Jordan's Blog
On Wednesday November 13th, I attended a very insightful public relations event with other UW-Whitewater public relations students at the Hudson Business Lounge in Milwaukee. This event was an opportunity for students to practice their networking and interviewing skills. About 45 public relations professionals attended the event to give advice and information to 90 students. It was a very inspiring event that gave the students an insight into the public relations field.
The event opened with the CMO and founder of Big Shoes Midwest, Jeff Carrigan. Jeff included the 5C's in his speech about what it takes to stand out in the professional world when seeking a job. The 5C's he discussed were chemistry, character, c-suite which is thinking like a CEO, competence, and connections.
When Jeff Carrigan's speech concluded, Ann Knabe announced that it was time for the students and professionals to connect and begin the interviewing process. The students were to connect with three public relations professionals. The first two professionals we met with interviewed the students and the third professional was interviewed by the students. The first professional I connected with was Justin Eric Smith who is an account executive at the Trefoil Group located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company is designed to help with marketing communication strategies such as digital marketing, branding and positioning, and creating websites. I was a little nervous at first because, but Justin was very easy to talk with and made me feel very comfortable. I spoke with Justin about internships and his answer surprised me. He said that it is important to have an internship, however, companies look at the experiences from jobs and involvement in campus organizations even more. That was very surprising to hear because at Whitewater, the professors really drill into the students about internships. Justin said that my experience as a waitress is going to look great on a resume because it shows the number of skills I have acquired, such as multitasking and forming relationships with the customer. The second professional I connected with was Emily Bultman who is a communications coordinator and managing editor at Wisconsin Dental Association. The association represents 80% of all dentists and promoting professional excellence. Emily was very enthusiastic about her job and it was so easy to fall into conversation with her and I could have talked to her all night! When I sent her a followup email, she responded very quickly and provided me with information to stay connected with her.
My final interview was with Abigail Naumann who is a senior social editor and strategist. I really enjoyed interviewing Abi because she was so passionate about her job and was very nice. One of my questions I asked her was how she felt going to work everyday and her response was "I smile every time I walk in the office doors." That was so important to me because my biggest fear is settling for a job that I never wanted but it paid the bills. My interview went so well with Abi that she invited me out for coffee and lunch! Overall this event was very successful because I have made new connections with professionals and learned so much. Thank you to Ann Knabe for organizing the event!
