Young Professionals Network

On Tuesday, January 20th Michele, Brett, and I attended a Young Professionals Networking (YPN) Event in downtown Chicago at FD Ashton, a small strategic advisory firm. The event was posted on PRSA's website under “professional development” and as members of PRSSA, Michele thought that this would be something really beneficial for our Executive Board to attend.

The title of the workshop was “Climbing the Professional Ladder to Success” and was comprised of an evening filled with questions, small talk, and networking with PR professionals. There was lots of insight about how to improve one's career path and get noticed by upper-management, but there were 4 tips that stood out to me.

1. Your resume should show progression. College students constantly hear, “get involved” and “be part of an organization” or “join a club.” But it is so important to be an active participant and challenge oneself by taking on more responsibilities. Don't just join something to join- become part of something to increase your knowledge and experiences. Challenge yourself by volunteering for a new project or run for a position that requires more work. The more you put into something, the more you get out of it. You will have a better chance of impressing an employer with your high levels of ambition if your resume shows that you took the initiative to grow.

2. Network, Network, Network. The more people you know, the better your chance for landing that ultimate dream job, so vary the type of events you attend. If you're constantly going to business fund-raisers and sales-type of events, spice up your routine and choose a fashion event or a trade show. The more diverse environments you encounter, the bigger and better your realm of contacts will be.

3. Make links. This is different from networking. Employers will be impressed if you can draw connections between something from your past and what they expect from you in the future. If you are at an interview and are stumped by a question because you have no experience with a specific task about which they are inquiring, spin the situation to your favor by recalling something similar you have done. For example, “That reminds me of something I did at my previous job.”

4. Become well-versed in mathematics. People usually joke that a lot of students choose communication and public relations as a field of interest because they are so horrible at math. But the sore truth is, PR involves working with database entries, reading spreadsheets and being able to budget money as well as time. Patrick, one of the panelists at the workshop, claimed that approximately 40-80% of the work done in PR involves numbers. So, if you're not good with numbers, consider enrolling for a class based around data-entry or reading up on financial news. Just because you're stellar at communication doesn't mean you can't (or shouldn't) be good with numbers as well.


--Stevie