I'm Thankful for My Job!

I am happy to announce I have been offered and accepted a full-time position at Audiogon!  I have a real salary and benefits!  It's like I'm an adult or something!

I am absolutely loving working there.  It is exactly what I envisioned myself doing for my first job.  I am so thankful that it is going well and that they like what I am doing enough to hire me on.  It has been such a stressful year, and I've been looking for this moment for so long.  I definitely don't take it for granted.  I am so glad I can take a little sigh of relief knowing that I have something in place now, and I am so happy that it feels so right since I've never been very sure what I wanted to do for a career.

I also found out that I get to go to Las Vegas in January for the job, which I'm really looking forward to.  We'll be going for The Home Entertainment Show and The Consumer Electronics Show.  I hope I can learn much more about audio equipment there, and I'm sure it will be a really fun time getting to know my coworkers better.  Vegas is just so cool.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you have as much to be thankful for as I do.

(and Go Tigers!)

Diary of a "Quiet" Girl

"Wow, you're as quiet as a mouse!" "I bet she's sitting there thinking we're crazy!" "Don't be afraid to speak your mind, it's okay!" "Really, we're just joking around...come on!" "You haven't said a word yet!"

I get these a lot...almost everyday.  I've always described myself as introverted, but I think people overuse and misuse the term.  Let me explain.  I enjoy public speaking and hanging out with people, and I'm not really that shy.  I just prefer to have a good bit of alone time.  I like to think.  And yes, sometimes I get weary if I'm around other people for too long, because I feel I have to kind of be "on" to interact appropriately.

I don't talk unless I have something to say.  I don't talk just to talk or to fill the silence.  I don't need be the joker in the group or the center of attention.  Some people interpret this as being serious, nervous, awkward, stuck up, scared, or upset, but that's not the case at all.  When I do say things more off the cuff or just blurt out what I'm thinking, it usually doesn't come out the way I want.  I've learned to make my words count so people will listen.

Especially in professional settings, I tend to clam up and be careful of what I say.  I want to be taken seriously, and I feel that is an even higher mountain to climb as a new grad.  People view you as a kid, and I even graduated a year early so I'm really young.  I feel I have a lot to prove sometimes, and I have the highest expectations for myself. 

I've actually gotten several pep talks from superiors at different jobs trying to tell me that "it's okay to be myself" and to "say whatever I'm thinking."

What I'd like to say to those people is...I am being myself! Myself is quiet.

And why isn't that okay?  It's like no one believes quiet people exist anymore so they just keep prying and trying to get me to "open up."  The extroverts are the only ones valued, because they are seen as more fun, humorous, and personable.  If you aren't the life of the party, you're the weak link.

I'm fed up with it.  I am thoughtful, respectful, hardworking, polite, and yes, quiet.  Those traits should be valued and encouraged, not made fun of or ridiculed.  I know who I am.  Please let me be that person.

Another Job Update!

Since my internship at Complete Public Relations is only a few hours a week, I decided to look for another position to fill up the rest of my time and get more experience that can hopefully open more doors for a full time job in a few months.  I ended up finding the perfect position and got the job!

I am now working for Audiogon as a part time marketing and social media assistant.  I'll be working 10-25 hours a week there, and I can work flexible hours from home, which will be so nice and allow me to work around my internship at Complete.  Audiogon is an e-commerce website for high end audio equipment.

I am excited to get experience working directly for a company, as well as for an agency, to see the differences and get a clearer idea of what kind of place I'd like to work full time.  I'm lucky to be doing what I love - social media!

Ad Overload

I went to the beach with my boyfriend not long ago for a weekend to have a little relaxation time.  As we were walking onto the sand one day, getting ready to pick a spot to sit, we noticed a small plane flying over the water.  Attached to this plane was a banner for Geico insurance featuring their signature gecko with the slogan, "Save money" (pictured below).  My reaction time wasn't great, so this picture doesn't really reflect how big it was.

I think we both had the same reaction...really?

Is there no place that you can escape from advertising anymore?  Even a peaceful beach can become tainted with the motive to sell something.  There is no place of refuge, even in nature.

I recently watched Morgan Spurlock's documentary, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," exploring product placement in movies, while also funding the entire movie with said product placements.  I recommend it to anyone interested in advertising.  It is understandable that product placement is necessary to fund film projects and that it can be very beneficial to companies to get more exposure for their product.  However, the film was really eye opening as to how much control companies can ask for in these contracts.  The money is necessary to make the movie, but eventually the movie is much less of what the director intended and a whole lot more of what the sponsors dictated, which is a sad thought for the future of film.  It leaves the viewer to question, is there really any true art anymore?

Advertising is so prevalent and intrusive these days.  Advertisers have thought of it all.  There is hardly a blank surface to be found in the world around us that isn't covered in an ad.  And because of this, we are learning to tune out more and more.

The more we get used to these things and learn to ignore their placement, the more companies have to scream out and beg for our attention...and the more ridiculous their strategies become.  This leads to injecting their products into the most sacred of places, like the beach and our other favorite escapes from reality.

So here I sit and wonder, when did advertising become "loud" and overpowering instead of creative? And do these "loud" ads actually work?

Job Update

I am happy to announce that I recently accepted a fall internship position with Complete Public Relations!  An internship with an agency will give me the hands on knowledge and experience I need to secure a full time position in the industry.

Complete has a unique approach to public relations focusing on media and crisis communications.  They have done work with political campaigns and non-profits, as well.  I feel my experience in media with WSPA-TV, non-profits with Safe Harbor, and politics with Congressmen Clyburn's office aligns well with what they do.

I am very excited to get back to work after a nice summer off, especially with such a new and growing firm in Greenville.  I am sure there is a lot to learn.

Oh, The Job Search

I graduated! ...Yay?

While this should be something you look forward to, after the excitement of the day itself, it can be quite a drag because of the impending job search that looms ahead.  As I troll the job boards, it makes me wonder, is this really the best way to do things?  Does this system really get people in the right jobs? Will I ever find the right position?

Clearly, I'm very much a proponent of the web and social media, so I am mostly looking on career search sites and through Clemson's job boards for jobs, as well as on company's websites and on social media.  However, what if I'm missing something in my scanning?  My parents are very into just sending your resume to different companies or walking right into their offices, whether they have a position posted or not.  It seems a little old school to me, and would that really be worth all the effort?  Is that effective? Do I just have to know the right people?

And its hard to know what the right protocol is.  Should I call after submitting my application?  How long should I wait?  Should I email?  Should I call the person Mr. or Ms. or by their first name?  What do I say when they ask me about where else I've applied or how my job search is going?  Am I being confident in my skills or do I sound too cocky?

Then, say you do get a call and an interview.  You're joyous, but stressed to the max.  During an interview, you're not even really you.  The ball of nerves in your body does half of the blubbering, and the rest is your pre-planned "right" answers to those typical interview questions.  It seems like anyone can research good answers to these usual inquiries and just fake it until they make it.  Does it really show that much about what kind of worker you would be?  Then again, no one wants to actually have to take a test or do a mini project during an interview either, which would probably only be a fraction of your best work due to the nerves.  So we're stuck with this whole talk-about-different-hypothetical-work-situations interview thing.

Then after the interview, comes the waiting game.  You are keeping up with the company and what they are doing on social media and their website, and you think about how great it would be to work there.  Sometimes this goes on for months.  You drive past the building thinking, "soon I could be working there."  You invest your time researching and a piece of your heart into this one, because you felt the interview went well.  Then you get "the call" where they tell you they filled the position, and its like getting broken up with.  They just ended the relationship between you and this job that you built up in your head.  And you think to yourself, could I really have done anything more to get that job?  It may have been some tiny little word you said or quirk you had that you will never know made up their minds.  Will you ever get closure and get an actual reason for the loss? Probably not.

Or say you do get the job, then you get calls from the other places you applied down the line.  They want to talk to you, but you are committed, and you're forced to ponder for a second what could have been.  That is a dangerous thought.

It seems like a traumatic cycle to go through over and over again, and I wonder if it keeps people in jobs that aren't exactly right longer than necessary just to avoid the whole process.  I'm lucky enough that I don't have to worry right now about making money to have a roof over my head or feed myself or support anyone else (thanks, mom and dad), and I'm still going crazy about it!  How on earth am I supposed to find the job that fits me...and if I do, will the company think I fit them?

Is it just me or does this all sound a little crazy?  But I guess no one has thought of a better alternative so this is what we are stuck with.  Congrats Class of 2012, and may your period of unemployed stress be as short as possible.

My Internship! and Figuring Myself Out

After weeks of pursuit in applications and interviews, I found out right before Thanksgiving that I will be interning in Representative and Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn's office in the spring.  I am so excited to get involved in politics with such an influential and important man.  I have so much respect for what he has done and what he continues pursuing for South Carolina and the nation.  I hope to learn a lot in this position and have the experience of a lifetime.

I've been thinking about this whole semester and what its going to mean to me.  This is really the craziest thing I've ever done, now that I think about it.  I've lived in Greenville pretty much my whole life.  I've had mostly the same friends since I was in elementary school or I've extended my circle with friends of those friends.  I decided to attend a university 50 minutes from my home that I knew a lot about because my brother went there.  It's comfortable.  Even though I have accomplished a lot and had the opportunities to travel many places, I have never really done anything truly as independent as this.  I'm going to be living with 16 people I've never met in a new (and big) city for a whole semester.  This is a big deal for me.

And I think its exactly what I need.  If you're going to do something like this, college is the time to do it.  I'm still figuring out who I am and what I want in life.  I feel that this semester can help me figure that out.  I think it could really shape me and change me.  I think sometimes its exhilarating and good for your development as a person to do something drastic and have a change of scenery.  I know its going to be challenging in a lot of ways, but that's the only way to grow and become stronger.

This is the first time in my life I've not had a plan.  I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do after May.  I'm graduating, and I feel lost.  I'm applying to graduate school, but I don't know if I need it or if my heart is really in it.  Honestly, it might just be a way for me to put off the real world, though I don't want to admit it.  I don't know what to put in as keywords when I search for jobs online.  I can't seem to label myself as one thing that will define me for the rest of my life.  I don't know how anyone can at 20.  I'm starting to be okay with that.  I'm going to focus on the present, which means enjoying the holidays at home with my family and friends and embracing every minute in DC when I get there.  I know I'll figure it out eventually.