This week I had the opportunity to watch youtube interviews with former UW-Whitewater graduates who majored in some aspect of Public Relations. While they were all very interesting and insightful, there were a few that really stood out to me.
The first was with Ginny Bocek. Bocek works with the Waukesha County Park System as a Parks Program Specialist. What really caught my attention was that no day is ever the same. This is something that I am looking for in a job. I also found it interesting that she uses social media so much in her work, specifically Facebook. She explains that she uses Facebook for the golf courses and also puts together e-news letters and ad campaigns. Additionally, she spoke to the skills she learned at Whitewater. She acknowledged that the tactics she learned in school she still uses today just in different ways. It reassures me that I really am getting a great education here at Whitewater and the skills that I am learning right now are, in fact, preparing me for the real world. To watch Bocek’s interview, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meKGSJFkuAQ.
The second interview that really stood out to me was with Katie Monfre. Monfre graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2006 and is the corporate relations director at MGIC. What I loved about her interview was that she spoke so much about how her professors went above an beyond both in and out of the classroom to help her. I know for a fact that this is still the case at Whitewater, in fact, she stated that the professors are actually more important than the actual classes she took. The other thing that Monfre spoke to was internships and how important they are to finding jobs. She reminded me to get not just one internships, but two or three or four or five. Monfre had amazing insight and to watch her interview, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOhAaSEHwCM.
The final interview that really spoke to me was with Lynnette Hulgan, owner of Essential Details, LLC. Hulgan is a 1999 UW-Whitewater Alumni. Like Lynnette, I knew going into college that I loved speaking and writing it just took me a little while to figure out that Public Relations was where I needed to be. She speaks about how important it is to send your resume to every different aspect of PR that you can. You are so young when you graduate and you need the experience of working in different aspects of PR to really figure out what it is that you want to do. After listening to Hulgan talk about her duties, event planning is something that I am really considering. To learn more about what Lynnette does and to see her interview, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax1agT4OOHc.
