How To Accelerate Your Career:

POLYPR NEWSWIRE, April, 2013

Get a Mentor! Inside the Issue

Deciding where you want to take your PR career or how to take the next step towards achieving your dream job can be made a little easier if you have a mentor.

Alumni Spotlight Member spotlight Meeting Recaps E-board elections

Top four reasons to have a mentor: 1. Learn from their real life experiences, both good and bad. 2. Get immediate and honest advice 3. Broaden your network by getting introduced to your mentors social and professional networks. 4. A mentor can connect you with people that have faced a similar problem that you are currently facing. Answering these questions can help you narrow down the right mentor for you: 1. What do you want to learn? 2. What are your career goals? 3. How are the people you respect the most? 4. What person, in the eld you are interested in, has a similar personality as you?

Get Involved!
Check out our facebook
and

twitter

Alumni Spotlight
Amy Davidson
Company Name: ASI Title: Assistant Coordinator- Marketing Graduation: June 2012 1. What is your current position? I currently work for ASI as the assistant marketing coordinator. As most of you may know, ASI is a nonprot auxiliary organization at Cal Poly that provides programs, events and activities to enhance each students college experience. With my position, I am primarily responsible for the public relations, marketing, social media and event promotions for ASI. 2. What is the best part of your job? One of the best parts of my job is working in nonprot communications and feeling like I make a difference each and every day. It was really important to me to nd a position where I was surrounded by people who love coming into work every day, are extremely passionate about what they do and are dedicated to success. I was lucky to nd that with ASI. The organization genuinely cares about their employees and places an emphasis on personal development, team building and work culture. 3. What is a typical day for you on the job? I can honestly say that no day is ever the same and I truly love that aspect of my job! One day I might be writing new copy for the website, working with graphic designers on marketing collateral, executing marketing campaigns, and the next Ill be brieng representatives on how to talk to the media, promoting events and coordinating with photographers.

Alumni Spotlight
4. What is the best advice that you can give to CP PRSSA members? Try to get as much public relations experience as you can prior to graduation, but dont forget to make room for some fun! I know you want to cram as many internships, jobs and leadership opportunities onto your resume as you can, but, dont be so preoccupied and stressed with the job search that you miss out on your college experience. Your college days will be over before you know it and youll want to look back fondly on all those lasting memories. Practicing a work/life balance now will help you once youre in the real world!

5. Any tips/advice on how to get internships and jobs? Market yourself, network and remain optimistic! I also suggest that you stay connected to fellow PRSSA members so that you have people to talk to who are going through the same process and are in the same industry. Having that support and encouragement will make all the difference!

Amy coordinated the photography for The 2nd Annual Mustang Mile

And she created a text campaign to promote the Anjelah Johnson event happening soon!

Member Spotlight
Jenna Watson
Jenna is a third year journalism major, concentrating in public relations, originally from Burney, CA up north near Mt. Shasta and Redding. She is involved in a handful of other campus groups in addition to PRSSA, including Poly Reps, the Honors Program, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Country Line Dance Club, and intramural volleyball and soccer. Outside of Cal Poly, Jenna enjoys being a part of Everyday Church and Everyday SLO microchurch, SLO Bike Nights, and various community volunteer projects. In her free time, Jenna is passionate about biking, being outside, dancing, traveling, journaling, BobaStop, and Twitter. Jenna studied abroad in London, England with Cal Poly FacultyLed programs in the summer of 2012. She looks forward to an exciting career using her PR and social media skills and heart for social justice, whether in entertainment/ tourism PR or nonprofit PR and promotions. A fun fact about Jenna is that she loves biking with no hands! 1. What company or organization have you work for? Im currently interning for the Family Care Network, Inc. in SLO, which is a local nonprofit organization that serves foster care and high needs youth in SLO and SB counties. Im in the Community Resources and Development department, which only consists of about 12 of us (including interns), although the company as a whole has several hundred employees and mentors. Our department is responsible for outreach, promotions, fundraisers, sponsorships, and event coordinating. 2. What is your favorite thing about your internship/job and why? I love the connection with the community and getting to speak with so many people. This takes the form of presentations at meetings and campuses, and tabling at many events throughout SLO. Its great to be a representative of such a great organization, promoting exciting messages and generating support.

Member Spotlight
3. What is a typical day for you on the job? A typical day depends on how long Im in the office for but I usually will be assisting my supervisor with tasks for promotions projects. So since Ive been there (since January), Ive been helping get the word out about our huge Miracle Miles for Kids event. This has included traveling to flyer (putting up posters and flyers) different areas of SLO and other cities, finding the best websites to publish our event announcement on and then posting, making presentations to different clubs to form teams, and other mini projects around the department. I havent done social media yet since we have another intern who is just focusing on that specifically, but Ill get some experience in it and with press release writing soon. I also use Excel a LOTalmost everyday. Large scale event coordinating and PR requires lots of spreadsheets and checklists! 4. What was the most interesting task or campaign you completed on the job? At our large Miracle Miles for Kids 10K that just happened (Saturday, April 27th), I was in charge of all dcor at the start line. It was a bigger task to take on than I had thought. With over 2,500 runners coming, we had a lot of work to do and decorations to get up. MM4K is always a big celebration for raising money for our foster care programs, so on top of basic signage and sponsor banners, my volunteer crew and I also decorated with lots of balloons and flag rope! It was a crazy morning starting at 5am, setting up in the dark on the beach. Overall, it was very successful and turned out looking great. 5. Any advice for members on obtaining internships/jobs? Yes, I believe FCNI is hiring at the moment for summer interns. If its too late by the time you apply, they always look for new interns every quarter (although it is a minimum 6 month commitment) and then have them go through a several week-long training. My advice for members looking for internships and jobs is to consider your personal values and impact. You are going to be spending a LOT of time here and investing a lot in it- it becomes part of your identity for a while. So which company do you want to align yourself with and jump into their mission with? If possible, and if you have a few options, it might help to consider what you can get out of it at the conclusion of the internship or job. Although unpaid, my internship has provided me with a great foundation of not only contacts and relationships, but also the knowledge of community outreach and about our target audiences and clients. I can see the impact of all the long hours Ive put into the little steps. As an intern, I did a lot of small things, one day at a time, but over a few months, I am able to see the incredible benefits of that with my entire department.

Meeting Recaps
Alumni Visits

Elizabeth Polsch
from Edelman

Jayne Scuncio
from Eastwick

Meeting Recaps
Alumni Visits Shannon Downing
from Sierra Vista Hospital & a founder of the Cal Poly PRSSA chapter

Remember to included something on your resume to make you stand out! Look what this guy did!!

Apply to intern at Sierra Vista Hospital!

Qualifications: Must be an upperclassman Flexible hours Unpaid Must be a good writer Will be updating Facebook posts, developing website content, and writing press releases Email Shannon your resume at shannon.downing@tenethealth.com

Get ready for E-board Elections!

The current PRSSA E-board is almost done with their term.
E-board Positions:

President Vice President Outreach Director Communications Director Digital Media Director Finance Director
Click here for position descriptions.

Look over the positions and decide which you want to run for! Elections will be at our May16th meeting.

Having an e-board position looks GREAT on resumes! Feel free to contact the current e-board if you have any questions about the election.