Thursday, May 3, 2012

So You Want to Get a Job?

On April 25, the Social Media Club of Texas State was happy to host three recent Bobcat alum in a panel discussing strategies for a successful career search and life after college. This was presented in conjunction with Dr. Cindy Royal's Fundamentals of Digital & Online Media class. Maira Garcia, social media editor for Austin American-Statesman, Carly Smith, an account manager at Trademark Media and Mairin Heard, a social media specialist at HomeAway all have undergraduate and Master's degrees from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State. All three are using their digital media skills in different, but comparable ways. In many cases, they are performing roles for organizations that didn't exist or were just starting when they were in school. They talk about how their Texas State programs helped prepare them for a new world of media.

See the video excerpts below. I think what each of these guests shows is that you have to put in a lot of work and effort to get a job. Just having a degree is not enough. It's a competitive environment. You have to show off your skills, develop an online presence and connect with people to build your network. You have to work at internships and student media. If you do these things, you will be on your way to a dream job, just as these alum have done.

Thanks Maira, Mairin and Carly. We are very proud of the work you are doing.

 
Preparing to work in jobs, roles and companies that don't exist yet. 
 
 
What they do on a day-to-day basis. 
 
 
Working on the sxtxstate.com project - an experiential learning activity that they each did in the Advanced Online Media class.
 
  
Learning specific skills on their own. 
 
 
Benefits of going to grad school. 
 
 
Tips/advice for new graduates.