BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
WELCOME
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FOR LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
1. If you have a question, raise your hand, and
we we will take each
question in turn
2. Or, type your question in
the chat box
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
To talk, click the Talk button once. Click it again
when you are done.
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Gary McCormick, APR, Fellow PRSA
Director, Partnership Development, HGTV
Kevin Saghy,
Manager, Communications,
Chicago Cubs

BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
TRADITIONAL SKILLS/ATTRIBUTES
Advice from Dave Fleet
• Writing
• Communications skills
• Attention to detail
• Media relations
• Proactive
• Work ethics
• (I’m adding) Curiosity / Competitive
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
NEW SKILLS/ATTRIBUTES
• Blogging / Microblogging
• Social networking tools
• Understand SEO
• Coding
• RSS / RSS Readers
• Blogger relations
• Social media ethics – astroturfing, ghost
blogging, sock puppets,
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
WHAT’S THE REAL STORY
Looking for employees, the hiring manager
• Wants to mitigate risk
• Is filling an opening on a team
• Is balancing the time it takes to hire with his/
her real job
• Will never find the “perfect” candidate (think
of that prom dress search…)
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
FINDING A JOB, IS A FULL TIME JOB!
• Who Are You?
• What Have You Done?
• Who Do You Know?
• What Are Your Skills?
• Where Do You Live?
• How Committed Are You?
• What Are Your Dreams? Passions?
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
THE CAPTURE STRATEGY
• Who do I know that knows the company or
hiring manager?
• What do I know about the position?
• What do I know about the company?
• What makes me unique for the position?
• What can I do to improve my chances of being
interviewed? Hired?
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Job Description: Scripps Networks' Corporate Communications team is currently looking
for an energetic, detail-oriented public relations intern in our communications department
at the company headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn.
Corporate communications interns at Scripps Networks receive multi-faceted, hands-on
experience in a variety of PR disciplines including consumer and trade media relations,
marketing, event marketing, internal communications, public affairs, and presentation
services.
Projects and Assignments Planned for Internship:
- Research, write and distribute a weekly e-mail newsletter about GAC programming and promotions.
- Research, compose and revise bios of Scripps Networks employees involved with the corporate
communications speakers bureau.
- Research / assist in the planning and/or executive of events on behalf of the event marketing team.
- Research and write articles for internal communications including daily, weekly and quarterly newsletters.
The intern will work with corporate communications team members to develop ideas and story outlines.
- Assist in the development of story ideas and pitches for trade media.
- Shoot and edit video for internal and external use.
- Research media coverage of a particular topic, company or industry and generate a clip book that would be
distributed to senior executives.
Successful candidates for this internship are very goal oriented, work well in a team environment, and must
have a desire to invest in their experience with us to reach personal and professional goals. In addition, the
intern candidate must:
- Demonstrate strong writing/editing skills (AP-style proficient)
- Major in Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism or related field

BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
YOUR PUBLIC PERSONA
• Facebook – it’s more about what you like
• Microblogs - Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr
• Posts on blogs, comments on articles
• Have you Googled yourself lately?
• What will friends, co-workers say about you?
• Do you have a BRAND?
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
WORK EXPERIENCE
What is it and how crucial is it?
• Be creative in what you have done
• Don’t be afraid to ask for references and letters of
recommendation
• Don’t limit yourself to jobs for your experience
• Bottom line - You better have it!
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
BUILDING A RESUME / PORTFOLIO
• Qualitative and Quantitative examples
• Revise to include keywords from job
description and/or use in website
• Have samples you can leave
• Consider an electronic portfolio linked by QR
Code on your business card (think if you
personalized it!)
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
COVER LETTERS AND INTERVIEWS
• Your cover letter should be your best writing
sample
• Never use template cover letter, replacing
company and contact names, etc.
• Practice interviewing – i.e. media training
• Develop an “elevator” speech
• Interview the company as much as they interview
you
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
NETWORKING
• Three degrees of separation
• Provides access and opportunity any where in
the world
• Transitions you into new “cultures”
• Eliminates a lot of the competition
• Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” - Leverages
someone else’s 10,000 hours
• Social media isn’t connecting!
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
THE JOB SEARCH
• The Hot Line / Change phone habits
• The Email Address
• The Wardrobe
• The Appropriate Follow Up
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BUILDING YOUR BRAND &
FINDING THAT FIRST JOB
RESOURCES
• Culpwrit column
• Culpwrit advice by Abby Stollar, Univ. of Delaware
• University of Alabama Platform Magazine
• Mashable, PRNewser
• Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone”
• Flipboard, Streamboard
• RSS Feeds
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PRESENTERS’ CONTACT INFORMATION
Gary McCormick
gary.d.mccormick@gmail.com
@garymac865
Kevin Saghy
ksaghy@cubs.com
@CredibleKev
The slides and audio from this Webinar will be archived on The Plank Center website at:
http://plankcenter.ua.edu/resources/webinars

FOR LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC RELATIONS