Follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamogul

Enjoy!

Marketing Coordinator – Billboard New York, NY

We are seeking a Marketing Coordinator. This position will report directly to Billboards Senior Marketing Manager, and will support the efforts of the entire marketing team.

Skills/Experience: A minimum of 1 2 years of experience at a media/publishing company, an agency or a PR firm preferred; Knowledge of digital media required; Knowledge of event marketing/PR required; Proficient in Microsoft Office (specifically Powerpoint); Some exposure to the entertainment industry preferred, but not required; Detail oriented, resourceful, creative/strategic thinker, ability to adhere to tight deadlines, ability to juggle several projects at once, excellent written/verbal and interpersonal skills;  Some travel required

Now in its 117th year, Billboard is the world’s premier music brand consisting of Billboard magazine, Billboard Events, Billboard Bulletin, Billboard.biz and Billboard.comthe online destination of choice for millions of music fans. The Billboard brand is built on its exclusive charts and unrivaled reporting on the latest news, issues and trends across all genres of music. In addition to North America, Billboard operates businesses in Brazil , Greece , Japan , Korea and Russia .

Responsibilities include: Creating marketing materials such as: one-sheets, presentations, media kits, brochures, house ads and other promotional materials; Ideating and developing proposals in response to RFPs and for proactive pitches; Collaborating with the sales, editorial, product, design, ad operations and social marketing teams to assist in the execution process of integrated programs; Helping with the execution of Billboard events and on-site sponsor activation; Maintaining existing as well as cultivating new relationship with industry events and organizations; Helping to manage the marketing budget;  Supporting Billboards PR / social media efforts Continue Reading

Think LinkedIn is Just for Established Professionals? Think Again.

By Amanda Miller Littlejohn | Follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamogul

Every time the semesters change, I get emails, phone calls and snail mail from prospective interns and junior employees who say they want to work in PR. But invariably when I take a look at the attached resumes, I am always a bit disappointed.

To me, a resume without links to relevant online profiles seems strangely empty. A candidate without a blog? I don’t understand. No Twitter account, no LinkedIn profile? Le sigh.

Back when I sent out resumes to get my first internships and entry level jobs, I would include my apartment address and phone number at the top. But that was years ago, and it’s just not enough anymore.

I am shocked by how many students have failed to establish a professional online presence. Employers want to pre-qualify each candidate, and with the availability of online information out there, even if you don’t share your online profiles, they’re going to do a search for your name anyway to see what pops up. So why not point them in the right direction by proactively establishing a professional online presence that you can confidently include in your resume and/or cover letter?  And in the professional world, your online presence starts with LinkedIn.

You don’t have to have a job to have a LinkedIn profile. But having a LinkedIn profile can definitely help you get a job.

Here are 7 Ways Students Should be Using LinkedIn

1. Showcase Your  Internships and Volunteer Work-If you haven’t yet had an internship, begin volunteering to show that you have responsibility, motivation, drive and passion for a cause. Not too many organizations will turn down a young, hungry volunteer. Work your way up to internships in your field of study, or if you’re still figuring out what you want to do, try lots of different types of internships to get yourself out there. Once you’ve volunteered and/or interned, list that on your profile. But be sure to show how and where you added value. Did you increase efficiency, event attendance or  customer sales? If so, say it.

2. Get Recommended-Request recommendations from your Professors- Many people think that you can only get the coveted recommendations from an employer.  Not true! You can get recommendations from anyone who knows the quality of your work and can attest to your professionalism. Professors are great to do this. Who better would know whether you’re a slacker or the next big thing? Note: No one is obligated to recommend you on LinkedIn, and you may want to ask beforehand if your professor would feel comfortable recommending you. And only ask your professor if you know you’ve done a great job in the classroom.

3. Contribute Find the “Answers” section of LinkedIn and offer up a thoughtful question or a really great answer. Also check out the groups. If you’re in PR, join a few of the PR groups and contribute. Find groups of professionals in your city; join groups of non-profit  professionals or small business owners in your town. Find groups by:

• School or College-Alumni Groups (Even some high schools have alumni groups!)
• Location-where you live (Washington, DC or Philadelphia Professionals)
• Your Profession or Future Profession (i.e. PR, Marketing, Law)
• Your Desired Industry (i.e. If you want to work in Fashion PR, join a Fashion Professionals Group)

Don’t be afraid to jump in on the conversation. Sometimes students have the most valuable perspective.

4. Update, Update, Update. Update your status a few times per week. Use this space to let everyone know what you’re doing. You can also use this space to point your connections to a great article you’ve read, or better yet, to a recent article or blog post that you’ve written. Note: I’m a big advocate of students writing their own blogs.

5. Don’t Skip the Summary. Try your hand at writing an amazing bio to fit in this space. As you get more career experience and learn more about what you want to do with your career, you’ll fill this section out. But try to use up as much of the character allotment that you can. For more tips on crafting a great bio, check out How to Write a Professional Bio featuring Dan Schwabel.

6. Remember Linkedin is not Facebook. Keep the nicknames and party pictures off of there. Use a nice headshot and a professional headline. Try to keep it as serious as possible.

7. Use LinkedIn to Research Your Potential Employer.Remember, online research goes both ways! You can use LinkedIn to find out more about your future employer-who works there, who used to worked there, etc. You can find out if any of your connections are connected to those people and request an introduction. Or, you can send a direct message to someone to ask for a coffee date or informational interview.

Want to connect? Find me on LinkedIn-but be sure to mention this blog post so I’ll know how I know you My Linkedin Profile.

Bonus-Once you set up your LinkedIn profile, you can easily pull a traditional resume from it whenever you need to.

Still not convinced ? Here’s a great introductory video to LinkedIn…

If you need a new public relations job, mark your calendar for an upcoming 9-hour virtual career fair hosted by PRWeek on June 14. The career fair includes a few sessions for mid-level professionals and a long stretch of networking in the “online exhibit booth.” There will be panel presentations for HR directors at major agencies including  Ruder Finn and Ketchum as well as presentations from corporations Nissan and Yahoo.

If you’re looking for an agency gig, you should definitely attend. And tell all your #HAPPO friends.

From PRWeek:

The PRWeek Virtual Career Fair is an innovative virtual environment that offers free career advice in the form of three unique live webcast sessions.

• Moving Ahead- Why relocation could be the best next step for your career progression.
• A Diverse Industry- Lessons that can be learned from some of the top diverse PR pros in the industry.
• Continuing To Learn- The value of continuing your education while working full-time.

Featured speakers Karen Bloom, CEO, Bloom, Gross & Associates Louise Harris, president, international & senior counsel, global strategy, Ruder Finn May Petry, VP of corporate comms, Yahoo! Simon Sproule, corporate VP of global marcomms, Nissan Diane Thieke, marketing director, Dow Jones Rachel Wallins, director of global HR, Ketchum You will have the opportunity to: Attend live webcast presentations Meet with recruiters in online booths Search for positions in the PR industry Interact live with company HR representatives Drop off resumes.

Register for the career fair here.

If you’re not quite mid-level in your career yet, or you don’t know which route you’re going to take (agency, corporate, nonprofit, entertainment) my Mopwater Manual is a good place to start

Guest Post By Joshua Waldman

Everyone is on LinkedIn these days. Let’s face it. Almost every CEO from every Fortune 500. Last count was over 50 million users.

In contrast, job boards have only about 3.5 percent of available jobs. This is common knowledge in the career industry, but then why do so many people spend so much time on job boards?

The answer is because it feels safer. LinkedIn is really all about networking. And socializing in an unfamiliar environment can be frightening. I know, I’m an introvert. I totally understand why job seekers try to spend as little time as possible in front of LinkedIn.

So I want to offer you 3 of the most common mistakes in using LinkedIn and how to avoid them. My goal is to help job seekers get over any unconscious resistance to using the most powerful job finding tool ever invented.

Mistake 1: Not Having a Brand

Shoe companies have brands, not people!

Wrong.

Looking for a job is just another sales situation. You are your product. And everything about you is going to either sell you or turn people away.

It’s really just a choice you have to make inside.

Just like how we make buying decisions emotionally, sometimes based on silly things, like the color of the packaging. So too do hiring managers unconsciously make decisions about our candidacy.

If your résumé doesn’t quite match your LinkedIn profile, and that doesn’t match what your referral said about you, then you are in big trouble.

The risk of being inconsistent is huge, and it helps to have defined “who you are” long before you put yourself out there.

The second part of branding is knowing your audience. What are their two biggest problems right now, problems that you could potentially solve?

The trick is to align the “who you are” with the “what they need” so there is a nice overlap.

This, my friends, is your personal brand. It will define your strategy, your writing style, your colors, photos and everything else about you online.

Most people crank out their LinkedIn profile without doing this step first.

Mistake 2: You are NOT Your J-o-b

“Systems Engineer”

“Marketing Executive”

“Fundraiser”

These appear under people’s names in their LinkedIn profiles. And they tell us nothing about who this person really is.

They are a commodity.

Quick story. I had a client, a network engineer, who wanted to work for a very large shoe company. No, not Nike, but good guess.

He knew they had two problems. First, they had no internal network. Second, their external network was so broken that it was affecting supply chain.

So in order to really appeal to this company, we needed to directly address their biggest challenges — challenges that he had the capacity to solve.

So his headline went like this, “Powerful Intranet builder | Supply Chain thought leader | Project management guru”

You have 120 characters to tell the world who you are and what value you bring.

And every communication you generate on LinkedIn will have this professional headline attached to it.

So choose wisely.

Hint: don’t use your job title as your headline.

Mistake 3: Don’t Look Like an Axe Murderer

Every single time I speak about social media in the job search, someone always comes up to me afterward to ask me this question, “But I’m just not that comfortable putting my picture up.” They are either too young or too old or too something.

Yes, ageism, racism and sexism are very real. It’s sad and terrible that they still happen in our society. But using a black and white photo, or zooming way out to try and hide something about ourselves is not going to solve the problem.

The only thing we can do is put some time and effort into our photos, to reflect who we are honestly. And to make a nice looking photo.

All too often, people will put up a mug shot, and wonder why they aren’t getting call backs.

This happened to a friend’s client. And the day he changed his photo, he got a job offer. No exaggeration. (I can hear the HR people cringing from this story, but it’s true).

So the lesson from this is that it is worth getting a professional headshot taken if you are serious about getting a job.

Joshua Waldman is the founder of the Career Enlightenment blog and author of “Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies”. He specializes in helping job seekers, frustrated by the traditional job search, leverage social media to find work FAST! Let him help you with your online job search.

American Civil Liberties Senior Media Relations (Washington, DC)

American University Public Relations Manager (Washington, DC)

Burson Marsteller Senior Public Relations Associate (Detroit, MI)

Intuit Executive Speech Writer (Mountain View, CA)

Ketchum Account Coordinator Public Affairs (Washington, DC)

Ketchum Account Supervisor (Atlanta, GA)

Schubert Communications Public Relations Account Executive (Philadelphia, PA)

Sensis PR Manager (Los Angeles or Washington, DC)

Swirl Integrated Marketing Social Media Manager (San Francisco, CA)

National Wildlife Federation Communications Associate (Reston, VA)

Williams-Sonoma Public Relations Manager (San Francisco, CA)

ZComm Digital Specialist (Washington, DC)

Digital Journalism Panel L-R: Lorraine Ballard Morril (Clear Channel) Amanda Miller Littlejohn (Mopwater) Norm Bond (NAMD), Darisha K. Miller (Ross Assoc), Crystal Cranmore (CBS3), Sarah J. Glover (Philadelphia Daily News), Karen Araiza (NBC Philadelphia)

Happy Monday. On Saturday, I went to Philadelphia to talk to community non-profits and small business leaders about media access. This amazing event was hosted by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) and the Philadelphia Black Public Relations Society (PBPRS). It was a great event, and I’ll post more about what the amazing panelists shared later.

After my panel, a young man just starting his career approached me wanting to know how he could get a social media job at an exclusive tech start-up. I advised him to try an agency first, since those jobs are more plentiful. And look for names like social media strategist or comb through listings for account executives and associates and look for keywords: social networking, social media, Facebook, Twitter.

Talking to this recent graduate inspired me to bring back this dormant feature and to try to help some of you who are searching for jobs. I hope the jobs listed help you on your way in your media career, and the advice on this site can help you fine tune your understanding of where you want to be. Because trust me, as a media person it will change and evolve, just as the industry changes and evolves.
Happy Hunting

American Diabetes Association Director of Digital Strategy (Arlington, VA)

Associated Press Assistant Managing Editor (New York, NY)

Burson Marsteller Manager of Public Relations (Philadelphia, PA)

Burson Marsteller Digital Project Manager (Chicago, IL)

Feinstein Keane Healthcare (An Ogilvy Company) Social Media Strategist (Cambridge, New York, San Francsico or Washington, DC)

Fleishman Hillard VP of Public Affairs (Washington, DC)

Fleishman Hillard Digital Mobile Account Manager (Dallas, TX)

Fleishman Hillard Senior Account Executive (San Francisco, CA)

Gregory FCA Financial Writer/Account Executive (Philadelphia, PA)

Leo A Daly Public Relations Manager (Washington, DC)

National Public Radio Editor for Tell Me More (Washington, DC)

Nemours Communications Consultant (Orlando, FL)

Proof (a Burson Marsteller Company) Digital Strategist (Washington, DC)

Spitfire Strategies Account Coordinator (Washington, DC)

Spitfire Strategies Senior Account Executive (Washington, DC)

USAID via the Manoff Group Communications Officer (Arlington, VA)

Village Voice Media Food Critic/Blogger (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Ogilvy PR Digital Producer (Washington, DC)

Ogilvy PR Account Director-Social Marketing (Washington, DC)

WomenWorking.com Web Writer (New York, NY)

Social Love

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Tell us about your job search on Facebook

Jeffrey Hayzlette, author of “The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing?” and Bill Tancer, Author of “Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters-Unexpected Insights for Business and Life” spoke to me after their morning keynotes about what skills future PR professionals need to have. By the way, it was Hayzlette who  helped reinvent Kodak from a film company to an emotional experience company.

Want more valuable career advice? Order your copy of the Mopwater Manual.

Amtrak Senior Communications Associate (Wilmington, DE)

Crayola PR and Social Media Specialist (Easton, PA)

Gaylord Entertainment Social Media Manager (Nashville, TN)

Gilbraltar Associates Senior Social Media Associate (Washington, DC)

Goodyear Tire Co. Corporate Communications Manager (Akron, OH)

Healthways Senior External Affairs and PR Partner (Franklin, TN)

New York Times Company Vice President Corporate Communications (New York, NY)

PBS Kids Senior Associate of Publicity (Arlington, VA)

Raytheon Company Senior Manager of Public Affairs (Sterling, VA)

Wyndham Worldwide Director of Communications (New Jersey)

Got this message today from the National Association of Black Journalists and wanted to pass it along to you. They’re partnering with the New York Times to produce an almost year-long leadership academy for beginning or mid-career managers in print and web journalism.

From NABJ:

NABJ/New York TIMES LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

November 2010 – August 2011

APPLICATION DEADLINE:
October 1, 2010

WHAT IS IT?
The Leadership Academy is a unique training and development program for print and Web journalists who are, or aspire to become, newsroom managers.  Beginning or mid-career managers will be guided through the issues and challenges of newsroom leadership, and will gain skills necessary to lead in a rapidly-changing media world.

Journalists selected to attend the Academy will receive all expense paid leadership training at The Times during the fall and at Harvard University through the Maynard Institute Media Academy in January and March (each session at Harvard is a week long).  The group will come together one last time at the summer NABJ convention to share their experience with interested colleagues.

Applicants should have two to five years experience in one or more management positions. Deadline for applications is October 1, 2010.

HOW DO I APPLY?
The Leadership Academy is open to newspaper and Web journalists with strong leadership and managerial potential who want to further develop their skills. Applicants may come from a range of newsroom experience including–but not limited to-department or section heads, deputy or assistant editors, assignment editors, slots, photo editors, photographers, designers, graphics editors and Web editors.

An application must contain ALL of the following:

1. The application form, completed and signed, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
2. Your resume
3. A letter of recommendation
4. Proof of membership in NABJ

Applications may be obtained and information provided by contacting the coordinator of the Leadership Academy Juanita Powell-Brunson, at 212 556-3599 or poweljf@nytimes.com.

Applicants must be able to meet the time requirements including two days in November or December in New York; one week at Harvard in January, another week at Harvard in March; and the NABJ convention in August.

Deadline:Applications must be postmarked by October 1 and mailed to:

CONTACT:
The NABJ/New York Times Leadership Academy
Attn: Dana Canedy
Senior Editor
PO Box 2690
Times Square Station
New York, NY 10108

So there aren’t many jobs on this list, but please know I’m posting this from 1-95 northbound to New York. My internet is surprisingly strong, I’m on a borrowed Virgin Mobile MiFi mobile hotspot.

I wanted to send you these jobs-I know it’s not much-but I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to blog again, and I’ve had blogger’s guilt for the past week. I did not post one time.

But in other news, I spoke about blogging last week and helped my client successfully orchestrate a TV spot. So I wasn’t just lazing around the house. I was busy doing my PR thizzle.

Here are your jobs: hope one of these sparks your fancy. And if you have a success story like Keshia’s let me know!

Amanda

p.s. Happy Anniversary to Margie Newman and the DC Flacks! Congratulations on an awesome year of meet-ups!

Atria Senior Living Group Strategic Brand Manager (Louisville, KY)

American University Associate Director of Communications (Washington, DC)

American Museum of Natural History New Media Specialist (New York, NY)

Amanda’s Pick —–>  Northrop Grumman Social Media Manager (Arlington, VA)

Ogilvy PR Account Supervisor Hispanic Outreach (Washington, DC)

Widmeyer Communications Senior Account Executive (Washington, DC)

Nowadays, what do you need to become a good journalist? Some may rush and say “a journalism degree.” But what do you say? We all know that students are trying to figure out what to study, what’s necessary to make a living, what it really takes to cut the mustard. So, I  asked a working journalist what he thinks especially during these tough times.  See what this New York Times business reporter says:

Surprised?

Kristina Libby, a social media consultant I profiled last week said that she would have waited to get an MBA rather than rush to grad school. What do you think?

Like Mr. Nixon stated, whatever you end up studying should enrich what you end up doing, in Libby’s case, an MBA would give her the business sense to understand her business client’s problems and run her consultancy (whereas a degree in public relations would only help her understand PR and social media principles, best practices, ethics and tactics which are still important). In Nixon’s case, a more nuanced foundation of statistics would probably have aided his business reporting for the New York Times more than a journalism degree would have.

My take: When looking to get a degree, in the beginning follow your passions and after undergrad assess what you need after working a few years. School won’t necessarily teach you to do. Only doing can teach you to do. School can refine your knowledge, expand your networks and enhance your ability to do something in a niche way. But more on that later.

Good morning and happy Monday to you all. I’m back from San Diego from the National Association of Black Journalists 35th Annual Convention where I met tons of journalists, a few other great PR pros, and got to present on a fun panel called “Turning Your Passion into a PR Career.”

There were so many good takeaways, but I’ll leave you with these three. One:If you’re looking for a job in journalism, diversify your skills with business reporting. Two: Business stories are always en vogue. If you’re a journalist, large public relations agencies are always looking for former reporters to bring into the ranks. Three: If you’re looking to turn your passion into a PR career, if you can dream it up, you can do the PR for it. So remember to focus on your true passions and dream BIG.

Here are my job picks for the week:

Burson-Marsteller Managing Director-Government Relations, Direct Impact (Washington, DC)

Capitol One Senior Communications Manager (McLean, VA)

Dell Global ODG Social Media Manager (United Kingdom)

Formula PR Account Executive (San Diego, CA)

Formula PR PR Assistant (New York, NY)

Google Communications Associate (Mountain View, CA)

Google Creative Director-Copywriter (New York City)

Amanda’s Pick —–>Google Events Manager (San Francisco, CA)

Harper Collins Publishers Publicity Director (San Francisco, CA)

HUGE Social Media Strategist (Brooklyn, NY)

Kembrel Fashion Marketing and Social Media Associate (Philadelphia, PA)

LewisPR Account Manager (Washington, DC)

National Trust for Historic Preservation Presidential Speechwriter (Washington, DC)

National Trust for Historic Preservation Communications Associate (Washington, DC)

Scripps Health Senior Director of Public Relations (La Jolla, CA)

Southern Living Magazine Associate Travel Editor (Birmingham, AL)

Sterling Children’s Books /Sterling Publishing Publicist (New York City)

United States Chamber of Commerce Media Relations Manager (Washingt0n, DC)

World Gold Council PR Manager (Mumbai,India)

World Vision Media Relations Director (New York City)

It’s Monday. And it just so happens to be my birthday. So happy birthday to me! Cake for everyone.

Seriously, I just want to let you know how happy  I am that you’re a part of this community. You are the greatest birthday gift of all. Really.

AT&T Director of External Affairs (Washington, DC)

Bank of the West Corporate Communications Social Media Officer (San Francisco)

City of Philadelphia Communications and Outreach Coordinator (Philadelphia, PA)

Department of Agriculture Writer (Washington, DC)

Devex Communications Director (Washington, DC)

Formula PR Senior Account Executive (San Diego, CA)

Holland & Knight, LLP Freelance Copywriter (Florida)

Market City Inc SEO/Social Media Account Executive (St. Louis)

The Marketing Store Senior Multicultural Copywriter (Greater Chicago Area)

Microsoft Director of Strategic Marketing Communications (Redmond, Washington)

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Communications and Government Relations Specialist (Baker City, Oregon)

Republic Director of Communications (Miami, FL)

Amanda’s Pick———->Spectrum Communications Digital Associate (Washington, DC)

Southern Poverty Law Center Communications Assistant (Montgomery, AL)

United Nations Foundation Director of Online Communications-Public Affairs (Washington, DC)

United Way Worldwide Director of Strategic Communications (Alexandria, VA)

The Walt Disney Company Manager of Executive Communications (Lake Buena Visa, FL)

The Washington Post Publicist / PR Specialist (Washington, DC)

Wells Fargo Communications Consultant (Des Moines, Iowa)

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Happy Monday PR pros! I had a good time compiling these public relations, communications and social media jobs for you over the weekend and thought I’d do something new by offering my job pick. Check out Women Thrive Worldwide near the bottom of the list. If there is a better job out there that combines women, community, communications, social media I haven’t seen it in a long while. This position really caught my attention so if you’re in the Washington, DC area or willing to relocate, check it out.

I’m gearing up for a busy week in DC before heading out to San Diego next week for the National Association of Black Journalists 35th Annual Convention to speak on the panel How to Turn Your Passion into a PR Career, which I’m so excited about. If you’re in San Diego, or know where I can get some good coffee out there, please send me a tweet.

Here are your jobs. Good luck…

Ace Hardware Public Relations Manager (Chicago)

Adfero Group Public Relations Intern-Paid (Washington, DC)

American Express Director of Social Media Development (New York, NY)

Edelman Account Executive (Seattle, WA) Related: How to Get Hired at Edelman

Environmental Defense Fund Energy Media Manager (Washington, DC)

GEICO Public Relations Coordinator (Chevy Chase, MD)

Flashpoint PR Senior Account Executive (San Francisco, CA)

Kaiser Permanente Senior Communications Consultant (Oakland, CA)

Kimpton Boutique Hotels PR Coordinator (Washington, DC)

Nintendo North America Manager of Corporate Communications (Redwood City, CA)

Nossaman LLP Senior Communications Manager (Los Angeles, CA)

PAN Communications Digital PR Pro (Boston)

Pinnacle Entertainment Public Relations Manager (St. Louis, MO)

Raytheon Media Relations Manager (Falls Church, VA)

Time Warner Assistant Director for Public Relations and Publicity (New York, NY)

Time Warner Social Media Editor for Entertainment Weekly (New York, NY)

Washington Hospital Center Senior Director of Grants and Communications (Washington, DC)

Amanda’s Pick—–>Women Thrive Worldwide Senior Manager of Communications and Outreach (Washington, DC)

Zero to Three: National Center for Infant and Toddlers Writer and Program Analyst (Washington, DC)

Follow MopwaterPR on Twitter | Join Mopwater Community of Journos + PR Pros on Facebook

New: DC Power Twitter Workshop on August 14. Sign up Now for Early Bird Rate.

I recently had lunch with author, speaker and veteran PR Pro Deirdre Breakenridge. Deirdre is the President of hybrid communications firm Mango!, co-founder of weekly Twitter chat #prstudchat, and author of numerous books on public relations and social media including Putting the Public Back into Public Relations with Brian Solis. I asked Deirdre what advice she would give her daughter Meghan if she were graduating this year from college with a degree in public relations and communications.

I found Deirdre’s advice to be sage and applicable not only to students. I’d share this advice  not only a new graduate, but a person leaving a 9-5 to start hang out their own shingle, or someone who may be switching over from another industry to start their career in PR.

So many people want things quick and easy; but the truth is-even if our economic climate were great-if you want to build a strong and lasting reputation, you have to be willing to work hard and be flexible as she mentions. It’s a totally different business environment now.

Head on over to the Mopwater Facebook Page and say hi on the wall

If you’ve been looking for a job in public relations, communications, journalism or social media for over six months, you may be getting discouraged as many Americans who are searching for work have gotten after a long stretch of unemployment. But I encourage you to keep your search on and in the meantime continue to stay active in your professional organizations, with volunteer work, and networking events. Also don’t forget to reach out to local public relations firms like Mopwater PR that may be in need of an extra hand or intern to help out on rotating projects. These projects can be great resume-builders, and ways to get a great reference.

If you’re moping, brew yourself a cup of strong coffee and read this inspiring post about how persistence paid off for Kendall Wayland, a University of Central Florida grad who landed a job at Vantage Communications even in this dismal economy.

Then take a look at these jobs and send your cover letter and resume out.

5W Public Relations Account Executive Consumer Alcohol, Hotel, Sports (New York)

American Dental Association Manager of Communications (Scottsdale, Arizona)

Anaheim Orange County Visitors Bureau Communications Coordinator (Anaheim, CA)

Bloomingdale’s Public Relations Manager (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

Boston University Reporter/Blogger (Boston)

City of Sugar Land Publications Manager (Sugar Land, TX)

Demos Public Relations Manager (New York City)

Edelman Digital Account Supervisor (Washington, DC)

France to Washington News Reporter (Washington, DC)

Freedom House Media Relations Manager (Washington, DC)

Home Front Communications Senior Digital Media Manager (Washington, DC)

Kohls Department Stores Public Relations Manager-Philanthropy (Menomonee Falls, WI)

L’oreal Public Relations Coordinator (New York City)

Mopwater PR Head Blogger/Design Intern + PR/Social Media Intern (Washington, DC)

MS&L Senior Account Executive-Corporate (NYC)

Spitfire Strategies Account Executive (Washington, DC) -no phone calls

WETA Associate Producer Washington Week with Gwen Ifill (Washington, DC)

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