Diversity may be an issue in the professional world of public relations, but that wasn’t the case
at the Dirtbag baseball game this past Friday. Students, faculty and alumni of all different
backgrounds gathered together to support the Bateman team and their campaign.

The networking event, called “Dirtbags for Diversity” was hosted by the Bateman team to
promote their campaign and provide networking opportunities to students. When I arrived, there
was an area to the left side of the stadium sectioned off specifically for the event with a great
view of the field from third base. Everyone was gathered around a table of appetizers, munching
on pulled pork sliders and chatting amongst themselves.

I was welcomed to the conversation and catered food with open arms. The weather was on the
colder side, but that didn’t deter us from warming up to one another. We talked about the
baseball team, our hopes for our future careers and took pictures in front of their banner shining
across the scoreboard. The members of the Bateman team shared their campaign details with
me and thanked me for coming to support them.

This year’s campaign is focused on spreading awareness about the lack of diversity in the
public relations workforce. The Bateman team has partnered with the PRSA foundation to raise
funds for their cause by selling a book called Diverse Voices.

A few members of last year’s Bateman team stopped by to show support. I had the chance to
talk to them about last year’s campaign, as well as their hope for this year’s team. Their
campaign, which partnered with a nonprofit for childhood cancer, placed them in third place
nationally.

“We want to see them excel and make it to the top three like we did,” said Bianco Granado, the former Bateman
team captain.

Every person I talked to that evening had a different upbringing and ethnic background, but we
were all able to come together and bond over baseball and Bateman. We all shared a common
interest: to support one other, and in this case, the Bateman team.

​College is an amazing time to find who you are as well as what you plan on doing with your life, and I have found that informational interviews are an integral part to this process. Informational interviews are very important for a multitude of reasons, some of the major ones are: you get your name and face out there, you are ballsy enough to ask for this, you create relationships with potential employers, and many more. These interviews are a fantastic way to get a foot in the door, but you have to know how to approach this type of interview, and what I believe to be the most important part is the questions that you ask. We, so often as college students, are the interviewee ready to answer the questions asked of us but having to be the interviewer and think of your own questions is a whole other experience.  So, to make life easier for you, built through my experience of informational interviews, a list of the top 10 best questions to ask at an informational interview. 

1. What are the major components of your job on a daily basis?
        This is a great way to start the questions, it shows that you care about them personally and are interested in what they do and what their job consists of.
2. Is there anything you wished you knew before entering this field?
        This is in order for you to understand what you too will need to know, and this could potentially show you if this is the right area/job for you.
3. How do you see this job changing in the next 10 years?
      Although its basic, this question can give you an idea of what you should expect and what competition you could potentially face in the future.
4. What previous professional experiences have helped you most in this role?
        I don’t think I really need to explain this one, pay attention, take notes, and try to list out in order how each experience led them to their current role.
5. How would you describe someone who would excel in this career?
        You have to ask this question, it should be required at all informational interviews because honestly, it shows that you are serious about this job and potentially getting hired there in the future.
6. What kinds of work samples should my portfolio have?
        Again, a required question, the whole reason you are at this interview is to find out what it takes, or what you need, to possibly have a future at this job.
7. What’s most important to prepare for a role like yours?
        This question is again to help you prepare for a future in this career or job type.
8. What else should I know to make an informed decision about choosing a career in this field?
        This will help you find any final things that they may not have mentioned, or your questions didn’t necessarily cover.
9. Do you offer internships? If so, when?
         Ask this question! I cannot stress this enough. When in college you need internships in order to get a job after graduation. Do not be shy and not ask this because you now have a connection. Make sure to follow up later too to check in about the internship.
10. What’s a typical entry-level title?
        Again, ask this. I have gotten so many compliments at informational interviews because I was confident enough to ask this question. This also showed that I am very serious about working at this company and having a potential future there.
11. Bonus question: Is there anything not skill related that you also look for such as passion, or self-motivation?
          This is kind of a leading question, but it tends to put a smile on their face because you are basically implying you already have the said qualities, but this makes you look good and that’s also important in these types of interviews.

Informational interviews can determine your future, which although terrifying, is also very exciting. For these kinds of interviews, you can’t expect to just show up with no preparation. Dress nice, as if you were at an actual job interview, sit up straight, ask the questions that I have provided you and follow up afterwards with a thank you and I am sure you will get that follow-up internship or job.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a Belarusian-American entrepreneur who is best known for being a wine critic who grew his families $3 million wine business to $60 million by opening of an online store, which featured his daily wine webcast. Vaynerchuk then left his family’s business in 2009 to start VaynerMedia, a digital advertising agency. By 2016, the company boasted $100 million in gross revenue and employed 600 people. 

He was an early pioneer of daily vlogging, even though he might not have thought so at the time. Vaynerchuk brought those ideas to his YouTube channel where he posts vlog-style content daily with more curated videos being released a few times a month. His channel GaryVee currently boasts 1.6 million subscribers. 

In 2014 he started The #AskGaryVee Show as a near-weekly segment where he takes questions from his viewers via his social media accounts and also invites people to call and speak with him live. Being that most of his following is aspiring entrepreneurs, this is the perfect form of engagement that builds a mentor-like relationship with his audience. 

He understands his buyer persona well and can be seen on shows such as Hot Ones, whereinterviewees eat progressively spicier chicken wings which, very obviously has a younger demographic that overlaps with Vaynerchuk’s. 

Vaynerchuk is a professional of engagement. Vaynerchuk built upon this idea of mentorship and can be seen meeting fans at restaurants for live Q&A sessions that can almost seem like a entrepreneurial rallying cry. This positions Vaynerchuk as the leader of business-minded youth. He is also known to occasionally invite people to his office who write to him asking for advice which, invites more people to reach out to him.

The rest of his social media accounts follow suit in engagement with his Instagram having 4.6 million followers, Twitter with 1.78 million and Facebook with 2.9 million likes. He uses his social accounts to post snippets of his full length videos, motivational quotes and holds live sessions to speak with followers. 

Vaynerchuk’s brand clearly focuses itself as a professional entrepreneurial hub for business-minded people and does it successfully. He hones in on the exact ways to best build a personal relationship with his publics who want Vaynerchuk to be a business coach. He talks about building his brand around what his audience wants and has exemplary talent in doing exactly that.

​How would someone describe you based on the content that you post on social media? Is that an accurate representation of yourself? The reputation you have will follow you everywhere. It’s important now more than ever to monitor your online reputation just as you would in person. 

There is a social channel for every interest, the key is to balance them. You wouldn’t post an essay on Twitter, but you would post it on LinkedIn. For every social channel you have a different audience, therefore it’s important to understand the purpose of the content and make conscious decisions when you are about to post. 

I don’t recommend having two different social media accounts, instead, you should focus on a brand identity. Creating an online persona is important to your brand identity, for example, Facebook has more family and friends so you would share more that triggers emotion or comments. Twitter is more of a platform to share ideas, such as posting your views on certain subjects but it’s also important not to go overboard and be unethical. 

When you post something online it lives forever, so being digitally conscious is crucial to your online reputation. It’s possible to be both personal and professional on social media, you just have to make sure they’re balanced. Before you post ask yourself: Would I be able to tell this to someone in person? If the answer is no, don’t post it. If the answer is yes, feel free but be prepared for feedback whether that be good or bad. 
​
I leave you with these three tips: 
1.    Create one digital persona and choose the right channels to express yourself.
2.   If you wouldn’t say it in person, you shouldn’t post it. 
3.   Remember, once it’s posted online it’s there forever. 

With the vast amount of resources available to us right at our fingertips in this day and age, it seems like finding success should be as easy as ever. We hear the stories our parents tell us; how they immediately found jobs right after college that led to their perfect careers and the rest was history. Unfortunately, becoming a financially independent, fully functioning adult isn’t so black and white anymore.                                                                            

The vast amount of resources we have, while helpful, have only made the job and internship market more competitive. Millenials are unique in that many of us are educated, extremely motivated and have multifaceted skill sets. So, how exactly do we set ourselves apart from the competition?  
​
I don’t have the perfect answer for this question. However, I did have an incredible internship this past summer at ENTITY Magazinein Los Angeles where I gained a breadth of knowledge from a group of mentors about finding success as a millenial. Here are my tips. 

 1. Find a mentor 

This is something that was stressed from day one at my internship. It was something I had never given much thought to previously. As millenials, we pride ourselves on being fiercely independent. 

But, the truth is there is so much knowledge we can gain from people who have been in our shoes. So, find a mentor or mentors in your life. It doesn’t have to be one magical person who has all the answers. A mentor should be someone you could turn to for advice and someone who has experience in your respective field. There will be so many times you feel lost in the search for success and nothing is more helpful than having someone you can turn to who will talk to you in a straightforward, professional way. 

 2. Network, network, network!

I know we’ve heard this a million times. But, it really does make a difference to know the right people when you’re swimming in an applicant pool of a million other qualified college graduates.

Something I was always confused about was how exactly to network. I learned from my internship that the only way to networkis to simply put yourself out there. If there’s someone you want to talk to, just do it. It may seem scary, but most people will be willing to talk to you. Seek out events in your area in the field you want to work in because they are plentiful. The key that I learned from my mentors is to make the effort to stay in touch. 
 Make sure you connect with them on some sort of social media platform. Now, don’t start asking them for favors right away. Try to make a genuine connection with them. A great example would be just commenting “Congratulations!” on a LinkedIn post announcing a job promotion. Make your presence known, but don’t overwhelm them. When the time comes and you may need their help, they’ll be much more willing to assist you, knowing that you’re not just using them. ​

3. Learn some skills that will set you apart 
 
It’s no longer enough to be a proficient writer if you want to work at a newspaper, magazine or PR agency. Even though I was at a writing internship, my mentors taught us PR skills, graphic design tricks and even how to film and edit short videos. 
 
In this digital age, being able to do something such as photography, videography or graphic design will really differentiate you from your peers. Get the necessary software, such as, which is discounted for students and simply watch Youtube tutorials. You don’t need to be a master, but even being proficient in these other areas will be highly beneficial to you. Also, many of these skills end up being enjoyable and adds a layer of creativity to your portfolio that will set you apart from the crowd. 
 
4. Manage your time wisely

It’s amazing how much you can actually get done in one day. At my internship, we started at 9 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. everyday. Each day would be planned out. It always blew my mind how many projects we managed to get done over the course of those nine hours just because we used our time productively. 
 
One great way to manage your timeis to plan. Write your day out in a planner. This will keep you focused and on track to ensure you don’t waste time sitting around, wondering what to do next. Don’t procrastinate, always be punctual and get a good night’s sleep every night. Doing all of these things will ensure that your time is always used in a productive, meaningful way. 
 
5. Consume as much meaningful material as you can
 
We are the things we read. We are the things we watch. We are the things we listen to. This was one of the most valuable conversations I had with one of our mentors this past summer. She advised us to wake up everyday and read something, whether it be from a book or news articles.
 
Read as much as you can. Nothing helps make a better writer or communicator than simply reading. 
 
Apart from reading, you can also listen to podcasts, Ted Talks or audiobooks. Anyone can make themselves look great on a resume, but you’ll still need to prove you’re as brilliant as you say you are in person. Consuming intellectual, creative material will in turn make you a more intellectual, quick and creative person. Besides, consuming quality material can inspire you and lead you to do great work yourself! 
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