PRofessional: Allie Hawes

Not many people can say a post-grad vacation led them to their dream job… Except for Portland-native Allie Hawes. In the summer of 2012, Hawes ventures to Palm Springs shortly after graduation for some well deserved post-grad relaxation but made the life-changing decision to stay in Los Angeles for her dream job.

Hawes now works as a Project Manager at the world’s leading entertainment marketing agency Trailer Park. The company is headquartered in Hollywood, along with regional offices in New York and London.

Before accepting the position in L.A., Hawes was a student University of Oregon. She returned to her retail position in Portland directly after graduation, but Hawes did not plan to stay there for long.

In need of a reprieve from college and returning to life in Portland, Hawes drove to Palm Springs in California. The young professional planned to interview with an agency in San Diego on July 10th. But on the day before of her interview, she woke to an unexpected surprise: the chance to interview with Trailer Park. Hawes received word from a friend of an opening at Trailer Park. Her interview took place on July 16, and she started work the next morning.

“The interview was drilling,” recalls Hawes. Three interviewers peppered Hawes with demanding questions at the same time, but she passed the tests.

Hawes was assigned to freelance for three weeks, but she worked for only a week before she was offered the position. According to Hawes’ supervisor, she was selected for the job thanks to her “spitfire” personality. She now works in the marketing department of ArtMachine. Her work has introduced her to world-famous clients, including Warner Bros., Paramount, Lionsgate, and more recently, Disney and Universal. Hawes is the youngest professional in her office.

“I am the middle person between the studio and my team of eight designers,” said Hawes. Her team designs the packaging of movies released on DVD/Blue Ray, Netflix, and iTunes.

“It didn’t set in for about a month…it all happened so fast for it to feel real,” Hawes recalls about the quick decision that changed her career. But Hawes adjusted quickly to life in Los Angeles. She currently lives in Santa Monica, about a mile from the beach. Hawes’ success story proves that amazing opportunities can present themselves at the most unexpected times. According to Hawes, “Things come up and you never know how they are going to turn out.” But this former PRSSA member turned PR professional is proof that things really do happen for a reason.

Post by Audree Nethercott, PRSSA member for the 2012-2013 school year. You can contact Audree through our blog editor: cgisler@uoregon.edu!

Intern to Employee: Advice from Ali AAsum

UntitledOn Nov. 7, 2012, local PR professional Ali AAsum visited UO PRSSA to share the secrets of her professional post-grad success. AAsum graduated from the University of Oregon in 2009. While in school, AAsum garnished incredible professional and public relation experience at various internships, including The Ulum Group, City of Eugene Adaptive Recreation Services, and MR Magazine as an editorial intern in New York City. She currently works as an account executive at Bell+Funk in Eugene, Oregon.

In her presentation, AAsum discussed the hard work required get to where she is today. AAsum’s hard work and internship experience was a key part of securing her dream PR job post graduation. The young professional offered several key pieces of advice for current PR students looking to turn an internship into a job:

  1. Do your very best work as an intern. It reflects your potential as an employee.
  2. Be proactive in the work you do and never turn down a task, even if the time commitment seems tedious
  3. Research industry news that relates to the clients you are covering. Know what’s going on in your field.
  4. Hard work proves that you are serious about continuing your work for the company after your internship is over.

Interning – and doing it well – is an essential part to success in the professional world. AAsum’s presentation offered a realistic view into her profession, and the post-graduation path that many UO PRSSA students will soon face. You can follow Ali AAsum on Linked In.

Post by Andrea Feehan, PRSSA member for the 2012-2013 school year. She is currently a student at the University of Oregon. You can contact Andrea through our blog editor: cgisler@uoregon.edu!

Fall agency tours with UO PRSSA

On Nov. 16th, UO PRSSA ventured to Portland, Ore. to tour the local offices of Edelman Portland and Liaison PR. The city of Portland is home to several well-known PR agencies  – Edelman, Liaison, and Waggener Edstrom included. The day was full of insightful information and inspiration, helping to establish a clear idea of the life of a PR professional after graduation.

UO PRSSA hears from professionals at the Edelman office in Portland, Oregon.

The day began with a tour and information session with Edelman Portland, one of many company offices throughout the world. Edelman Portland is home to approximately 50 employees and overlooks Pioneer Courthouse Square from the 8th floor of a spacious, modern office. Members discussed life at a PR agency with five current professionals of the Edelman team, followed by an office tour and look into daily life there.

UO PRSSA also visited Liaison PR to hear from the agency’s founder Heidi Lowell (center) and her team.

After, UO PRSSA visited Liaison PR in the Portland Pearl District for a tour of their urban office. Liaison is home to a small staff and a specialized focus on technology and consumer PR. An informational session with Liaison’s talented team offered insight to working in a niche agency. Part of the presentation included hearing from Liaison’s founder Heidi Lowell, who was visiting the office from her home in London.

So why should you consider touring a local PR agency before graduation?

  • You can establish a feel for what life at a PR agency is like. Pay attention to the pace of the office, the vibe of the professionals, the type of work they do, and whatever else you can pick up. The experience might help you decide if working in a agency post-grad is the right fit for you.
  • You can get your questions answers by individuals with real-world experience. The professionals at work for agencies are living in the PR industry here and now. Their insight is up-to-date and realistic, meaning you’ll get the latest information.
  • You can connect with public relation professionals who already work in an agency. Take along business cards to trade, be prepared to ask questions, and follow up with an email after the tour to thank them.
  • You can explore potential employers in your area. An agency tour can highlight companies you might be interested in applying to after graduation.
  • You can learn about internship and employment opportunities available in your area. Don’t be afraid to ask what the agency looks for in an intern or entry-level employee. The insight could be incredibly helpful if you apply later.

UO PRSSA would like to thank Edelman Portland and Liaison PR for the insightful, inspiring day of tours! Our Chapter plans multiple PR agency tour opportunities each year. Stay tuned for more information on the trips planned for winter and spring 2013 at upcoming Chapter meetings. Have you ever toured a local PR agency? What was your favorite part of the experience?

Post by Callie Gisler, public relations director for the 2012-2013 school year. She is a junior at the UO, studying public relations and magazine journalism. You can reach Callie at cgisler@uoregon.edu!

Biz Stone, succeeding with technology

Each year the PRSSA National Conference offers the opportunity to network with professionals from a variety of industries, giving members a better perspective of how to excel in today’s competitive work environment.

Overall, the goals of the conference is to help students develop the knowledge of public relations and to prepare passionate public relations practitioners for the competitive field. Many different lectures are offered throughout conference to cater to personal interests and goals of each person.

On Sunday, October 14, I had the opportunity to engage in a presentation given by Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone, at the 2012 PRSSA National Conference.

An interesting concept that Stone emphasized throughout his presentation was that any one can be successful in humanity efforts with the help of technology. After listening to him speak, I took away seven main points that can be applicable to the public relations field.

    1. Technology continues to impact the changing communications world. Biz stressed that change and technology go hand in hand in the consistently changing communications industry. Similarly to Matt Prince, social media manager of Disney, he mentioned that it is important to convey a story beyond the desktop in order for it to be effective.
    2. Opportunity can be manufactured. Stone continued to influence the audience through the concept that opportunity can be controlled by the individual. He believed that circumstances can be arranged by “you” so that “you” can produce favorable outcomes.
    3. Creativity is a renewable resource. There isn’t a limit to creativity. Creativity can take place in many different forms and can be a successful tool in changing how we function on a daily basis.
    4. There is compact impact in altruism. Relaying a positive message through technology can lead to an influential campaign.
    5. Philanthropy is the future of marketing. People want to give money to an organization that is striving to help a cause, such as TOMS shoes.
    6. Information is not knowledge. With the world producing so much information each day, simply knowing facts is not considered being knowledgeable. Stone stressed that in order to be innovative it is important to expand information that is given.
    7. CSR is corporate social innovation. Corporate social responsibility isn’t a team you want to fear being on. Instead, it is the team you should want to be on. Stone coined an optimistic twist to the term because he believed that the aim of CSR should embrace responsibility of a company’s actions by encouraging a positive impact.

Post by Bianca Bernath, Portland Liaison and member for the 2012-2013 school year. She is a senior at the UO studying public relations. You can reach Bianca at bbernath@uoregon.edu!

How to get a job in Public Relations

In every class we are in, it seems we are always hearing about how awful the job market is and how bad the economy is. While this is certainly the case, there are a lot of jobs out there and if you are prepared and motivated, you can and will get a job.

8 Best practices for getting a job in today’s market:

1. Be proactive – Put yourself out there online and elsewhere that you are job hunting and make a plan for how you are going to search for a job, where you are going to search for a job and how long you should spend searching for jobs. Tweet companies, visit their Facebook pages, stalk their website and know all about the companies you are looking at.

2. Do informational interviews – As you call companies and research companies, set up informational interviews with companies and firms. This will show you are proactive, you are interested and you are invested. Before the interview, make sure you have questions prepared that are not necessarily covered on the website, but ask them about their schedule, about their clients and more.

3. Do your research – Before you ever set up an interview, pick up a phone, send an email, etc., make sure you do your research on the company. You never want to be unprepared for a question about the company or their clients you should be able to answer, but are not able to answer because you did not look beforehand.

4. Monitor and clean up your online sites – I think this is one of the most important. We are constantly told to clean up our Twitter, Facebook, blog and more…. and we absolutely should. All it could take is one bad tweet, one bad photo or any little thing for a company to toss your resume and for the opportunity you could have had to slip away. Clean it up!

5. Be open – When you start the job hunt, you might have a specific job or ideal placement in mind, but things do not always work like that. You have to have an open mind when searching for a job. Be open to a new city or a new responsibility and it could really help you.

6. Use your connections – While you have been networking online and conferences [or you should have been], make sure you use those contacts you made. Reach out to them for job leads and for possible recommendations. Knowing someone can take you a long way. My professor told me that 60-80% of available jobs are not actually posted online. This means those available jobs are going to people the company knows or they are going to someone people in the company know.

7. Do not give up – While job hunting can seem like a job itself, do not give up and do not settle. While a $70,000/year job may seem very enticing, make sure it is really want you want to do for at least 1-3 years before you accept it just because of the money. Even if you do not get a lead for a few weeks or a few months, do not give up! Keep looking. If you do not find a job, try doing another internship if you can. Internships can often lead to jobs later.

8. Put your materials online – While you are job searching, put some of your materials from your portfolio online. Build your online resume and portfolio so when people and companies search for you, they find what you can do and what you could be capable of.

I wish everyone the best of luck with your job hunt as we go into the spring semester! Please feel free to contact me if you have any job hunt questions or general PRSSA questions.

Bio:

Lauren K. Gray currently serves as the PRSSA 2011-2012 Vice President of Public Relations and is an active Chapter member after serving as Chapter President for almost two years. Tweet her @laurenkgray and visit her website laurenkgray.com for more information and blog posts.