Interview individuality

Having hada lull in job interviews and job enquiries recently, I have jumped back onboard the job wagon and had two interviews this weekend. It is encouraging to hear positive feedback about my one-year placement and discover knowledge of my degree. Louise Orr's post reaffirms this, suggesting that I am not the only one who is on the hunt for her perfect, first job and that I am also not the only one to have received positive feedback about her experience and degree.

I remember the day I learned of my new status as a BAPR-ite. The overwhelming excitement and pride I felt at hearing I had gained a place on my first-choice course was an amazing experience. I am so glad I came to this university and studied this course, as having done various pr work experience, I am thoroughly convinced it is the industry I want to work in. Knowing this and the respected status of my course and placement, I can only hope that my enthusiasm and personality (which I think is great!) shines through in interviews. I'm sure this is the stumbling point for not only me. On one hand you want to appear the 'perfect candidate', but on the other you want to show your individuality. This is difficult to achieve, but my personal philisophy is that if YOU will shine through however hard you try to mould yourself for the role. But, this is a positive thing. You want to ensure you are working for a company that is right for you and that you are right for. By showing your true colours, I think this can be achieved.

Pick up your litter you slobs

I read an interesting article in yesterday's Guardian, about the shear amount of litter the 10 billion plastic carrier bags given to shoppers create. Unlike the Irish Government who introduced a tax for every un-recycleable bag purchased, our Government does seem to recognise the threat litter presents. There is a disappointingly unpopular petition on the 10 Downing Street website encouraging a plastic bag tax, but this is not enough. People's whole value systems and beliefs need to change and doing this is a major challenge for the those whose job it is to do this.

Look at Keep Britain Tidy, who have been rebranded ENCAMS. Not the best of campaigning charities and obviously not doing a brilliant job, as I increasingly see people dropping litter out of their cars (their personal space) onto the road (not my space), fags nonchanontly being stamped on on pavements and permanently white streets from the never-ending amounts of chewing gum being dropped casually. People must understand that public space is their space and it should be respected. ENCAMS have a tough challenge ahead of them, but I think that with some hard-hitting campaigns and education, us Brits can show others that we really do care about the way our country looks.

Punctuation is just good manners

I made my monthly pilgrimage into Bournemouth town centre and ended up in a large high-street chain of bookshop (I think I was shielding myself from the obsessive wind and rain). I had wanted a particular book for quite a while, having had many friends raving about it, so took this opportunity to buy it. Low and behold it is rave-worthy!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss should be an imperative read for all PR practitioners. If you don't know your apostrophes from your semi-colons you are a disgrace to the profession. A bit strong I know, but everyone should at least attempt to understand this mythical land of squiggles and dashes. Consider this; a press release that you have spent hours researching, drafting, re-drafting, finalising, authorising and then sending, and there is a grammatical error in it. Now I have had this experience while on placement and I have learnt from this intensely terrifying mistake. The message you wanted to send out to that comprehensive list of media is in tatters. Everyone is staring at your big, fat mistake. Nothing can be done about it.

Now, nobody wants to be in that position more than once and most certainly only ever in your first few months of PR working life. If it does happen, learn from it and learn grammar. I think every school should make it compulsory and especially on a PR degree. Writing is so very important to PR and constitutes a large part of a practitioner's job. So please, do it for your future. For your family. For your life. For poor, misused apostrophes who are crying at being left out or for being added on to words. Do it for them all (and don't focus on my mistakes, focus on your own)!

Young professional

With my dissertation draft due in on Monday, I find myself digressing occassionally and thinking about, god forbid, post uni! We have a few months left of a year that has literally flown by, and then what? We're on our own. No one telling us how to live our lives and what choices to make. Jobs, living arrangements, marital status; it's all up to us. A scary thought, but I find this liberating. For the first time in our life, bar those who carry on in education, we are on our own. What an amazing position to be in. Having to push ourselves to think, innovate, mke decisions.

I know of quite a few people who are already looking for jobs straight after uni. I know what they're going through. The coffee next to the offices. The hope and nervousness before the interview. The enthusiastic smile. The excitement straight after it when you phone your entire address book. It's a hard thing to do, but it's great to be in thick of it isn't it? Knowing we're interviewing to be the practitioners of the future is, at some times, incomprehensible. But it's true.

I can't wait to start my career as a young professional and I wish everyone else who is applying for jobs well (But not if I see you at an assessment day!).