with one of the editors! We’re all working toward creating a better, more helpful resource for communicators and we want your comments and feedback. Please help us shine light on what we – as an industry – need to be thinking about.

Questions, comments or concerns? Let me know on twitter or via email.

Filed Under: Public Relations Tagged With: , ,

Tips for Successful Mentorship

April 6, 2011 By Becky 9 Comments

Mentors matter.

Probably more than most other influences in your professional life. Everyone needs help along the way in their career, regardless of age or years of experience. Having a mentor (or a few) and learning how to mentor someone else are crucial part of becoming a well-rounded professional.

I’ve always inherently understood the value of surrounding myself with people smarter than me. It just seems to make sense. I can’t tell you how many times having people to look up to and seek guidance from has made the difference in my success. And I know it’s made the difference for a lot of other people too. But not until I was in the position to be a mentor to someone else did I really understand the value sharing expertise to benefit someone else. It’s “networking” but taken a step further. It’s two people making a real investment in the success of someone else.

Aaron Strout and Sydney Owen

Aaron and Sydney - Mentor and Mentee

My friends Sydney Owen and Aaron Strout led a great discussion at SXSW called Road Rules for Mentorship (What’s Appropriate and What’s Not). The two have been in a mentoring relationship for several years. In some ways, they’re an ideal example of what successful mentorship looks like. Throughout the discussion, several key things stuck out as critically important to the success of this kind of relationship.

Think about the following points and suggestions as you work on developing your own mentor/mentee relationship.

Establish the nature of the relationship
Consider discussing making the mentoring relationship “official” so the mentor knows you’ll be looking to them for guidance and the mentee knows it’s appropriate to seek out advice on a continued basis. Understand this will mean there will be a link between the two people professionally and be sure both sides are on board with that reality.

Discuss what both sides need/want out of the relationship
Both people should have a clear understanding of the expectations of the other to be sure they’ll be able to honor the arrangement. Be honest about how much time and energy each is ready to invest in the relationship and how each expects to learn from the other.

Create some kind of schedule
Decide how often it makes sense to meet or chat and the type of time commitment both sides are on board with. Agree on what type of communication makes the most sense for your mentoring goals and then stick to it.

Make it easy for your mentor to help you
Mentees should be prepared with a specific request, topic of discussion or question when seeking out advice. Everyone is busy, so focusing on a single purpose or outcome helps the mentor really focus on giving the best guidance possible with each interaction. Be prepared with background information and be prepared to clearly explain what you’re seeking help with.

Bring something to the table
Mentees probably naturally get more value out of this type of relationship, but something should be in it for the mentor, too. Being associated with each other’s personal or professional brand isn’t something to take lightly. Be the kind of young professional the experienced pros can be proud of and show them you’re ready to grow and learn. People want to help people they think are really going places.

Knowledge works both ways
A great mentor will help you see around corners. They’ll draw from past experiences to help anticipate things the mentee might not be aware of or anticipate situations that might be harmful. They’ll warn a mentee of issues in enough time to correct behavior. But someone with less overall professional experience can be just as helpful. Explaining or researching new technologies or offering a fresh perspective can be just as valuable. Don’t be afraid to engage in some “reverse mentoring” from time to time.

Keep an eye on the professional vs. friendship relationship line
This is particularly important when two people are professional colleagues, because sometimes the tendency to share work frustrations could become a problem. As people get closer, they’ll often become more comfortable confiding in each other, so use good judgment to know what type of discussion is appropriate. If a friendship develops, or has already developed, that’s totally okay as long as both parties are comfortable with the situation. If the relationship becomes solely a friendship, be willing to recognize the change and adjust accordingly. This doesn’t mean you can’t go have a beer and talk to your mentor, but just be aware of how the relationship may or may not be changing.

Be willing to recognize when you’ve grown apart
This is always a tough issue when two people have a genuine interest in the others’ future. It won’t always be a good fit forever – be okay with bringing up those feelings and understand when both sides really aren’t getting the same value they used to. Change is totally normal. If you’re ready to “leave the nest” be willing to say so. Read the story of my experience with this particular point with an important mentor in my life, Ari Adler.

Everyone wants to feel like they’ve got people in their corner, supporting their professional growth. Be that type of person for someone else. Have that type of person in your life. It really does make a difference.

What do you think is the most important aspect of successful mentorship?

Filed Under: Jobs and Internships, Mentors Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Three Things Students Need to Know

April 4, 2011 By Becky 7 Comments

Last week, I met with a handful of students about to graduate from college in the spring and looking to enter the professional PR world. I hadn’t thought much about how much I’d experienced since graduating two years ago until I was in the position to answer questions and give advice.

Basically, there are three big things those conversations kept coming back to. If young people can learn to do these things, they’ll be fine as they enter the professional world in any industry.

1. Have a point of view and do something with it.

I can’t stress how important it is to be the person out there doing something interesting, not the person looking for a job. Make something. Create something. Be part of something interesting. Be proactive and learn as much as you possibly can about the people, issues, technologies and news affecting your industry. Discuss it with other people. Blog about it. Tweet about it. However you’d like to show your point of view is fine, but you can’t be afraid to do it. When I hit publish on a blog post, it means I’m willing to stand behind what I’ve said and teaching yourself how to do this is crucial to professional success. Two things have come up in every single job interview I’ve had: my blog and my photography. Employers care about people who do something with their point of view. Be that person. Stand out.

Don’t just take my word for it. Take it from Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the most successful entrepreneurs out there and someone widely considered a thought leader in social media and business. I caught up with him at SXSW and asked him what his ONE piece of advice for college students would be. Listen.

 

2. Ask for the meeting.

One of the biggest life adjustments after college is suddently entering a world where 99 percent of the people you interact with on a daily basis aren’t within a 5-year age range. The “adult” world is different and the more students can do to prepare for it, the better. Part of what comes along with that is creating relationships with bosses, mentors, colleagues and influential people in your industry. It can be incredibly intimidating to be a young professional learning how to build relationships with important people. It can be scary to seek out one-on-one time with your boss. It may feel weird to ask someone to be a mentor. But, learn to ask for the meeting.

Recognize who you should be connecting with and have the guts to do it. Understand that you will need to be able to bring something to the table and make it worth their time and energy, and if you do, you’ll be amazed at how easily you can make connections – simply because most people are too afraid to make the ask. Need proof this advice works? Check out my Influencers Series.

3. Build and nourish a network.

Somehow, “networking” feels like a dirty word when you’re in college. It feels like putting on a suit, printing a bunch of resumes and walking around a career fair trying to get your name and face in front of people so they might hire you. This is not networking. Networking is creating bonds with your classmates and professors. Networking is having a real relationship with colleagues at your jobs and internships. Networking is meeting your parents’ friends and connecting further with the ones who work in your industry. Networking is finding a mentor who can help guide you toward professional success. Networking is attending events with other professionals in your industry, having meaningful conversations and actually following up so the relationship doesn’t die. Networking is volunteering for events and organizations that matter in your community. Networking is being part of relevant discussions on twitter or other communities. Networking is helping other people accomplish what they want to do by connecting people who can benefit from knowing each other. The earlier you can build a meaningful network and learn how to feed it and help it grow, the the sooner you’ll realize how much the rest of your professional and personal life will be based on effective relationship building.

This advice works for those of us well beyond our college years, too. But if young people get these things in their heads early, they’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of most of the students in their graduating classes (and likely, a lot of their job candidate competition, too).

What would you add? What’s your one piece of advice for college students?

Filed Under: Jobs and Internships, Life
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