Congratulations To Our 2012 PRowl Graduates!

Thousands of families converged yesterday to celebrate graduation day at Temple University. Broad Street was jam packed with graduates, family and friends. 

The class of 2012 filed into the Liacouras Center for the 125th commencement. It's the largest graduating class in the school's history with more than 8,600 bachelor, graduate, and first professional degrees.

Attending the ceremony for the School of Communication and Theater was bittersweet. Among those 8,600 were seven of some of our finest Prowlers! Although I am especially saddened to see these great members leave us, I know that each and every one of them have a very bright future ahead of them.

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES:

Emily Ascani, former Assistant Firm Director

Doug Bennett, former Director of Finance and Account Executive

Alex Crispino, former Account Executive

Kurie Fitzgerald, former Staff Member

Niki Ianni, former Firm Director

Steve Jacobs, former Staff Member

Frank Kunkle, former Staff Member

From all of us at PRowl Public Relations, we wish all of you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors!

This post was made by PRowl Public Relations E-Board member Kaitlyn Sutton.

How to Avoid the Pre-Graduation Panic Attack

As we enter 2012, many May grads are going into panic mode about finding a job after graduation (if they haven't already). With the state of the job market, you need to be doing everything that you can to make sure your best self is out there for employers to see. Below I have outlined some things to keep in mind during your job search in the midst of commencement.

• Stay connected. Social networking can be a great resource to find out who is hiring as well as promoting yourself and meeting key people in the industry through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
  
• Get a post-grad internship. Recent graduates should be open to an internship, even if it is unpaid. While the company may not be hiring now, in a few months there could be an opening for you to fill. It could even help you narrow down where you really want to see yourself when you are employed full-time.
  
• Volunteer. Nonprofits are always in need of public relations or media relations help to raise money for their cause and get media coverage. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment if you find something you are passionate about.
  
• Go corporate. While it may not be specifically public relations, broadening your horizons to include communications will be more appealing to larger companies. There is opportunity to move to different departments and gain a lot of different experience.
  
• Stay positive! Don't be discouraged if you don't get the first few jobs you interview for. Hard work will pay off if you keep trying for the job that will be the best fit for you.
  

Are you graduating in the near future? What are your job-hunting tips for your peers?
To read more click here.

Effective Strategic Communication-The Basis of all Human Interaction

Being the rather indecisive person that I am, it came as no shock that I hadn’t the slightest idea of what I wanted to study coming into college. So naturally, I took the easy road, and like so many other freshman, enrolled myself as an undeclared. During my first year at Temple I took the typical GenEd classes, sprinkled in with some advertising and education classes, hoping that I would find my niche. Upon completing my freshman year, I thought I had a better understanding of what I wanted to do with my life; I had no idea.

After an untypical chain of events occurred over the next year, including transferring out of the university only to find myself re-enrolling at Temple the following year, I finally had some guidance in my life. This guidance came during Summer 2010, as I was perusing the Temple website looking for perspective majors. There are only so many of those personality strength tests you can take before you finally have to stop and ask yourself: What do I want to do? Surprisingly enough, once the communications light was shed on me, I was hooked. I wanted to study strategic communication. I knew that if done effectively, strategic communication is the basis of all human interaction.

Unlike other majors in the university, strategic communication teaches you how to express your needs and desires in a way that gets others to stop what they’re doing, and listen to what you’re saying. Oppositely, it promotes attentive listening so you can comprehend and understand exactly what messages are being relayed. Without effective two-way communication, nothing would ever get accomplished in the world. Strategic communication is ever-present in our daily routines, though we may not even realize it. It is what separates us from other species, what drives production; it is the basis of all human interaction.

Extraordinary communicators can change the world. If you can talk the talk, you better believe people will be on your side, listening to what you have to say. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan; all phenomenal masters of communication who let their words and rhetoric bring about change. It is no secret as to why they had so many supporters. People believed in the messages they were delivering. Whether all of these messages were actually truthful and sincere is a whole different matter. The point is this: their words were empowering.

I could not be happier knowing that I will be graduating this spring with a degree in strategic communication. Learning how to become an effective communicator in this fast-pace world, where messages often get lost or convoluted, is a skill that is uncompromising to any other.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Steve Jacobs.

Taking Advantage of Senior Year

The summer is quickly coming to an end, and like always, that means it’s time to return to campus and start an exciting new year. For many of us, this time of year is especially thrilling because we are finally seniors! It seems like our journey to graduation has only just begun, but now there are only months left before we put on our caps and gowns and finish our degree. Although it seems that everything is finally falling into place, there is still much to be done. Come May, we will be thrown out into the real world, without another year of undergrad looming ahead, but with loans to pay off and interviews to endure. Although senior year is the time to live it up and enjoy college to the fullest, it is also time to prepare for our future and get our foot in the door.

If you haven’t had an internship yet or even thought about it, it’s time to do that immediately! Most employers will not even look at an application or offer an interview with little to no work experience. Even if the internship is not paid (which most aren’t) its time to commit a few hours of your time a week to gain some experience and have something to put on your resume. If you don’t know where to start looking for one, ask a faculty member or advisor for advice—they usually have many connections and may even be able to help you obtain a position. It would also be a good idea to sign up for Temple’s listserv because many internship opportunities are sent around weekly.

If you are interning, that’s a great start, but don’t stop there! If you have connections or know of people you would like to connect with, set up an informational interview. Taking advice from people in the PR profession is a great way to get your career started. Get to know people in the area and collect as many business cards as possible! You can never know too many people in the industry and most professionals can spare a few minutes of their day to grab a cup of coffee and point you in the right direction.

Get involved! If you are not part of any student organizations or clubs, senior year is not too late! Take advantage of all Temple has to offer and join something soon! Most clubs or organizations are a great way to network with people of your major or similar interests, and as I said before—you can never have too many connections. Plus, being part of student groups looks great on your resume and that may set you apart from many other applicants applying for the same job position come May.

Use this time to perfect your resume. Get rid of the accomplishments you had in high school and list all you’ve done in the past four years. Focus on what will set you apart from hundreds of other applicants and include your academic achievements. There are people reviewing resumes all day, and if yours doesn’t stand out dramatically, it may never get noticed.

These are just a few tips on taking advantage of your senior year. Don’t forget to have fun, but use this time wisely—May is just around the corner!


This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Kaitlin Tully.