February 19, 2010
Let’s Get Together
I am currently a senior public relations student at the University of South Florida interested in a full-time position that relates to public relations, communications, media, marketing, social media and everything in between.
I have had an abundance of media and marketing-related experiences throughout my college career, and I’m not finished yet. I am currently working as a special projects secretary at Children’s Medical Services in Tampa, Fl. I have had this position for over a year and a half. Over the course of holding this job, I have also acquired three internships along the way. The internship I have now is with Southern Wine & Spirits; I am assisting the PR Director with the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival which is May 14, 15 and 16. I can truly say that I have, and will continue to learn a great deal about working in the real-world while still getting my college degree.
Within the last three years, I have done my best to prepare myself for a full-time career in communications through coursework and jobs/internships. I feel when the times comes in about three months to graduate, I will be as prepared as I possibly can be to step in to a professional position.
I am a very passionate, ambitious and dedicated person. I do not want to settle for a position after graduation that will not challenge me, and ultimately help me grow into the well-rounded professional I strive to be. I strongly desire to excel in the communications field, and I try to take-on every opportunity I get that will aid me in this goal.
Due to the obvious fact that I don’t know it all, I believe I am a fast-learner and will adapt well to any position that I find myself in. I am prepared to take on tasks that I am not totally comfortable with, because I know this is how I will learn and grow. I actually prefer to be challenged. I know public relations jobs are not desk jobs, they are busy jobs with each day bringing something new and potentially different. I love the thrill of this type of career, and am very anxious to be completely out of school and into the real-world.
I sincerely feel that any company that chose to hire me would benefit, as I would benefit from the company that hires me. If I didn’t think it would be a two-way street, I would not be so eager to get a job. So, let’s get together!
I was born and raised in Tampa, Fl and would like to find a position that keeps me ‘home’. Please feel free to review my resume (Resume- Monica Lynn) and get to know the specific things I have accomplished in my past work experiences. I would be glad to answer any questions.
February 18, 2010
It’s Go Time
It’s here. It’s time. It’s…graduation.
Finally, the long awaited g-word is almost here. Thousands of days of class, millions of hours spent learning…all for this. Well, what is THIS going to be? Graduation means no more school. Graduation is a transition from the classroom to the office room. But, what if you don’t know what office room you are going to? In 2 months and 21 days I will no longer be required to step into a university classroom ever again. I’m ridiculously excited and fearful all at the same time.
For the past 3 years, I have done my best to shine inside and outside of the classroom. I learned quite some time ago that getting a degree doesn’t set you apart anymore. It seems as if getting a Bachelor’s Degree in 2010 is like getting a high school diploma in 1950, who cares? Lots of people get their four-year degrees, so now one has to go much further to set themselves apart from the pack. Internships were something I have put a lot of stake in. And while I agree they are super important, it seems that doesn’t set you apart very much either. Lots of people do internships, who cares?
College graduates more than ever need to get creative in order to get a job post-graduation. There is no map that tells graduates what to do to get a job. It is different for everyone anyways. I can say, though, that right now for Public Relations wanna-bes, there seem to be more channels now than ever before to connect and put yourself out there. Exposing yourself to as many people in the field that you want to go into is key. Twitter and blogging are perfect for this. The Web is a God-send to PR students. Those who aren’t engaged are not taking advantage of the many opportunities that could get them a job!
My advice for students studying PR- get on Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, blogs, LinkedIn, etc. Don’t fall behind when you aren’t even ahead!
In the words of Chris Farley, “IT’S GO TIME!”
December 4, 2009
H1N1 Awareness Study
Watch our video we used for this study on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=revFe5VuZ_I
November 12, 2009
How To Be A Good Intern
Internships are all the newest craze in PR programs all across the world. It is not enough just to get a PR degree anymore. I heard a statistic the other day that the average PR grad has had 3 internships by the time they graduate. WOW!
Starting early is the key to getting those three in. I have found that internships are of course very important for experience and to put on a resume. I have realized this semester though, that it takes much more than just landing an internship. After you get the, “We would like to welcome you to join our team,” e-mail…then starts the real work.
The first weeks of your internship are crucial. This time period consists of learning not only all about the company, but also about what YOU can personally do for this new company you have just joined forces with. After you have gained a little bit of traction, and you sort of know what you are doing, then it’s really time to step-up your game. This is especially true if you aren’t the only intern.
I am one of many young bright females at my PR agency. At first, I was discouraged and wondering how the heck I was going to stand out of this bunch. Then, I realized that this is such a good opportunity, and I can not let it pass me by just because I’m not the only intern. DUH! So, I decided to take some initiative and really try to apply what I had been learning in PR Writing, Issues and Research. With a lot of help and guidance from my peers, professors and other professionals at my agency- I feel like I have gone from zero to hero. Hercules anyone? 
At the beginning of this semester I felt incredibly overwhelmed, and like I was immensely unprepared for the months ahead. It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to keep up in school and my internship (and my little clerical job). BUT- here I am feeling a lot better about myself in terms of having a future in PR.
It took me stepping up to the plate to get all that I have out of this opportunity though. You can’t just be in “intern mode” when you are at work. It has to go home with you, do research on your own, think about what more you can do. Basically, you can’t ever take your critical thinking cap off again. Then, take the initiative! It doesn’t matter if you mess up a couple of times, everyone is human.
I know I will succeed in PR and I am so excited to finish out my four years at USF next semester and walk across that stage in June. Then comes the real world! I am stoked!
November 9, 2009
4 Interviews of PR Pros on the topic of social media
November 3, 2009
Why Budget Does Matter
It seems like a basic concept to me that in the business world, if you don’t have the money to pay for something to be done, it doesn’t get done. Sure, the real world is harsh, but “that’s just the way it is.” Oddly, this topic was debated in my class this morning.
To preface how this debate got started, we were discussing a recent project that all students completed last week. The project was to split up into groups, and we each chose a situation where we were to be the PR team. Then, come up with and present a campaign to our client that followed a strategic planning model.
The topics, or clients, varied from Kanye West and the Clinton Global Initiative, to NYC Charter Schools and Zoo Boo. There was much diversity and hugely different situations up for grabs. In about 5 minutes we decided in class what client we wanted and then tried to get our number 1 pick. We ended up with the NYC Charter Schools issue. My group had no idea what we were getting ourselves into at first. After doing some research, it was clear we were dealing with a very important and controversial topic with millions of children at stake. This was a real live issue that exists, and we wanted to come up with a realistic approach. As PR hopefuls, we truly thought of what we would do if we worked for an agency hired to do PR for the NYC Department of Education.
It took a lot of digging, research, questions, discussions, ideas and lots of thought to arrive at a sensible plan of action.
This is where the budget comes in to play.
The NYC public schools do not have the budget to accomodate the changes and diverse things they would surely love to do if money were no object. Should the Deparment of Education take a closer look at the funding and allocation of monies to try to solve some immediate problems? Yes. Is a PR firm going to be able to accomplish that in a campaign? No. Our main goal was to divert attention from some bad policies, to more positive actions. We had to work with a realistic amount of money the NYC Department of Education would be able to put towards a PR campaign attempting to reach public school parents. Once we established this notion, we proceeded to make a plan based on a realistic sense of how much money we could use.
It seems our prudent concept to work with a tight budget hindered our campaign in the eyes of some.
We not only created a website, we drafted a press release, op-ed, online survey, media list, a document with all the pros of public schools and came up with a legitimate sponsor. Unfortunately, most of these extram items were in PDF format and we realized during the presentation the computer in our classroom will not open PDF files. Bad luck!
Back to the budget. In my eyes, it was obvious that the groups that had clients with realistically larger budgets were at an advantage. The groups, like mine, that had clients with a more limited budget had a more challenging and daunting task. This doesn’t mean the creativity and “passion” should fly out the window because of a bounded bugdet. It is just more difficult, and there are clear limitations.
However, there was discussion that groups that got to work with bigger budgets did not have an advantage. The reasoning for this? Supposedly, a PR person should do all that they can think to do without budget in mind for a client. Since PR people should be networked, they should apparantly know people to do things for free if the client can’t pay.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Each client a PR person works for from an agency perspective can only do so much with the number of hours the client is willing and able to pay for.
Example-If a client needs: a social media presence, the creation of a website, and the planning and execution of a huge event…I’m fairly certain 20 hours a month is not enough time to do all of that. So, if the client says we can only pay you for 12 hours a month, you have no choice but to do 12 hours of billable work. Additionaly, if you need to outsource a graphic designer to re-do a brochure or website, you obviously have to pay them. If I were a client, and a PR team was presenting to me a campaign that they estimated to cost $100,000 when I specifically said my budget was $60,000, I would be appalled. I would also think it was very unprofessional of them.
October 28, 2009
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