Getting What I Came For...a JOB!

A week ago yesterday, I accepted a job offer from my current employer. Effective Janurary 6, I will be employed as a full-time public relations coordinator. Even as I type the words I feel a sense of relief! The search is over and three and a half years of hard work have paid off.

The system has served me well. Get involved, network, seize internship opportunities (regardless of pay!), accept the grunt work humbly and determine what it is about your field you like and excel at doing. These mantras have led me down the road thus far. I suppose now I must begin looking for the next set of life lessons, for first job do's and don'ts.

Although I have been with my company for almost a year now, the transition to a full-time employee will undoubtedly bring about new scenarios and challenges. I look forward to putting my skills to the test and keeping you posted in the mean time. From top-of-the-world senior, to low man on the totem poll is sure to be quite the adjustment!

Till next time,
LSU Kid

And So...the Countdown Begins

Nine days of class, three exams, two group projects and a paper stand between me and a diploma. In the home stretch to the finish line, procrastination and laziness are proving themselves to be my super fans! I believe they call this senioritis. As someone who has always thrived on staying busy and multitasking, I am taken aback by the overwhelming urge to do...NOTHING. I think in a way I am telling myself that if I don't do anything to quicken the process, perhaps I can actually prolong it somehow. I can't advise yet how to kick this syndrome, but I can recognize the danger in it. Granted, the last few points in my GPA won't make or break my job hunt, but if this attitude carries over into that hunt...I am hopeless!

In reasoning for staying on top of schoolwork and going out with a bang, I keep coming back to a high school soccer mantra...finish strong. Our coach would shout it at us in his thick Trinidadian accent as we pushed through the last round of sprints, or minutes of a practice or game. So whether you think of graduation as an end, or as a new beginning, it is important to take the last steps towards it with purpose.

I hereby challenge myself (and you!) to go to nine more days of class and ace three exams, two group projects and a paper.

Finish Strong,
LSU Kid

All Your Eggs in One Basket?

After an initial discussion three weeks back with my current boss regarding my post-graduation work status, things were looking up! It seemed as though I would be able to remain in Baton Rouge and be fully-employed in the public relations department of the agency come January. I kicked back thinking it was a done deal but had been waiting to announce my verbal full-time job offer until I had seen an actual set-in-stone offer...I am still waiting. All good things come with time, but should it not pan out I would be back to the drawing board with a college degree and my own bills in tow.

As the panic starts to set in again, let the lessons be lived and soon learned: Nothing is final until it is final. It is essential to be assertive in expressing what your realistic wants and needs are from your potential employer, and realize that they can't always meet them. Continue your search until you have signed an offer and be active in seeking out opportunities.

It is time to jump back into the searching process! If I can heed my own advice I hope to have good news for you in the next month or so. In the mean time I'll be following-up with my employer, heading back to the job search boards and putting my resume in with contacts I've established around town. I'll be stumbling through the mistakes and successes and you'll be the first to know about them.

Spreading out my eggs,
LSU Kid

Service Learning at LSU

In working with my capstone public relations class, I have had the opportunity to experience service-learning for the first time. Up until this semester I was unaware that such classes existed on campus or of the opportunities they provide students. My group is planning and implementing a public relations campaign for the Big Buddy Program of Baton Rouge, a local non-profit youth services agency that provides positive role models and quality learning experiences to over 3,000 disadvantaged youth weekly. Working hand-in-hand with an actual client has provided direct, field-related experience and portfolio-building opportunities. Our project has even gotten me media exposure on WBRZ's 2une In program and Cox's Game of the Week!

The coolest part is that what we walk away with from the project will put us a step ahead in competing for jobs AND help out the community. If you have any flex room in your class schedule before graduating I would strongly recommend looking into signing up for one. It goes without saying, the more you can show a potential employer that you have done work that directly relates to your field, the better.

The LSU Center for Community Engagement Learning and Leadership notes that, "Service-Learning offers an exciting kind of 'hands-on' learning in which you apply what you learn to make your community a better place. While helping others, you gain knowledge that’s directly connected to the learning goals of the service-learning course you’re taking." You can find out more on their Web site http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/ccell/studentinfo.nsf/Index

Check it out,
LSU Kid

Considering Graduate School?

Graduate school is not an option that I personally am exploring in my search for post-graduation happiness. I may consider it down the road, but at present it is not something I have put much thought into.

However, for those of you that have or are considering it, be sure to stop in TODAY at the Graduate and Professional School Expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the PMAC. Save your self some Internet browsing time and stop in to actually talk with recruiters first hand and pick up information about schools you may have not considered. If you catch my post too late, or can't make it to the event don't fret! You can check out Career Service's Web site (http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/career/careerweb.nsf/index) to find information about who attended the event, etc. AND it's not too late to catch the last event in their Grad School Application Success Series, "Winning Personal Statements" to be held Thursday, November 6 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in 152 Coates Hall.

Just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you. If you are still searching, this could be the road to the post-graduation happiness we are all looking for!

'Till next time,
LSU Kid

Food for Thought: Graduation and Insurance

The sense of urgency that surrounds finding a full-time job after graduation is often heightened by the risk of being without benefits, primarily health insurance. For most of us, this is something we have never considered because we have had twenty something years of coverage under our parents.

In researching the subject I came across the article "Health Insurance for Twentysomethings" on Kiplinger.com (Kiplinger has been a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice for over eight decades). The article provides insight into the options available for students and links to additional insurance databases.

Click here to check it out: http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/starting/archive/2008/st0409.htm

Best,
LSU Kid

The Million Dollar Question: What Do You Want?

As if midterm week wasn't unpleasant enough as is, for soon-to-be graduates like myself it is yet another reminder that the "real world" is coming...and faster than we'd like! In the face of finding a full-time job, prioritizing and completing menial school tasks (i.e. cramming for midterms or writing last-minute papers) seem to plummet in importance. We are charged with looking ahead to January, while still focusing on living day to day; scanning the horizon for what the future holds, while still being aware of where the sun is rising and setting today.

In riding this emotional roller coaster, I am stumbling on pieces of advice that are much easier heard than learned. One simple tidbit I heard today that speaks to the heart of the job-search process is, "You really just have to decide what it is that you value: family, money, prestige, etc." If it could all be that easy right!?

What I've taken from this piece of advice and what I will leave you with is a question that is pounding in my head, heart and gut these days...what is it that you want? In the end, we have to realize no parent, friend, mentor or future employer can answer this question for us. And while this again is easier written than lived, I believe finding the answer will bring me one step closer to finding a job that I can succeed in, is meaningful and...pays the bills. When I do, you will be the first to know!

Yours in frustration,
LSU Kid