Monday, April 25, 2011

PR Video Review

I enjoyed watching all the videos. I felt some needed work and some were great.  The most interesting ones to watch were the ones I could make a connection with.  Some interesting information I took from these videos were the importance of networking, testing out what you want to do before you do it, and updating your resume.  One of the videos talked about how it is important to know people because the more people you know the easier it is to do your job.  I think this is very true.  In my case I fell like by taking Tactics I, I am getting a step ahead.  Starting a LinkedIn account and attending the BMA were the biggest things that made me open my door to people who could potentially help me in my future.  Especially in PR, it is important to get to know people and make a name for yourself. 
            In another video job shadowing was mentioned.  I am a huge fan of job shadowing.  I always worry about making the wrong choice in college and spending four years studying something that will not work out in my favor one day.  Job shadowing is a great way to figure out if this career path is right for you.  I think internships and job shadowing are often looked at as similar activities.  I feel like they both are very useful, however, job shadowing allows you to follow someone who has already made a name for themselves instead of starting from the bottom and getting to know the basics. 
            The last thing I really enjoyed listening to was the importance of updating your resume.  I have a lot of exciting and important things happening this summer and I cannot forget to put them on my resume.  I am majoring in International Studies with a PR emphasis.  This summer I am studying abroad in China which is something big that I will not forget to put on my resume.  However, I also plan to take some family vacations which would seem like something I don’t need to put on my resume but in my case, any traveling I do is important to put on my resume since I am looking to get involved in an international career.
            Overall I really enjoyed these videos.  It was nice to see individuals from UWW and hear their success stories, especially the young ones.  Whitewater seems to be looked at as a small town and a school of lesser importance.  These videos give me that encouragement that it is possible to go far and do what you would like with your career.  My favorite videos were:

            I liked this video because it was a career in PR that was not the typical career I would think of.  I love nature and this is exactly what Ginny was involved in.  I would never think of PR for a parks and rec. facility.  It really showed me how diverse the PR field is.

            I loved how successful and enthusiastic Lynnette is about her job.  The biggest piece of information I took from these videos was from this video in particular.  Lynnette stated that sometimes you need to start at the bottom and work yourself up.  This was a nice reminder that even though I have huge hopes and dreams, I may not get there right from the start but it does happen.

            Jenna is so young and it is really encouraging seeing a young face like hers talk about the PR field.  We hear a lot about how hard it is to find jobs right now but Jenna really gives me hope.  Jenna is also very enthusiastic about what she does.  Jenna was the one who pointed out the importance to update your resume.  This is so important to me to remember!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The past, present and future of LinkedIn

The trend I wanted to take a closer look at is the use of LinkedIn.  What made me interested in this piece of social media is that prior to this class I was completely unaware of LinkedIn but soon learned it is a great tool for networking.  LinkedIn launched in May of 2003.  In creating LinkedIn the purpose was to allow users to come in contact and remain in contact with those whom they desire and trust in the business world.  The way individuals get to network on LinkedIn is through connections.  LinkedIn was designed to build connections, allow people to seek jobs and employers to seek potential candidates and get feedback from successful business men and women.  Currently LinkedIn has spread to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.  As of January 2011 it was recorded that there are more than 90 million registered users.  This came as a shock to me since I had never heard of LinkedIn until I was enrolled in PR Tactics I.  After creating a LinkedIn account and getting to know how to navigate the social media website I have really enjoyed using it.  It is such a great way to network and get your name out there! 
The future of LinkedIn is looking very promising.  With the already rapid growth rate of LinkedIn it will only continue to expand.  China is currently blocked from using website such as LinkedIn and Facebook, however, there is talk about opening this up to an even more worldwide perspective.  LinkedIn is estimated to grow even more in the next few years.  The amount of college and even high school users is increasing rapidly.  LinkedIn has become a great tool for college students to network and search for a career after school.  LinkedIn has taught me how important networking is and how useful it is in today’s world, that reason alone is why I find LinkedIn so helpful.  In my opinion compared to Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn is the most beneficial social media website that I am a member of.  Spacesaver, a company that not only is local to me but my father also leads with many others is a user of LinkedIn.  From first hand, my father has told me that they have reached out on LinkedIn and found some of their current employees.  With all of the social media websites that is available today, LinkedIn is the most beneficial for companies like Spacesaver.   













Wednesday, February 23, 2011

BMA Event

Last night I attended the BMA event at the Manpower facility in Milwaukee, WI.  I started off with the resume review and found that very helpful.  However, the first woman I met with told me how she prefers the resume the way that I had it just fix a few things while the second woman I met with likes a totally different layout than what I had and actually liked to see the GPA on it.  I wasn't really sure what to think since they were both polar opposite. 

After resume review I went to the interviews.  I loved this step of the event.  I was able to have five interviews.  All of the people I talked to were great (minus one) and gave me very helpful advice.  I was told if I was looking for a career right now the woman would hire me for her company because she admired how outgoing I was.  Then there was the crabby old man that I met with (Katy was lucky enough to meet with him too).  This interviewer asked questions that were not relevant to the event and was very rude. 

 The social media part was helpful also and I enjoyed the stories they had to tell.  The pizza was awesome! Overall, I had a great time and was glad I went but sadly was too tired to do my homework for other classes that night. Ooops.

Some very helpful links:
http://www.bma-milwaukee.org/
(also a reminder about the scholarship on this website!!)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/bma.milwaukee

And finally, us Warhawks had such a great turn out!  A student from Carthage told me he was surprised that about half of the students there were from UW-W!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The PR Student

Hello fellow PR students out there!  I am Brittany Pattermann.  I have a more unique path compared to most PR students that I know.  I am a junior at UWW majoring in international studies with a public diplomacy emphasis (this is where PR comes in).  I also have a minor in legal studies.  I have a lot of big goals in life that I am determined to reach.  I am a very outgoing person and am very confident in myself.  This summer I will be going to school in China as part of my major.  After my undergraduate at UWW I plan on going to law school.  I have already visited a few and am hoping to get into Madison.  In law school I plan to study international law and after I am finished with my three years of law school I plan on applying to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.  I love traveling and am open to many other careers besides the FBI and DHS.  I can start applying at 23 so in order to get through school as soon as possible I have been taking an overload of credits each semester.  This semester I have 23 which puts me a year ahead.  I love UWW but am very excited about law school and cannot wait to start!  I look forward to chatting with everyone this semester and learning more about you!