To show my support for the Help a PR Pro Out initiative, I asked around (more like tweeted) to find someone looking for a PR position in Michigan and a company looking to hire someone with a PR, marketing or communications background. For those checking into my blog this week who aren’t in the PR industry, please bear with my industry-specific posts!
Thanks to Nick Lucido for connecting me to Angela Minicuci, a Michigan State University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in communication and specialization in public relations currently seeking full time employment. Here’s my Q&A with Angela:
Have you had any PR-related internships or additional experience related to the PR industry?
I have interned in the past with the Old Town Commercial Association as the communications intern from January – May 2009. In this position, I planned events such as the Taste & Tour of Old Town to draw about 500 people into the area and raise awareness about the great companies there. I wrote stories about events in Old Town and interviewed local businesses to highlight them in our monthly newsletter. I helped organize Shmooze on Tues. in Old Town, which drew people to the area on Tuesday nights. I also maintained the social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as the Web site news section.
I interned with MSU University Relations in its Media Communications Department as a student writer, and I was the Arts & Culture at MSU intern from July – December 2009. After returning from a study abroad trip in the summer, I started with UR doing the social media for Arts & Culture on campus working with the A&C communicators to promote its events, exhibits and news on Twitter and Facebook. I also wrote staff profiles and faculty conversations to highlight the hard workers on campus, which featured a short story I wrote and brief video I created. I also wrote stories for news.msu.edu on Arts & Culture related features both again including a story and video. I learned a lot about multimedia in this position and gave a training presentation to a board of MSU communicators on how to utilize social media in their campaigns.
I am currently interning with Ari Adler at Delta Dental of Michigan as the public relations intern. So far, I have experience using PR Trak to monitor our media mentions and BurrellesLuce to create media lists and distribute news releases. I also have written other PR materials such as PSA’s, announcements and articles for magazines.
This wasn’t an internship, but I got more experience out of this position than any other. I served as the webmaster for the MSU Public Relations Student Society of America in 2008 where I built and launched a new Web site for MSU PRSSA. I also created the meeting slideshows and was the team captain for our Relay For Life team, which raised more than $2,600, placing us 6th out of 95 teams. In 2009, I was the vice president of public relations, where I ran the meetings, maintained the Web site and created our PowerPoint presentations. Both years, I was an account executive for our student run firm, Hubbell Connections, where I worked with College Life: East Lansing to create a new Web site, blog, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts. I also created a new communications intern position, as well as a social media strategy. Lastly, I gave a training session to our members on how to create your own Web site or online portfolio.
This also not an internship, but I studied abroad in the summer of 2009 in Italy and France. I studied advertising and public relations internationally and got to see some of the most powerful PR campaigns and advertisements at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France. I learned a lot on segmenting and learning about your different audiences and how to target them, which not only applied internationally, but had huge implications to my work within communities here in Michigan as well.
Currently, I am still involved at MSU as the public relations chairperson for this year’s Relay For Life, where I create videos, write press releases and help organize events on campus to gain awareness about MSU Relay For Life (happening this April).
Lastly, since graduating, I have been freelancing as a subcontractor for Shonali Burke doing daily media monitoring on CustomScoop and media list building using Vocus. I also did some freelance work creating videos for Lansing’s Peppermint Creek Theatre Company’s production of Altar Boyz at the end of January/beginning of this month.
Describe your ideal PR position.
My ideal PR position would be at a non-profit, but I have found recently that I really enjoy health care PR as well because it still gives the opportunity to advocate for a great cause. I’m interning right now for a dental insurance company, so it is corporate but it has that health care element that I really enjoy. So far, corporate has not been what I expected, and I would actually enjoy doing corporate PR if the opportunity presented itself. I have not had much experience at an agency, but that is a realm of PR I’d like the opportunity to explore if given the chance.
Tell me why someone should hire you. What makes you stand out from other PR job seekers?
What makes me different is my level of passion. I was raised to use my head and my heart together so I pride myself on being intelligent and passionate about the things I accomplish. I don’t commit to things that my heart is not into because I don’t want to provide semi-decent work. When I do commit to something, you can guarantee I will pour my heart into doing it right. I have a wide knowledge base of traditional PR tactics and writing styles, but I bring the freshness of a new graduate with my experience in social media, multimedia and new strategies. I have dedicated my college career to the public relations field and I cannot wait for the opportunity to prove that in a professional setting.
Wow – quite a lot of experience for someone fresh out of college! If you would like to learn more about Angela or discuss job opportunities, you can contact her at angminicuci@gmail.com. You can also view her online portfolio at www.angelaminicuci.weebly.com.
Now, on to the jobs. Thanks to Tom Nixon, partner at Identity Marketing & Public Relations in Bingham Farms, Mich., for sharing these two open positions at his agency:
Account Assistant – Assists in the development of quality client programming, such as media list building, advertising opportunities and writing and editing press releases. Must be self-motivated, driven, goal-oriented, possess excellent verbal and written communication skills and have the ability to manage multiple tasks. Check out the entire job description on Identity’s Facebook page.
Marketing Manager – Marketing manager position requires ability to develop, execute and manage an array of targeted marketing programs including but not limited to market research and analysis, new client/customer prospecting, client/customer relations, direct mail, special events planning and copywriting. Marketing manager will work with management team and account supervisors to integrate various marketing components into an overall communications program which might also include media relations, graphic design, Web site development and management and social media.
If you are interested, please submit your resume and cover letter to Pam Kammann at hr@identitypr.com.
Thanks to Angela and Tom for participating in HAPPO! I wish you both success.