Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts

MONDAY'S MEMO : A WEEK IN NYC (PART 1)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Happy Monday!
Since Mondays are the day I am dedicating to speak on all things professional, I thought I'd wait til today to share about my NYC trip!

I was in NYC for four days, will all expenses paid for through the American Advertising Federation (AAF). I mentioned it briefly here, but I was nominated as one of the 50 Most Promising Minority Students (MPMS) of 2014 in the country.
The intent of MPMS is to "help the workforce better reflect the multiculturalism of today's society by connecting the industry with the nation's top minority students." So, AAF sent us to NYC for a week of networking, interviewing, and industry immersion opportunities with industry professionals/companies. (taken from website.)
Prior to, I didn't really understand what would happen during the trip and didn't anticipate too much to since it was only four days long. But boy, was I so, so, so wrong. I learned, I networked, and I was inspired. What more could I ask for? It was exhausting with how much activity we did in such a short amount of time and the amount of information we were supposed to digest, but each night I went to bed fulfilled and excited. These people are so, so, so passionate with their trade—and that's honestly all I'm looking for. That's what gets my heart beating. It excites me to know that one day I'll work alongside such people. (:

While I was there, I had the chance to interview with 6 companies total; McCann, BBDO, Initiative, Hill Holiday, Wieden + Kennedy, and General Mills, along with a handful of informal interviews. The rest of the agenda was blocked for seminars and workshops addressing relevant topics like leadership types, confidence skills, diversity, women in the workplace, etc. Different companies also held Q&A panels and agency tours, so we could get a better peek into the working life. It was so great.

Here are some memorable quotes from the trip to leave you with...

"You're too smart to just be average at something."

"Do one thing a day that scares you."

"Don't just network, build relationships."

"Be curious."

:)

I know I'm fortunate to have found a career that really excites me; and I know not all people want or need to be fulfilled with their career—and that's fine. (: To each their own. But I hope that wherever you are sitting, I hope this week you will strive to find more joy in your work today than yesterday. Work doesn't have to be your life or even a large chunk of it, but you CAN make 9 to 5 count. Seek another project that excites you. Ask your co-workers out for coffee. Hang a pretty poster in your office. Do anything and everything to make it count.


MONDAY'S MEMO: HELLO NYC!

Monday, February 10, 2014

The week has finally arrived and I'm heading up to NYC for the AAF's Most Promising Minority Student Conference. It's going to be one amazing, chaotic, and life-changing week. A jam-packed itinerary is planned for every day of the week, and one of them is strictly reserved for interviews. Yes, eight hours of interviewing. Fifty (!!!) companies from around the country, and from all sorts of disciplines, will be there (Like CNN, Conde Naste, Razorfish, and Leo Burnett, just to name a few...) It's time to pull out the big guns. So far, I've revised, revised, and revised my resume, printed out 50+ copies, and ordered business cards. 

I'm still doing some interview prep + researching. If you're curious on exactly HOW to interview prep, here are some things I do:
- Research the company: annual reports, CEOs, recruiters, etc.
- Research the industry landscape: healthy, climate, trends, etc.
- Research the work the company has been cranking out. 
- Research common interview questions and type up answers
- Prepare stories and experiences to highlight (in the form of STAR: situation, task, action, result)
- Prepare questions to ask. 
- Prepare a 30-second thank you speech.

The internet is a beautiful thing for times like this. :)

So with all this madness going on, I won't be able to really dedicate time into blogging as I'd like to! :( I will be MIA for the week; however, I am leaving you in good hands! :) I asked some of my favorite blog friends to join Coffee & Honeycomb while I'm gone, and they have graciously accepted. These are some truly WONDERFUL ladies and I'm so excited for you to meet them. So keep checking back here during the week and be ready for new faces and new content. 

*Follow me to NYC by following me on Instagram (@jkfacee) if you aren't already! :) 

MONDAY'S MEMO: I'M AN AD MAN

Monday, February 3, 2014

Right now, I'm shifting into "student mode" and trying to absorb as much information as I can... Not just from my classes, but from every avenue, as well. I'm reading through Forbes, AdWeek, This Week, and "Lean in" daily. I'm trying to be a student of advertising, not merely an advertising student.

As a second semester senior, my graduation date is creeping up very quickly (May 17th). I'm currently job searching, networking, browsing industries, etc., and I want to be as informed about the advertising industry as I can.

In the same way we shared how blogging is a culture and language you must practice, so is your trade. The more I fill my brain with the trends, jargon, methods of my trade (advertising), the more organically I can speak about it at career fairs, emails, professional conversations, etc. 

I take my career kind of seriously. And not in the intense-feministic kinda way, (but if that's your thing, you go, girl) but more so in the way that I'm really passionate about my professional growth, my professional impact, and my professional trade. I want to be in an industry and specifically a company I believe in and respect, I want to be effective as I can in the role I am. So this job searching is not only looking through places and applying, but it's also an internal search, too. 

This "search" has been taking up a lot of my mind lately, so I want to share about it here with you guys—my slow, painful, and exciting journey into becoming a contributing citizen of society. (yikes.) This whole semester is a process as I find myself as a professional, as well as find the perfect company where I can dive in and get my feet wet. What does that even look like? Will I be able to identify it right away? If I find the perfect place, will they find me to be the perfect candidate? That sort of thing...

Each monday I want to share with you the update of how my job search is going, what I'm learning, and some tips for you as you search for your own career path, internship, career, etc. Nothing formal or anything—again, this is just my "journey." I'm just going to be writing as someone who's in the same shoes as you and intentionally trying to develop a more professional voice. (Speaking of intentionality, if you want to find a blog all about intentional living, you must check Jess Lively out. She is the queen of living with intention.

So, if this is a topic that interests you, please tune in every Monday and we'll explore different topics/segments related to professionalism/job searching/etc. If this is not really your thing, no worries, come back other days of the week to find the usual content (lifestyle posts, inspiration, photos, etc.) 

This week, instead of extending a tip, I kind of just want to (quickly) talk about where I am right now...

What you guys don't know is that last semester I received my first rejection email. And I cant fully describe it to you but my world seemed to collapse. I was defeated and heart broken and confused. Maybe I was also a bit dramatic, but getting that rejection email is never any fun—especially when you thought that prospect seemed perfect for you. Anyway, I don't want to delve too much into this because I'm going to have a separate post on getting rejected later, but that was just where I was towards the end of last semester. I didn't feel like an all-star and my pride was hurt. From then to now, though, things have changed... I was named one of the "Most Promising Minority Students" of 2014, I used the rejection as a learning opportunity and stepped up my game, and I kept trying to learn...

I'm leaving for New York one week from today for an Advertising convention/award ceremony, and I have (so far) two second-round interviews lined up for the week I am there. I'm not going to disclose company names just yet, but I can share the cities they are in! One is an advertising agency in Oregon and the other is a client-side office in Minneapolis. I actually thought I did TERRIBLE in one of the phone interviews and was feeling bummed about it, but today I received an email that I had passed to second round. (PTL! I know that definitely was not me.) Both of these companies are companies I really, really respect and would be more than honored to work for—I'm even honored to just be considered a candidate! The only thing is that they are both out of state. Yikes. So moving forward either way will make for a huge life adjustment. 

Other news, I have two Chicago advertising agency prospects I am in the middle of interviewing for right now... These are also really great and reputable agencies, but I'm not sure I'm in love with them, you know? I don't know if the line of work I would be doing there would really fulfill and inspire me daily. I don't know if that's naive for me to think that way, though. I've been really, really fortunate to have positive internship experiences, so I only have high hopes for a full-time position, too! But everyone always says that working is not fun... 

Regardless, I'm trying to put my best foot forward, embrace every opportunity with an open mind, and keep a positive attitude. :) Keep you posted!

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