Name: Claudio E. Cabrera, 25

Current City: New York City (Manhattan)

Looking For: A Sports PR Position, Freelance PR / PR Internship Leads, Journalism Opportunities

Our Notes: He’s fashionable, award-winning and game-changing. He won the Independent Press Association 2006 Award for Best Article on a Social, Racial, or Immigration issue. The article, Punishing Phone Call Tax for Prisoners’ Families forced the New York Congress to confront the issue.

Skills: Writing, Editing, Public Relations

On the Web: Live Above Mediocrity

Mopwater: Where do you see yourself fitting into this industry?

CC: Well, I can’t say that I dreamed or even still dream of becoming a publicist; it’s just something that I have experience doing and actually like. But, I don’t like the agency side of it [because] I don’t like being hovered over. I feel I’m at my best when I’m able to sit down and speak with a client one-on-one and develop a plan of attack to garner him/her press. Not to say I wouldn’t take a position with a firm, but I prefer freelancing.

Mopwater: Describe your work history, including relevant internships, up to this point.

CC: While I was in college, I was a paid intern for over two years for the NY Amsterdam News, one of the oldest black newspapers in the country. I was brought on by the owner, Elinor Tatum, and former Editor in Chief Jamal Watson. I covered news in the Harlem community and garnered close to 100 clips at the weekly publication.

I also interned for TravelwithVal.Com, a website that focused on travel deals and destinations. It was a great experience because it exposed me to  a field of writing I was never familiar with. I’ve also interned for the Columbia Records A&R and Universal Music Enterprises Catalog Department.  I was also a writer for DefJam.com profiling artists and generating news pieces.

After graduating [from Brooklyn College] in the summer of 2008, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to find a job considering the direction the economy was headed in. But I contacted a company called yoonew, whose focus is in sports tickets; and considering that I have experience doing ticket re-selling and journalism, I was brought on as their PR Manager. Read the full story

I’m dedicating today’s post to the job seekers among us. It’s difficult for me to ignore the fact that so many people are out of work right now, so instead of offering you best practices for the job you might not have, today I’m all about helping you get the PR job you’ve been dreaming of.

I know you’re conducting an active search by scouring job boards, newspaper classifieds and even talking to recruiters. But here are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting noticed by people who are looking for someone like you.

1. Head to the Top. Talk to people who know people—preferably people who know lots of people. Befriend the heads of your local (and national) professional organizations. Request a sit-down with leaders in your field. I know what some of you are thinking. “Why would the leaders want to talk to me?” You’d be surprised at what people are willing to do when you ask them. Find someone who knows your target and request an introduction. If you don’t know someone who knows the person you’re trying to reach, use Google or LinkedIn to connect the dots. Make a phone call or send an e-mail introducing yourself. Detail your experience and your goals. Ask for what you want. They may not have a job to hand you, but chances are, they’ll know someone who will. And be patient. Once you begin talking to the right people, and they begin mentioning your situation to their people, something will eventually open up.

2. Go On Informational Interviews. I love informational interviews and make a practice of doing these a few times a year, even when I have a job. For PR people, especially, it’s a great idea to get in front of people who practice different types of PR if you’re thinking of changing your focus. Informational interviews are great because there’s absolutely no pressure on you or the interviewee. Your host doesn’t feel pressured to “give you something” and you’re not competing for an open spot at their company. However if something should open up for you, that’s great,too.

When I was finishing up at Howard University, I spoke to an English professor about my writing goals. She mentioned that her sister was an editor at the Washington Post and I should set up an informational interview. Well, the sister turned out to be Marie Arana, the Washington Post Book World Editor-in-Chief at the time (in short, a really big deal). Marie connected me to several other Post editors who agreed to do informational interviews with me as well. They gave me invaluable advice about journalism and writing that I have repeatedly used and actually passed on to several people who have come to me for advice. But all this came about through a simple request: Sit down with me and tell me about what you do. No strings. No pressure. Read the full story

Today’s TDMJ profiles James Walker, an incredible social media specialist who is just starting his career in PR. James is a junior project manager for APCO Online , a division of the global agency APCO Worldwide. James works in Washington, DC and I discovered him through his insightful tweets about PR and his informative blog Gen Y PR Prescriptions.

When he met me recently at a DC Starbucks, James told me how important it is to claim a piece of the social media pie for yourself if you’re a PR person calling yourself a social media strategist/expert (read: start your blog!) Hopefully I’ll be able to get the video footage of that timely interview up this weekend, pending tech support. For now, here’s James:

James S. Walker
Washington, DC
Age: 22
APCO Worldwide
Junior Project Manager, APCO Online
length of time in role: 6 months

Blog: Gen Y PR Prescriptions
Twitter: @Jaywalk1
Linkedin: in/jswalker

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. What made you want to get into the field?

JW: I discovered PR right around the time I decided to declare a major at George Washington University. I made a call home to check in and mentioned that I was planning to major in Communication. My mother replied: “What kind of job can you get with that major?” I said: “Umm…(scratching head) you know…Communications positions.” At that point, Communication just seemed interesting, but I knew that I would never hear the end of it if I didn’t come up with a good answer, so I went to work.

After reading books, taking career assessments and browsing hundreds of sites, I decided that PR was it. Glad that I figured it out, I called back home and made a compelling case showing how I would get a job in PR. Her response: “So… what exactly will you do?”

Reflecting back on my answer to her then reminds me of the opening for MTV’s The Real World – “You think you know, but you have no idea.” I have worked (internships and full-time) in a number of Communications roles since then, from university relations and special events to CNN’s Crossfire at GW to public affairs and crisis comms shops to a health care communications firm and now a global communications agency.

In my short time in the industry, I’ve worked steps away from James Carville and Donna Brazile, helped prepare for prescription medication product launches, developed materials for patients with chronic pain and diabetes, and proposed social media strategies for tech giants. Each position taught me something new about the industry and myself, allowing me to grow both personally and professionally.

Mopwater: What aspects of the industry are you most excited about?

JW: I am most excited about the role the PR industry already is and will continue to play in the development, promotion and adoption of social media among businesses and other organizations.

I think the industry is well positioned to not only teach groups how to engage in social media but also to provide communications counsel on how to engage in a way that benefits them and their audiences, the people they serve. Read the full story