Last Tuesday, I, along with many other UW-Whitewater students, went to the BMA Lightning Round Interviews and Networking event at the Eisner Museum in Milwaukee. Reflecting back on my experience, it was a lot more fun and informational than I expected. I was impressed with how professional and helpful the mentors were, as they reviewed my resume and prepared me for real-life interviews I will have to face once I graduate college. The mentors also opened my eyes to the many social networking websites employers visit before they decide on hiring a certain person. I was surprised to learn that they discourage private and non-informational profiles on websites like Facebook and Twitter. The woman who guided me through the "social networking station," I think that's what it was called, told me that employers want to see the real you. Furthermore, many don't believe that someone wouldn't have a Facebook or wouldn't put every detail of his or her life into Twitter. I thought keeping a clean and private site would work to my advantage, as my life is my own personal life and none of any outsiders' business. Did anyone else receive the same information I did within this subject?
Aside from learning how to carry myself for interviews, I met some very interesting professionals I could relate to. The first woman I spoke to was very interested in what field I was going into and gave me her card right away, which put me in a great mood to start off the night. Her name is Luci Klebar and she's a placement solutions specialist for C2 Graphics Productivity Solutions. The other two people I met also related to my Multimedia major: Jim Bernthal, President of Top Floor Technologies and Laura Rodman Huaracha, Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Media for Carthage College.
All in all, after starting the night off nervous, I was very much at ease with how nice and helpful everybody was at the event.
Check out the links below!
Top Floor Technologies - www.topfloortech.com
C2 Graphics Productivity Solutions - www.c2gps.com
BMA Milwaukee - http://www.bma-milwaukee.org/
Eisner Museum - http://www.eisnermuseum.org/
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I agree that a lot of the information that we learned was useful. Having a business co-op class in high school was useful before this and this event felt like it was a nice thing to touch up on.
ReplyDeleteI did not have a chance to check out the social media section, but after reading this I am regretting it! I did not know that, but I guess it does not surprise me either. So many people are so shady sometimes when it comes to your facebook and twitter, but its true, its who you are. And some companys I'm sure want to see that, they want to see that inner you and spunkyness. I'm not saying all jobs are like that, but there are jobs out there that want to know their employees arnt just all black and white, but can have fun and bring that fun to the work place. I'm really glad to hear though that you had a great experience with it! Sometime between eating and the lightening round I lost my tshirt!! :'(
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the event was much more pleasant then it first seemed. Even though it was professional and had important information the atmosphere was laid back, which really allowed me to open up more to the others.
ReplyDeleteI did not receive the same information you received about social networking sites. I was told that the most professional site I should be connected with is LinkedIn. I was told to keep all other sites private, but somewhat professional. I understand that employers want to see "the real you" but sometimes that's not the best thing to show to employers (especially drunk pictures).
ReplyDeleteAshley, that’s good that you have legitimate contacts out of the event. I did as well. If you haven’t done it yet I would hope that you try and reach out for an additional interview for a job or internship position.
ReplyDeleteAlso I am in the process of launching a competition for designers to create a logo for a professor who is creating something for students that is literally going to change the secondary education landscape. If you are interested please email me at (nwakaloc@gmail.com)
I’m in the same boat with you Ashley as I had a better time than what I expected. The whole social media thing is funny to me. For the past year or so I’ve heard nothing but “watch what’s on your Facebook” and “don’t have any stupid pictures or information on there because employers will just push your application aside”. And now it’s more like “we want to see the real you”. So what should we believe? I would love to see an employer look at my Facebook profile before I fixed it up and put security setting on it. There is no way I would get hired if beer drinking and partying is not acceptable for this company. So now, I’m just sticking with limiting what people can see. If they want to find out who the real me is, then the interview process should be enough for them to decide.
ReplyDeleteI was also pleasantly surprised with the event, I thought it was going to be more of a lecture and not as interactive as it was. That’s interesting that you were told to keep your facebook you not try and make it as professional as you could. I feel that everyone always tells me something different when it comes to the social media sites, as well as the resumes. I swear everyone at the event told me to do my resume differently.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree because when I was going to the event I was kinda pissed off we had to drive all the way to Milwaukee for a class. I too had a change of heart and realized that this event was a great way to gain some experience and to met some people. I'm glad you got to met some people that were in your field so you could get a grasp on how it actually is.
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