This past Wednesday, I had the great opportunity of
traveling to Milwaukee and meeting several public relations professionals. The
event involved professionals in the public relations field, interviewing and
being interviewed by fellow UW-Whitewater PR students. The event was located at
the Hudson Business Lounge (@HudsonMKE).
We first heard from Jeff Carrigan, founder and CMO
of Big Shoes
Network. Jeff talked about his website, but then gave us helpful facts about
job searching, and an example of a college student who made a great impression
on a hiring manager while interviewing.
My first interview was with Renee Vandlik(@rtv66). Renee is the owner of
The Advocacy Difference, which
serves Wisconsin non-profits. She asked me to describe myself, what I plan on
doing when I graduate, and what I ultimately would like to do in public
relations. Renee was really helpful because she pointed out some of my strong
interview points, but said I need to work on a more precise personal strength
statement.
During my second interview, with Chuck Weber, we
focused more on my experience with public relations. He helped point out what
sounded strong skills with organizations I have been involved in. He also taught
me that it’s an important interview tip that when asked a question, give a
complete statement, and then stop talking once I’ve said what has been asked,
instead of lingering on.
My informational interview was with Sarah Kikkert (@Sarah_Kikkert). Sarah is the Communications & Social Media Coordinator at Wisconsin State Fair. We discussed a lot
about media monitoring. I have only recently learned of the term, so Sarah
talked to me about what media monitoring consists of, some different media monitoring programs such as Cision, and how she uses media monitoring in
her position.
Overall, I think the networking event was a great success, and it helped
me immensely. The mock interviews made me realize I need to practice more than
I thought, and how important it is to be completely prepared when interviewing
for a position. A couple other things that the mock interviews taught me is to
start focusing on giving a clear answer when asked what my strengths are, and
that I need to not keep talking when I have made my point, or it can get me in
trouble.
