Kelly Wittenmeier: Things I wish I had known.

Hey everyone!  Here is the guest blog by Kelly Wittenmeier I promised this week.  I would like to thank Kelly for taking time out of her schedule to write for Prince of PR.  I hope you all enjoy it and take as much away from it as I did.

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Hi Ben!   

Let me first clarify that I am not interning with an agency. My internship is with IMPACT Marketing and Public Relations, it is a sole proprietorship, Mary Beth, who is my boss, is the founder and owner of IMPACT. We work with various small businesses that need help getting more business through strategic planning, marketing and public relations. One thing my internship has done for me is opened my eyes to the idea of owning my own business or PR agency. Although, since I have not yet had that agency experience, I want to work for one first!  

So, here is 1-5 what I wish I had known before my internship? And some inspiration advice for PR majors out there!

      I wish that I realized an internship during college would have been better. I had the idea in my head that finding an internship is hard…here’s an idea, it’s not hard!  Yes, finding an internship with a top 10 PR agency in Chicago can be competitive, but if that doesn’t work out find another internship to acquire experience. A great idea would be a part time internship during the semester or taking a part time internship over the summer for just three months. It is really just to put on your resume, so that first job knows you have had experience.

A HINT: Even if you don’t think you learned a lot during your internship EXPAND the truth J and say you learned a lot with some exciting reasons to back it up! There are so many opportunities out there, if you do the work to find it and meet the right people!

        I wish that I took on more projects whether it was with PRSSA or any other organization on campus to get more hands on experience. I was so concerned about graduating in December that I just wanted to get through it all as fast as I could and didn’t want to take on extra work on top of my homework. I know you seniors are anxious to move on and graduate but take your time, it will go by fast, so get as much as you can out of your University that will help you to find a job. Go to the career fairs, the career center and attend every event you can. Take on the extra articles to write, come up with one last campaign, meet more people and be friends with everyone in your major. One day your classmates could help you find a job!    

     

            I wish I talked to more professionals and got more business cards at the PRSA events and PRSSA programs I attended.

ADVICE: EVERYONE in our field is outgoing, you have to be, so, do not be scared to walk up to the top CEO of a business and wow them with your brilliance, they are only human!!!

      I wish I took more Journalism classes because it is VERY IMPORTANT to know how to write a story that can CATCH THE EYE of a reader. Take classes that can allow and inspire you to be creative in your writing or just write yourself! Having a blog is a must. If you are a PR major who doesn’t want a blog and doesn’t like talking about yourself; you’re in the wrong major.

5)     Lastly, don’t ever let anyone tell you PR is different than marketing and advertising, it’s all the same stuff!! So become an expert in it all, it just will be beneficial and make you stand out more!

THE BEST ADVICE: BE CONFIDENT, BE THE LEADER, AND DON’T BE SCARED TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS.  

NEWS FLASH: WHEN YOU LEAVE COLLEGE YOU’RE NOT DONE LEARNING OR STUDYING….YOU WILL STUDY MORE AND WORK HARDER AFTER COLLEGE BUT IT CAN BE FUN WORK, especially when you’re getting paid!!

But what do I know I’m only an intern…

If you want to be successful in life, you have to learn from the best! Here are some successful PR and marketing professionals that I have met through my internship, follow them on Twitter and Learn from them!

>Julia Kline: @Julia_Kline (social media expert)

>Sima Dahl: @simasays (wonderful speaker)

>Matt Bacak: @mattbacak

>Dustin Mathews: @dustinmathews

>Henry Alegria: Henry is a business motivational speaker, I met him at a conference called, “Marketing Makes Money,” Henry blew me away with so much inspiration about being the best in your field and getting ahead, it was mind blowing!! http://www.gigsalad.com/henryalegria, he has a twitter, but doesn’t use it.