Preparing for the Interview

Blair Logan talked about things that he did not learn here at UGA, but things that he wish he did learn in regards to the interview process.

It is important to understand what the professional environment looks like right now and how they view your generation. Our generation has a few tags on it such as "the most praised generation" and the "me generation". We are forced to overcome the generational tags in our interview.

Before the interview:
-you need to do a personal audit on yourself
-get rid of your weird email addresses
-be straightforward in your email address such as first name.last name@gmail.com
-do not put anything on your myspace that you do not want your grandmother to see
-promising job applicants have been dismissed because of their myspace and facebook profiles
-potential employers can find out a lot more about you before the interview due to the Internet

The resume:
-Surprisingly, resumes are fairly unimportant
-the cover letter is more important
-the resume validates what you say in the cover letter
-use the cover letter as a pitch about yourself
-bullets are good in the resume
-place your professional experience at the top and than your education
-unfortunately, your GPA is not really relevant because they already know you have a college degree
-you can use your campaigns class and creative consultants as professional experience on your resume
-have a variety of writing samples
-include graphics that you have worked on
-if you put part-time jobs on your resume, put it down at the very bottom
-if you worked full time so you could go to school full time-let them know!
-bring leave behinds of your portfolio for the interviewer to look at more in depth
-email your portfolio in a PDF file or put it on a CDROM and give it to interviewer before the interview
-very impressive according to Mr. Blair Logan!!

In regards to looking for a job:
-take the time to follow up with jobs that you sent your resume to
-submitting your resume in person makes an impact
-both email and voicemail communication need to be formal which applies to all sectors of PR - nonprofit, corporate, and agency
-maximize your networks, especially in Atlanta
-PRSA is a great networking tool
-look at the company's growth because growth=hiring
-Informational interviews are a wonderful way to get your face and name out there
-they usually occur on Friday afternoons
-take advantage of the networks that you establish during your internships

Dress attire:
-wear a dark colored suite
-do not wear anything too flashy
-be conservative in your attire
-even though most businesses have a business casual dress code, dress nicer!

During the interview:
-have a firm handshake, especially for men
-consciously make eye contact
-ask intelligent questions about the company
-tie what you already know in with what the interviewer is telling you
-when the interview is coming to an end, make sure to make it clear to the interviewer that you want to work there
-ask for the job!

Follow-up:
-make sure it happens within the first 24 hours
-hand written notes are great, but make sure the paper that you use is professional
-e-mail is good too
-reference something that you discussed during the interview in your follow-up
-you cannot follow-up too soon

The dont's of the interview process:
-mispellings in the cover letter and resume
-they are automatically thrown in the trash
-incorrectly pronouncing the name of the organization that you are interviewing with
-do not show up late