What's #HAPPO-ning: Rock your summer PR internship

On Thursday, April 26, the latest installment of the HAPPO Twitter chats will take place to cover tips on how to rock your summer internship.Here's a primer on the chat from Deanna Ferrari (the moderator):

Everyone remembers his or her first internship – the first real foot in the door for landing a career. With college graduations right around the corner, summer internships will be starting up all over the U.S. in the next few weeks. That’s why us HAPPO Champs (you know, “Help a PR Pro Out,”) have decided the timing is just right to do our next live Twitter chat to get you ready for your summer internship.

Participate: Hop on to Twitter at 2 PM EST on Thursday, April 26 and follow the #HAPPO hashtag. Make sure you follow @helpaprproout and this chat's moderator, Pittsburgh HAPPO champ, Deanna Ferrari to see the chat questions. I suggest you ask questions and actively participate through replies and RTs in addition to sharing your tips and advice. (If you need a way to follow and participate in Twitter chats, try using Tweetchat. It's super-easy and keeps the flow manageable.)

Tips: I think tips for summer internships is a fantastic topic for HAPPO not just because of the timing but because there is a wealth of knowledge ready to be mined by students and shared by pros. I really like what Jason Mollica shared earlier this week in his video about the chat for prospective interns -- be a sponge and write as much as possible.

Share: If you are so inclined, pass this post along or perhaps copy/paste one of these below from Deanna,

Summer internships are around the corner. Join the next #HAPPO chat for tips on how to rock it! Thurs, 4/26 @ 2pm ET http://wp.me/pzcY7-CH

We want up & coming pros to succeed - the first step is that summer internship! Next #HAPPO chat is Thurs 4/26 @ 2 ET http://wp.me/pzcY7-CH

About HAPPO: Help a PR Pro Out is a nationwide movement that seeks to use social media to leverage relationships and help connect those seeking a job in the PR industry with employers. It’s lead by co-founders Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon. I serve as the HAPPO champion for Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Keep your job; update your résumé

résumé - n. 1. A brief account of one's professional or work experience and qualifications, often submitted with an employment application.
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When was the last time you updated your résumé and why did you do it? Most likely it was while you were searching for a new job and/or because you were ready to leave your current position. Do you regularly update your résumé when you have no plans on leaving?

Assuming you are in good standing with your employer and there is minimal cause for concern of being a downsizing casualty, you probably ignore your résumé. Your short summary of work experience can quickly become an anemic relic to the point of being pretty useless. Bad move.

Regular résumé updates can help you keep your job. Your résumé can be invaluable as your concise record of professional progress, achievements, and assets. Think of it in terms of your own professional ROI. During performance reviews, if you've kept a current résumé, you can point to specific initiatives, projects, or objectives that you've met. And of course, that same résumé will hopefully serve you well when it's time to leave and move on to a new opportunity. Save yourself the time and headache of trying to recall accomplishments from days/months/years ago once the urgency sets in because you're seeking new employment.

What do you think? Is it worthwhile to keep your résumé ready?

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On Thursday, December 15, the Help a PR Pro Out (HAPPO) community will once again hold a Twitter chat. The topic? Résumé writing. Check out the details from Arik Hanson's blog: HAPPO chat set for Dec. 15 on resume-writing tips

When will it be held? Thursday, Dec. 15, noon-1 p.m. CT
How do I participate? Jump on the Twitters [Thursday, December 15] and tweet using the #happo hash tag, as always.
How will the chat be organized? We’ll have 5-6 questions to discuss, and our HAPPO champs from across the U.S. will be chiming in with their personal advice. And, of course, we’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas, too.

(Photo by hanzabean via Flickr Creative Commons)

PR job hunting tactics - #HAPPO days ahead

The following is a guest post by Colleen Fischer, who agreed to share her thoughts, experiences and tactics on the PR job hunt scene:
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As a PR professional job searching in a new city, I am faced with one of the greatest challenges of my life, yet I treasure the unique opportunity I have been given to truly start fresh. My husband’s career has taken us away from a large professional and social network, an everyday routine, and a calendar full of commitments. I suddenly have found myself with an abundance of time, motivation, and excitement about the unknown. While I deeply miss past colleagues, long-standing media relationships, and the central Ohio community, I see more potential for my career in Fort Worth every single day. This potential is not only found through job listings and interviews, but more importantly, through the relationships I am constantly building. I have a new appreciation for the human component in job searching and the importance of connecting with people in my everyday life.

Communication is the foundation to public relations, which is fortunate for PR job seekers such as myself. HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) chats on twitter, linkedin groups, and networking events are a few resources that are not as easily accessible in other industries. The nature of people in the PR field is typically warm, helpful, inviting and social. This is something I constantly have to remind myself, as I ask others for their time and recommendations.

Having spent my high school, college and eight years of my career in one city, the concept of asking favors of strangers is foreign to me. In addition to a welcoming industry, the community of Fort Worth has been overwhelmingly hospitable. The mix of friendly Fort Worth life-ers and fellow transplants is a recipe for a great city to be new in.

In addition to the daily grind of googling and job board searching, below are some of my job hunt tactics:

Blogging- My blog depicts me personally. It definitely has a professional edge, but the purpose it serves is to display my creativity and sense of humor. I want to be hired for these qualities in addition to my professional expertise.

Social Media - Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are my daily necessities for continuously learning, conversing, and building my community. I am my authentic, witty self on these platforms, with the intention of standing out among the rest.

DFWcommunicators.com - I was blown away by the amount of PR opportunity in the DFW area when I first discovered this job bank. I have continued to check the listings every day, applying for positions, learning from duties, requirements, and job descriptions, and gaining a deeper grasp of the local PR industry.

Fort Worth PRSA - They key to capitalizing on this group is active involvement. In my new role of Hospitality Chair, I have already connected with chapter leaders and expect to build many more relationships throughout 2011.

Toastmasters - Valuable public speaking and leadership development through practice, this group simply gets me out of the house as well as out of my comfort zone.

Social Media Club - I have found this to be the most laid back, easygoing networking group. The tweet-ups are truly fun and there is a real sense of community as relationships are easily maintained on twitter.

These elements, combined with a great deal of patience, are the keys to my job hunt strategy. I have promised myself not to settle for A job, as I want THE long-term position that is right for me. Putting myself out there as me is the best way to make that match. In addition to working toward my career goals, these everyday efforts are simultaneously helping me to make friends and stay sane.
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Updated 1/23/11 - I'm happy to report that Colleen's efforts have paid off as she's recently accepted a position as PR Manager with M/C/C Ad Agency & PR Firm in Dallas.
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Check out other musings over on Colleen's blog as she continues her search.

Also, look for more information in the coming weeks from HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) as we celebrate the anniversary of this growing network.

Applying for a PR position? Be smart and be #HAPPO.

Our Communications Department at the school district just went through the fantastically challenging process of hiring for a new Public Relations Specialist position.

It was fantastic insomuch that it meant that our department was finally able to add another set of hands to help out in a growing district. This was a challenging endeavor due to the fact that there is a lot of amazing communications/PR/journalist talent out there looking to land a good gig. In the end, we are pleased to have who we believe will be a tremendous asset to our team.

The hiring process also gave me the chance to assess a rather large pool of résumés, cover letters, and correspondence from potential candidates and discover some areas that might help others seeking employment in public relations.

1. Know your audience - I was surprised at the number of applicants who had zero qualifications that matched our needs. This could be because of the still recovering job market and people applying just to apply, but it doesn't make sense to waste your time trying to get in front of someone when there's obviously not a relevant connection.
   
2. Read the job description very carefully - When evaluating applications, we were looking for specific set of skills, demonstrated ability and experience for our department needs. Look for words in the job description (like writing, reporting, media spokesperson, special events, web, etc.) that give context clues to help you determine what they are looking for in an ideal candidate.
   
3. Match your skill set with your experience - Look for ways to draw comparisons with your work experience (paid, internship and volunteer) to as many of the skills sought as possible. Don't have any related work experience? This is when your writing skills will come in handy as you'll need to frame your education around the needs of the position. Either way, you need to be able show your prowess for their specific open position.
   
4. Cover letters get read. (Hopefully.) - Thinking about writing skills, the cover letter is an area for the job seeker should pay attention to. The cover letter probably shouldn't be a narrative rehashing your résumé. Instead, let the cover letter be a written example of your personality. Keep it professional, but it's ok to be a human.
   
5. Details, details, details - Pay close attention to what you send to potential employer. Let's all say it together, "Pay close attention to what you send to potential employer." Sadly, people make bonehead mistakes when applying for jobs. Like leaving all of the edits turned on in the Microsoft Word .doc cover letter so 1/2 of the page is red and/or crossed-through. Don't be that guy. Send a PDF.(And yes, that really happened.) Other mistakes with your résumé such as misspellings or misleading bullet points, etc. cause unnecessary confusion. Also, follow all of the directions in the application process, to whom do  you send documents, whether or not to complete an online or offline application, etc. These things really make a difference and when fouled up, make you appear to not be very detail-oriented which is pretty important in PR.
   
6. Apply like you're pitching a story - You'll get better traction when seeking employment if you approach each potential employer they way they want to be approached. We know that blasting out the same generic press releases to a bunch of media contacts and hoping one of them bites is a waste of everyone's time. Tailor your résumé to each prospect like you would tailor your pitch to a specific reporter and outlet. It takes more time, but you stand a greater chance of getting your foot in the door if you can be relevant to them.
   
7. For the journalists - We had a high number of current and former journalists apply for our position. And I know of many media friends making the jump to the dark side (or into the light depending on how you look at it) of PR. I believe you bring an exciting potential to any communications team because of the inside knowledge of the media you bring to the table. Lean on your writing, ethical, and newsworthy standards and I believe you can be a valuable addition to public relations teams.

What do you think? What tips or suggestions can you add for PR job candidates? The comments are yours.

And for your moment of HAPPO-ness...

HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) is an online community started by Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon. It’s members strive to help PR pros who are looking for jobs connect with organizations looking to hire in order to identify potential opportunities for both sides. I am the HAPPO regional champion for Dallas/Ft.Worth. The next HAPPO online event is Dec. 8. Follow the #HAPPO hashtag on Twitter for more details and to get involved. If you are in DFW, follow the #HAPPODFW hashtag on Twitter for local information.

[Photo by zervas via Flickr Creative Commons]

Related articles

• HAPPO events scheduled for December, January
• HAPPO is a chance to put yourself out there

Unexpected #HAPPO Help

I opened up my blog for a guest post in the hopes of featuring a college senior about to graduate for the 2nd edition of Help a PR Pro Out (HAPPO). I have been communicating with and invited Kathelin (Kat) Buxton, UTA PRSSA President, to share some insights here on why employers should hire her. However, she sort of turned down the offer and turned things around. What resulted was a wonderful example of PR advocacy:

Kathelin wrote to me and explained why she was turning down my blog feature offer:

I have been fortunate these past few weeks to have been presented with more than a handful of interviews and one or two job offers that I thought it would be better suited to field this blog post opportunity to another PR pro who needs a hand.Below a blog post that Elizabeth Flores wrote, a fellow soon to be graduate and highly underrated individual. She played a pivotal role in the UTA Bateman case study team, and was part of our group that presented at the last PRSSA meeting. She is very dedicated and a hard worker but has not had the opportunity to immerse herself in the world of PR as I have due to other extenuating circumstances and a few too many curve balls thrown her way. I'm sorry if this is not what you had in mind, but what good am I as a PR pro if I can't be an advocate...[emphasis added]

So with that, here is the HAPPO guest post featuring Elizabeth Flores:
Elizabeth E. Flores | @isabella026

Mountain climbing might be considered an extreme sport, but it has become my passion over the past few years. More so this past year as I prepare to reach one of the highest mountains tops I have worked hard to conquer. In two weeks, I will have reached my Mt. Kilimanjaro and be the first in a large family to graduate from college. Despite many obstacles that could have prevented the climb, I hurdled the odds and reached the top.

As I try to make my way into the workforce, I know many employers will ask why her? out of the many other promising recent graduates, who might have more experience. There are three rules I came across and embraced to drive myself to success:

1. Know what to expect and expect the unexpected;
2. Be Accountable; and
3. Stay Motivated.

I didn’t have the opportunity to have the best internships to get valuable experience because a full-time school load and job took most of my time. However, by being resourceful I took as many opportunities as I could to get experience through class work, school organizations and professional events.

Success to me is not just about the end result; it is about the journey taken and lessons learned. I can’t and won’t promise perfection, that’s not what I learned in college. What I learned throughout my experience was to work hard for what you want and always strive for the best. What I will bring to the table is a foundation to build real world experiences. My foundation is the core of what will help me contribute to my future employers success. I am proud to say that my foundation consists of integrity, ambition, perseverance, leadership, self-discipline and a competitive and positive perspective. Lastly is determination to always continue my personal and professional development.
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I appreciate Kat sharing this opportunity to a fellow PR major and I am impressed with the will and determination by Elizabeth. I expect to see good things from these two and others who are applying themselves to our industry.

Related HAPPO posts

• Jenn Bollenbacher – #HAPPO
• Mariam Shahab – It's HAPPO-ning
• #HAPPO advice for 2010 Grads/job seekers
• Best advice for a college grad?
• Job-Hunting Lessons from #PRStudChat