Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Open House on Thursday!



Top 5 Reasons to Stop by Our Open House:

1) Check out our career resources and learn about upcoming career events
2) Find the newly formed Academic and Career Advising Center (ACAC)
3) Chance to meet the friendly staff
4) Learn how to stay connected - Buckynet, Twitter, Facebook
5) Free stuff!




L&S Academic and Career Advising Open House
Thursday Sept. 1, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Middleton Building (1305 Linden Dr., Suite 205)

*Come and go at your leisure!






Wednesday, August 24, 2011

NBCUniversal Offers Great Internship Opportunities

We thought it’d be a great idea to occasionally share some experiences of other L&S students. This blog post was written by Christina Marie Kalsow- Ramos, an L&S Senior. Christina is a great example of how one opportunity led to another, and she emphasizes the importance of building relationships and making the most of an internship. During tough times in the job market, establishing relationships and acquiring a skill set is essential. Read on to hear about Christina’s experience.

Internships that Rock at NBCUniversal

I have spent the last two summers interning at NBCUniversal in Rockefeller Center in New York City, where the internships have truly rocked. During the summer of 2010, I interned with the Branded Entertainment Department, a group that specializes in in-show advertising integrations on NBC’s cable channels: Bravo, USA, Syfy and Oxygen. This mode of advertising is vital with the increasing presence of Tivo, online syndication and Hulu which makes traditional advertising spots less effective as viewers can opt into viewing them or just fast-forward. I worked with USA network and Syfy and had the opportunity to go to shoots, write proposals for advertisers and create sizzle reels recapping integrations and placements. Having to coordinate with production, legal and the advertising companies on a daily basis taught me the ins and outs of the mass media.

During the summer of 2010, I participated in the Reel Intern Contest. Twenty-five interns were selected to take part in the contest and were tasked with creating a 360 degree campaign to promote NBCUniversal’s internship program, including a sizzle reel, grass roots campaign, digital campaign, posters and one-sheets. This was a great opportunity to connect with talent at NBCUniversal and meet interns from other departments.

During the 2010-2011 school year, I was selected to be the NBCUniversal student ambassador at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, where I functioned as a resource for students who had any questions about the company and its internship program, as well as facilitate the communication between prospective interns and human resources department at NBCUniversal.

I was invited to return to NBCUniversal during the summer of 2011. I choose to split my time between the Branded Entertainment Department and Telemundo Marketing to gain as much experience and exposure to the field of mass communication as possible before graduating this coming May. At Telemundo I worked specifically with the affiliate stations on their marketing tactics of Telemundo shows, their budgeting and identifying issues with their current marketing strategies.

Additionally this past summer I had the opportunity to participate in NBCUniversal’s Pilot program. Only twenty-five interns were chosen to participate in creating a pilot to air on NBC. Each group of five created a pitch for a pilot, a marketing campaign and a financial plan.

Each week lunch & learns, resume workshops, and speakers were offered to the interns to learn more about the industry and the company. It was a great opportunity to intern with NBCUniversal in New York for the past two summers. I acquired valuable skills and knowledge that will be very valuable when I enter into the workforce full time.

I would definitely recommend applying for summer internship opportunities. It is the best way to find out what you are passionate about and what areas you are not. When applying for internships I wouldn’t let big name companies be discouraging. There is no harm in applying. I find that companies like when applicants write personalized cover letters that show they have done research about the company and gives a flavor of who the applicant is.

Once students secure an internship I would recommend to get involved in as many opportunities offered by the company as possible such as special projects, workshops and socials. Getting involved is a great way to network and build relationships for the future. Asking questions and requesting feedback on your work is important to increase your knowledge of the field and improve the quality of your work. Post-internship I would recommend to keep in touch with colleagues and if you are back in the area, request to grab coffee or meet for lunch.

Christina’s Bio

Christina is a senior graduating in May 2012 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is pursuing a double major in Strategic Communications from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and in TV, Radio and Film from the Communication Arts Department. She is originally from Lexington, Massachusetts. Currently, Christina is the Webmaster for the University of Wisconsin Advertising Club, helps with multimedia at the Daily Cardinal Newspaper and plays forward for the University of Wisconsin Women’s Club Lacrosse team. Post graduation she hopes to be working in advertising in New York, Boston or Chicago.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Connecting with Employers Through the Day in the Field and Job Shadow Programs!

As noted in last week’s blog (August 8th), there are many strategies for you to connect with employers, with LinkedIn being an excellent one.


To continue on this theme of connecting with employers, L&S Career Services has two popular programs which enables you to visit employers at their sites and form valuable networking connections and learn important career information to guide your goals.


Day in the Field Program

The Day in the Field Program gives you an opportunity to join a small group of students in visiting an employer within driving distance to UW-Madison. (Transportation is provided by L&S Career Services.) At the Day in the Field, you will learn about the career backgrounds of staff by attending panel presentations and networking sessions.

Tours of the employer are often included, which may feature visits to various offices and units, and a guided overview of what a typical work day is like. You would also have a chance to learn about internship and full-time opportunities available at the employer. The DITF program typically occurs on Fridays throughout the academic year. Please check our website for more details on dates and employers!


Job Shadow Program

The Job Shadow program, which occurs during Winter Break and Spring Break, is a way for you to observe and work more closely with professionals at an employer. In this role, you may be visiting various offices, conducting informational interviews with staff to learn about their career background, attending meetings and events, observing certain job functions of staff members, participating in an office activity or program, and also learning about potential internship and full-time opportunities. What distinguishes the Job Shadow Program from the Day in the Field is that there is often more individual time with staff members, and it may be easier to keep in touch after the shadow day is over. Typically, the job shadow day is a one-day experience, although there may be opportunities to participate for more than one day, based on the availability of the employer. Our office is looking at developing a job shadow module program in which you would be able to visit an employer at a certain time of the academic year. Shadows occur at employers in Wisconsin and also in various geographical regions of the U.S. Please check our website for more details and information about the program as dates for it are posted.


Monday, August 8, 2011

When is the Best Time for Students to Connect with Employers?

I recently got back from the annual Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers Conference in Lombard, IL, where career counselors and employers meet, share and learn from each other about current topics in career development and the workforce.

I sat in on a session where recruiters spoke about all of the Do’s for students on connecting with them and building relationships.

One main takeaway that I’d like to share is how recruiters said the best time to connect with employers is in the summer time.

What does this mean for you as a student?

Be proactive! Don’t wait until the fall career fair to be looking for future employment and connecting with employers. In the summer, recruiters have more time to spend connecting with students because once the school year starts, they are busy traveling around and recruiting.

The good news: summer is not over yet! So get started with your job/internship search and start making connections at places you are interested in working for.

Not sure where to start?

One great professional networking site I suggest checking out is LinkedIn.com. Not only can you connect with millions of professionals, but you can also keep up to date by joining groups and reading and participating in discussions on hot topics in your field, or search jobs and internship postings. (Don’t forget to join the UW- Madison Letters and Science Career Services group!)

And remember, career counselors are always here to help you learn how to build and maintain relationships with professionals in your field of interest.

Great tips for using LinkedIn can be found at: http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/careers/students/social_media.html.

Monday, August 1, 2011

How can you get ahead for your marketing, social media and creative career?


If you are interested in a career in marketing and advertising, you need to equip yourself with more skills and knowledge outside of your traditional classroom.  As a Journalism school graduate from L&S, I gained most of my practical job skills via internships and self-learning. I still remember working as the marketing and PR coordinator at the career services office as a junior and managed the promotion and logistics of the annual career fair. This particular experience enabled me to apply my event management skills to my marketing manager job right out of college. I was able to quickly create milestones and checklists for successful event and trade show marketing.

Getting your university degree is essential, but if you want to get ahead, you need to acquire more practical skills that you can offer your future employers. There are many free and paid resources online and I have selected a few below for your reference:

Inbound Marketing Training: Social Media, Email and Content Marketing, Web Analytics, SEO
Inbound Marketing Training | www.honmarketing.com/free-marketing-training

Web Analytics and Paid Search
Google’s Conversion University | http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity

Creative Resources
Smashing Magazine | http://www.smashingmagazine.com

Latest Business, Social Media & Tech News
Mashable | http://www.Mashable.com

Marketing Leader Blogs
Seth Godin  | http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
David Merriman Scott  | http://www.webinknow.com/

Now, you may be wondering if your personality and skills will be compatible for a great marketing career. I wrote an article about this on my blog awhile back (http://www.honmarketing.com/2010/03/essential-skills-for-versatile-marketing-professionals/) and you may find it useful.

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/samuelhon), Twitter (twitter.com/honmarketing) or my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/honmarketing). Check out my blog (www.honmarketing.com/blog) for more marketing, design and social media resources. Good luck and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Samuel Hon is an award-winning marketing director, social media strategist and designer with extensive experience in corporate marketing communication and design. Samuel, a Stanford Certified Project Manager, received his B.S. in Journalism - Strategic Communication with Honors and Distinction from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He currently serves as the Vice President at the American Advertising Federation - Sacramento Ad Club.