By: Greg Falzarano
“So, what do you want to do after you graduate?”
I'm pegged with this question all the time by friends, relatives, professors, colleagues, or anyone who thinks it’s a viable conversation starter. I'm only one month into my senior year, and I've already had to write three papers explaining my career goals and future plans. I've written my fair share of lengthy and complex research papers but writing about my career aspirations is the hardest thing I've had to do in college. To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what they are yet.
To offer you a little perspective, I've changed my course of study four times since I stepped foot on campus three years ago. I started with criminology, switched to pre-occupational therapy, then to global supply-chain management, then to strategic communications with a focus in advertising (we're almost there!), and finally switching my focus to public relations in the middle of my sophomore year. Rest assured, public relations is definitely my favorite out of the four.
I still don’t have a clear idea of what I’ll be doing a year, a month, or even a week from now, but the Reed College of Media has given me some direction. The instructors are outstanding, and the college offers a plethora of resources and organizations that, if utilized to full their capacity, can set up any student up for success after graduation. Whether you're in public relations or advertising, the list of possible career paths is endless. For the first couple of semesters, I was overwhelmed by all the different things you could do with this degree. It seemed that there were so many skills I needed to learn before I was ready to enter the job market. Thankfully I found out that there was no need to learn “everything”, I just needed to find a specific area of the industry that piqued my interest and then develop the necessary skills to thrive in that field.
So, how can you narrow the scope and get a better idea of what particular skills you want to develop? One conversation with Eric Minor or any faculty member in the Reed College will give you the answer: Get an internship. I've had two throughout my college career—one in sports and the other with a non-profit—and both have provided me with personal and professional insight that can only be gained through hands-on experience.
I got my first internship two summers ago with a minor-league baseball team doing media relations. Baseball was my childhood passion, so when my dream of playing in the MLB became a forgone aspiration, I was confident that working in sports would be a viable alternative. As enjoyable as the internship was; however, I found myself utterly exhausted by the long hours and hectic environment that comes with jobs in the sports industry. Before you start thinking that my intention is to convince you to stay away from sports, let me assure you that it’s not. A lot of people love that kind of atmosphere – the long nights and the unpredictable circumstances definitely keeps you on your toes. Plus, as someone who spent my entire life experiencing baseball from a player’s perspective, it was fascinating to see the game from a professional standpoint (an unpaid professional albeit, but I digress). Not to mention that I also developed plenty of useful skills and made professional connections that certainly paid dividends later on.
The point I’m trying to make here is that you don’t have to love every single internship. In fact, it’s those kinds of experiences that are most helpful when you’re trying to narrow down your career interests. I initially thought that I was destined for a career in sports, but experiencing it first-hand made me realize that I wanted something more structured. When the following summer approaching, I was on the lookout for internship opportunities that fit that criteria. I was scrolling through Eric Minor’s weekly Opportunity Alert and saw that the WVU Foundation was looking for a communications intern for the entire summer and the following academic year. The job description appealed to me, and the part that read “PAID” was also a nice little bonus. I was more confident in my resume now that I already had some professional experience under my belt, so I applied, interviewed, and received a call a few weeks later notifying me that I got the position. Fast forward to now, I’ve been interning with the WVU Foundation for the last six months, working in the communications department helping to promote its various fundraising initiatives. Working for a non-profit is a complete 180-degree turn from working in sports, but it’s been a fantastic experience thus far. I’ve been able to enhance the skills I acquired through my previous internship, especially writing, and expand my horizons by gaining knowledge in multi-media communication.
I used to think that writing was no different than helping my dad with yard work – it was tedious, exhausting, and something I was forced to do every weekend. This is no longer the case, as one of my primary responsibilities at my internship with the Foundation is writing news releases and feature stories, which are published on the company’s website and externally throughout the Morgantown community. The feeling of gratification I get every time an article of mine is published has allowed me to enjoy the writing process more and more each day. I now write with a purpose, scrutinizing every single detail, sometimes to a fault, and ensuring that whatever is on the page is the best possible reflection of me as a writer. It’s a skill that I strive to improve every day, and it’s opened me up to opportunities that I would never have pursued in the past (like joining PRSSA’s Blog Committee!).
I also work extensively in the Foundation’s multi-media department, creating video features that have been published on the company’s website and social media pages. These features are traditionally interviews with prominent donors, alumni, faculty, students, doctors, and community members, the goal being to capture the impact of the Foundation’s fundraising initiatives and inspire others to support the University. I had little experience shooting and editing video, and no experience conducting interviews beforehand, so I felt uncomfortable when I was told that I would eventually be sent out to produce these features on my own. But with the help of the Foundation’s excellent staff, a little trial-by-fire-style training, and a couple of technical blunders, I am now comfortable handing all the equipment, conducting the interviews, and editing the footage myself using Adobe Premier.
The benefits of doing multi-media with the Foundation go far beyond the tangible skills I learned. I have a VERY introverted and eccentric personality (my last summer vacation consisted of me sleeping in the back seat of my car in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Franklin, Kentucky…I’ll spare you the context because it’s more fun that way), so interviewing people was not a skill I was particularly comfortable with at first. There are specific social nuances to the interviewing process, confidence being one of them, and there was a severe shortage in that department from my end. It definitely showed in my first couple of interviews, as my nerves and insecurity were so apparent that they would often evoke sympathy or vexation from the person I was interviewing. Thankfully, for both my and the interviewee’s sake, I eventually developed the confidence and social inclination needed to do the job right. This sense of confidence also came in handy for networking, as it enabled me to break out of my reserved shell and proactively make connections with my people inside and outside of the office. I’m still a proud introvert and social deviant at heart, but networking is no longer as daunting as it used to be.
Parting thoughts
My internships taught me two things:
1. Personal and professional interests can, and will, change with time,
2. Passions/interests can emerge from the most unexpected places.
It saddens me to say that interning with a minor-league baseball team made me realize that I no longer had a passion for sports. It would have been easy for me to lay down and succumb to the fear and uncertainty I experienced at this realization, but I decided to keep an open mind and create a new path. As a result, I discovered a creative side of me that I never knew existed through my current internship. If you were to ask me four years ago to make a list of my five least favorite activities in the world, writing would have been number two on that list, right under raking leaves with my dad. Now, here I am today, voluntarily writing for a blog, and loving every single minute of it. Video editing was another skill I had no intention of pursuing because it seemed way too complex for my brain to understand. The first time I laid eyes on the multitude of panels and icons in Adobe Premiere was like opening my chemistry textbook for the first time during my junior year of high school. While I was never able to wrap my head around the whole chemistry thing, I’m now perfectly comfortable putting the words “Proficient in Adobe Premiere” on my resume, and it’s an activity I thoroughly enjoy and intend to improve going forward. I still don’t know what my “dream career” is yet, but the skills I’ve acquired through my internship with the WVU Foundation have at least given me a better idea of what it might entail.
If you’re reading this, I would like to thank and congratulate you for making it through my first blog post. I never knew something could be so enjoyable and hellacious at the same time. Nevertheless, hopefully I’ve provided you with some insight and entertainment, but if not, the least you can do is stick around for my last bit of senior advice below.
One of the biggest regrets I have as a senior is that I didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities and resources available in the Reed College of Media. If I did, I would have a heck of a lot more to write about. Thankfully I was able to squeeze in two quality internships during my time at WVU, but I urge you to acquire as many as you can before you graduate. The more experience you have, the better you’ll understand yourself as a professional and as an individual. It should also go without saying that they look pretty darn good on a resume, too.
If you still don’t know what you want to do yet, don’t panic. Be proactive, get involved in student organizations, apply for internships, and if you need help, ask for it—you’re surrounded by faculty and staff that will help push you in the right direction.
Plus, you’re still young, you don’t need to have life figured out yet!
Embrace the uncertainty, it’s the perfect excuse to try new things. Public relations is such a wonderful and versatile career field, and I genuinely believe that there is a fulfilling career in it for everyone, but you’ll never know if you don’t start looking.