Networking, Networking, Networking

We've all seen a movie, be it a drama, comedy, chick flick, etc. where someone uses the line, "I know a guy." Or, it could be, "I know a guy, who knows a guy." Generally, these statements have to do with dirty, devious deeds that are much too sticky for any "normal" person to handle. However, this mobster-inspired line actually applies to growing careers quite well.

Networking. A few years ago, I would have never seen the importance of it. Then, networking was the wire that made my phones and internet work. Now, it's everything, or almost everything. Networking is important, yes, but experience and talent need to be able to support it.

Networking can be done any number of ways. Family, personal friends, and co-workers are a good place to start. You may find leads in unexpected places. My supervisor here taught me about Twitter. On Twitter, I've met plenty of individuals who have plenty to teach. Many of these individuals hold gateways to great opportunities. In the wide hodgepodge of people I follow, I've pinpointed different communications/design/marketing internships and job openings that span across a wide array of fields. In fact, the interview I posted about earlier today...I got a tip on that internship through someone on Twitter.

Networking is great. Knowing and impressing the right people can make the start of your career so much easier to conquer. However, you can't go only on last name or who you know. You need to make sure you live up to the expectations of the people you know. If you're given a job because of who you're associated with, you have to be sure not to tarnish their names. If something goes wrong on your part, you could not only hurt your career, but that of the people who helped get you there.

Networking is important. It's a great opportunity. In fact, a well-built professional network can give you great power when it comes to job-searching. However, with great power comes...yup, you guessed it. Great responsibility.

Interview! And Other Business.

That's right. I scored an interview.

It's exciting. Granted, it's a 4-hour drive round-trip, but it's worth it. One of the fringe benefits is that I'll be in the same city where my boyfriend attends college, so I might get a date to Noodles & Company or Avanti's after my interview. Wootwoot!

The internship I'm interviewing for is internet-based, so I'll be able to do the work while I'm 2 hours away at school. My primary mode of communication is email, with texting as a close second, and then Facebook, so I'm feeling fairly confident that if I get the spot, I'll maintain myself well.

I've never done a formal interview before. I'm quite excited. I know nerves will rise as it gets closer, but I'm hoping I'll remain moderately cool throughout this preparation process.

In other news, my farmboy (aka my boyfriend) took me to see the musical Jersey Boys in Chicago last night. It was the best Christmas gift I have ever gotten. Why? It's not some gadget or toy that I'll enjoy for a bit and will soon be outdated. It's an experience. It's a memory. And it was an amazing night. We even got lost for a little while in China Town, which wasn't in the plan...but we still got to the parking structure with more than enough time to eat, explore, and go to the theatre.

While in Chicago, we stopped at my favorite art supply store known as Dick Blick (although it generally just goes by Blick now). To make up for getting us lost, and also because he's just a thoughtful guy, Tim bought me a geeky only-Kelly-would-want-that present. SEE?! Isn't it FABULOUS?!

I'm so excited about this book. I guess times like this are the ways I can tell I'm studying the right thing...when my design-geek side spills out into everyday life.

The next few days are going to be HECTIC. I have one of those "volunteer" things to finish up, a piece for the Farm Bureau newspaper. It's due on January 1st. I also have to pack and do laundry so I'll be ready to head back to school on Sunday. ALSO, I have to finish a painting job that I have going. AND tonight is my best friend's birthday, so we're going there for dinner. AND I have to take pictures of every rabbit I plan on selling so that buyers can see what they may be getting.

Whew.

Building Experience

Careers/internships/jobs/what have you are hard to find.

Let's be honest, here. We're in recession, some would even call it a depression. The economy's down, and while a lot of companies are willing to take on unpaid interns, the market is still a bit more slim than it has been in the past.

This is the time for building experience, without necessarily having a job. I'm finding new, interesting ways to do this everyday, and it's exciting!

I'm an interactive media studies major, with specialization in design. This, in a nutshell, means I do graphic design on crack. I'm also an English minor, meaning that any freelance or volunteer writing jobs are a great addition to my bank of experiences. While this can't necessarily be applied to any career field, it's important to look around, do some research, and figure out what volunteer opportunities can be considered "career builders."

Since age 15, I've been doing low-key graphic design work. In the last year, I've had two pretty significant projects: business cards, and the body wrap of a truck. Yes, I designed a truck. It was a 14-hour design job, and I learned a lot about PhotoShop and designing for 3-D objects. To see my truck, click here. Owned and operated by Dan Dandurand of Momence, IL, and sponsored by the Kankakee County Corn Growers Association, this E85-powered competition truck is the cornerstone of my graphic design portfolio.

You'd be amazed how many people would be impressed by that. Apparently, designing body wraps for pro-stock pulling trucks is a rarity.

I also write occasional pieces for small, local newspapers and journals. My favorite to write for is the local Farm Bureau newspaper. In fact, I'm scrabbling last minute to do a special commentary piece on wind energy and it's introduction into our county. This will be my third piece for the publication, and I'm incredibly excited about it.

See, it doesn't have to be hard to find interesting experiences in your field. It takes some research, some networking, and a lot of ambition. A great place to start for these types of opportunities is childrens' organizations. 4-H and FFA projects range across a wide variety of areas. You could be the mentor a child needs to finish their computer programming project for 4-H. You might be the marketing intern who could help an FFA member sell a few more of their SAE items. High school organizations can always use a volunteer, especially specialized ones. You could assistant coach the math team or tutor kids in biology. These opportunities are all around.

You just have to be willing to pursue them. They could make all the difference in your hunt for internships, and, in the long run, or search for a career.

Bunnies, Musicals, Packing, and Jargon

It's official: I no longer raise rabbits.

The bunnies are still in my possession, yes, but thanks to a breeder in Indiana, and possibly one in the Pacific Northwest, I'll be out of Mini Rex within the month. That means no more poop, no more food dust, no more major allergy attacks...it also means that another tie to childhood is severed, but I'm definitely more positive about it now.

Today is busy. I have some video to work on, and I'm leaving early. Why? Because my lovely boyfriend of 5 years surprised me with Jersey Boys tickets for Christmas. If you don't know what Jersey Boys is, see more info here. I know, I don't come off as be a theatre geek, but I am. I'm always up for a good musical.

Anyways, I'm excited and wanted to flaunt that a bit.

I start back to class in less than a week, so I'm starting to get into packing mode. I'm going back to school with more stuff than I came home with (which is terrifying, because I brought a LOT of stuff home with me...) so there's a lot of...creativity...involved in packing. That, on top of work, on top of other obligations, makes for a busy Kelly.

SO, I've had another revelation regarding my industry. You know, this whole "creative media" thing. Whilst thrusting my random thoughts onto others via Twitter, I found myself impressed with my own array of jargon. I never thought of it that way, until someone asked me what an FTP was.

I know jargon. I'm an interactive media jargon master! This by no means makes me a master of anything other than words, but it kind of feels like a tiny milestone. I can hold a conversation with someone in my field, and know what the heck the random letters and abbreviations are.

"Can you encode the MOV's into FLV's and upload them to the FTP so I can apply them to the PHP?"

That sentence pretty closely matches the instructions I was given by my supervisor yesterday. Seriously. The most exciting thing is the fact that I knew exactly what he was talking about. Sure it was a long, tedious task full of waiting and rushing and waiting and more rushing...but I didn't have to ask him what he was talking about. Spiffy, right?

I'm starting to make the observation that most milestones are small. A big project may come every now and then, but learning is a long process. You can't really measure it, unless you're doing so in life experience or time, and even then it's an incomplete measurement. There's no good way to look at what you've done over an internship and say that one single thing defined it. The experiences you gain are taken in small steps. Like, say...understanding what your boss is talking about when he uses very field-specific terms.

Yeah. Pretty much, I'm a rockstar of media jargon.

Learning to Deal with Co-Workers

My current internship puts me in a unique position. I've been here long enough to build up some credibility and authority in my specific field, but I'm still an intern. This position, this expert-and-intern conundrum, creates some awkward situations with co-workers.

I don't blame them in the least. It's probably tricky for an adult who has a degree and has been a professional for years to be instructed by a college kid. I ran into one such problem with a co-worker here, and it's still being slowly hashed out. In fact, we'll probably still be smoothing out wrinkles when I return over spring break or summer vacation.

This is a valuable lesson. For my entire career, I'll be facing co-workers, employers, superiors, and equals, who may or may not want to hear my opinions. They may not appreciate my feedback. Regardless of how smoothly we'll work together, we'll have to continue to do just that: work together. This specific co-worker and I have a very good relationship when we don't work together on specific projects without being overseen by our supervisor. We both know that we can get along well. There's just a gap that we have to continue to work on.

I'm happy with how things are going on that front, altogether. I've gained important experience on how to handle a difficult co-worker, and we reached the end of a fairly big project in record time. The outcome is great, the product is awesome, and our supervisor is satisfied.

Mission accomplished, and lessons learned. I'd say that a good outcome all around.

Recovery and Interviews

Christmas is over! When I was younger, I was always a little disappointed to see the big holiday drift off into the past, but this year, I'm relieved. I enjoyed it a lot, but it's nice to slip back into a less-stressful schedule. (I have another week of steady office hours before I dive back into the crazy life I keep up with at college.)

In unrelated news, I'm waiting to hear back on the date/time of an internship interview. This is exciting and uplifting, a fresh and encouraging sign after an especially stressful holiday. The major downside is that I have to commute four hours round-trip for the interview, but it's a small price to pay for the interview experience and the possibility of this internship!

Right now, I'm at a weird place where I'm enjoying the rest of my break while trying to prepare to move back to school. I'm both excited for and dreading the return to campus, since it's always a fight to try and adjust to a new schedule. I'm starting to learn the tricks to living the double-life of a professional AND college student. The old college slogan "Sleep, a social life, and good grades: pick 2" definitely seems to apply.

On the bright side, working in the office has adapted my sleeping pattern! A 7:30 start time for work is good training for the 8 a.m. classes I have 4 days a week starting on January 1st.

I hope everyone had a fulfilling, safe, and enjoyable holiday season. If I don't post again before then, I hope everyone has a great New Year! Stay safe!

End of an Era

I'm in a very transitional time right now.

You know, that awkward stage where you're leaving the carefree life of childhood, yet putting off adulthood as long as possible? I'm getting to a place where hanging in limbo isn't okay today.

I was very, very involved in 4-H. I started late, joining in high school. I was very involved, though, holding offices in my local and county organizations. I led committees, ran service projects, served as a junior leader, and helped get kids started in their own projects. I went to state more than once for visual arts, even winning the purple ribbon once. (That's a big deal.)

Senior year of high school, I served as founding president of our shiny new FFA chapter. It was a big thing for me, at the time. I dug in deep and spent hours and hours building that chapter up, doing PR and making phone calls and organizing meetings.

Well, both of those organizations are over and done with for me now, other than on a volunteer basis.

This means other than as a hobby, my primary project, raising rabbits, is really not necessary anymore.

I've spent the day advertising my rabbitry sell-out. I'm keeping one rabbit, an old doe that has been a faithful mother to over 30 babies in her lifetime. Other than that, all must go.

I have other reasons for selling the rabbits (money, time, allergies, etc.) but a big part of it does have to do with the fact that the 4-H and FFA part of my life is over. It's bittersweet. I'll be free of the freezing-cold chores, the disappointment of losing babies, the costs...but I'll be missing so much more.

I'm sending what rabbits I can to 4-Hers that could use them to build their programs up. At least then I can know that my sell-out will be benefiting kids who are learning valuable lessons of responsibility, money management, and husbandry.

Well, that's enough from my rant. I'm pretty sad to be saying goodbye to the bunnies of Hopalong Rabbitry, but it's time to move on. Someday, I'll raise animals again (preferably one I'm not allergic to), but it's just not a good time in my life for that now.

Yup, I'm growing up. I'm trading internships for blue jackets and green clovers. Scary.

The Start of a Long Road

My internship story doesn't start like most people's.

I didn't spend 3 years in college and get an internship during senior year. I didn't finish undergrad and do a competitive, unpaid internship in the city. In fact, you could say my interning started the summer before college. I just sort of...fell into it.

In fact, I was incredibly lucky to be given so many opportunities so early in my career. I am, however, worried that the experiences I've built make me somewhat over-qualified for other internships.

And, unlike most other internships, this one has lasted. In fact, what I do now isn't so much of an internship as it is a seasonal job. When I'm home for break, I'm here in the office. I'm still called an intern, I'm still, for the most part, treated like an intern. The only difference is that I come back, over and over again, every time I'm back in town. I love this job.

I also adore my boss here. He's taught me so much. I'd go so far as to call him a mentor. And, as a mentor, he's encouraging. In fact, he's one of the driving forces behind my search for new experiences. "I'm a firm believer in spending 5 years finding what you want to do...blah, blah, blah..."

Every time we talk about my future, he says that. And as much as I'd like to cling desperately to the comfort zone I have here at this job, to dig my claws in and NEVER let go, I know he's right. I also think he knows that there's plenty he can't teach me, that I need to learn for myself or gain from the wisdom of others.

So, there's some backstory on where this all started. I recently wrote my first resume'. Time to start getting ambitious.

First things first...

I'm Kelly. Or, as I'm known at my current job, "Kelly the Intern." We actually have customers who know me as Kelly the Intern. I've been talked about in blogs and podcasts as Kelly the Intern. The longer I work at building some career experience, the more I realize that being Kelly the Intern is actually a pretty huge part of me.

Of course, being in my field, writing a blog about it seemed fairly natural.

I'm an interactive media studies major. That means...well, it's hard to explain. It pretty much means, right now, I'm a jack of all trades as far as creative marketing goes. I do video, print documents, some web editing, design, writing, and a bundle of other random tasks. I do the things that people appreciate, but don't always realize actually need to be DONE. Unfortunately, at this state in my career, I'm okay at doing all of those things, but not overtly skilled at any. Oh, and I'm also minoring in English, because a designer who can write the document they're drafting a layout for is a pretty valuable thing.

I'm at a crossroads. I have to start thinking about what I'm going to specialize in. This is scary and weird and not so warm-and-fuzzy when you think about it.

So, enter this blog. It's going to be my sounding board. I'll introduce you to my escapades as a college student, an intern, a woman, and a member of society.

And if you're curious about the name, "Cheap Pizza" is in reverence to the food that's kept me alive through the first year and a half of college. If it weren't for great deals from Little Ceasar's and Domino's, I would have starved to death in my first semester.

I hope you enjoy a view from the eyes of an uncertain, relatively-poor, and professionally-developing college student.