I found that attending the BMA Lightning Round Interview Event was extremely beneficial. Not only did I get a lot of valuable experience about my resume and my web presence, but it helped to foster some relationships and strengthen the confidence I have in myself.
What impressed me the most was the professionalism everyone displayed at the event. It felt great to be in an atmosphere away from the college setting that felt like a real-world experience. I was also impressed with the knowledge the professionals had about my field. Being a journalism student, I was one of the few from my major to attend. I found it very impressive that the professionals understood what it takes to be a journalist these days. They helped to educate me on some of the hardships I might face and that was very important to me.
I learned many valuable things about my resume. I was told having a coversheet was very good, but the list of my skills and my work experience needed help. I was very grateful that I received help on this.
I also learned I have great communication skills. Everyone I talked to said I presented myself very well. I was able to come up with thoughts and words very quickly and I think that helped the overall impression I made on people. I also learned that you always must dress to impress. I came in what I thought was "business casual" while everyone else came with formal dress wear on. I will never again come to an interview the way I looked on Tuesday.
I met some very interesting people while I was there. One of the professionals who interviewed me, Tim Meffert, was a graduate from UW-Whitewater. He works for Proforma and was a great person to talk to and asked me some very interesting questions. I met Dean Stier from National Business Furniture who handled himself very professional and gave me some good tips about my resume. Tom Trittler from Blue Horse Inc. was another great person to meet.
http://www.bluehorseinc.com/
http://www.nationalbusinessfurniture.com/
http://www.proformasolutions.com/
http://www.bma-milwaukee.org/
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Matt it's good to hear that you had a good experience man. Even if you were in business casual. You made some great points about the groups professionalism, about answering questions quickly, and being personable. I received some of the same feedback and I must say it does feel pretty good to have people in those positions tell us some of the things they did.
ReplyDeleteSo your a Journalism major right. What would you say to being a part of a team that creates a magazine for next semester?
That's really cool that people told you that you had great communication skills, I had a few people tell me that myself. I think it was pretty awesome how even though you were wearing jeans, you were able to carry yourself so well that no one even noticed. I think one of the best things that they did was the resume section too because it helped me out so much with understanding what should and shouldn't be on a resume.
ReplyDeleteIt was cool that we were able to pretty much get instant feedback in both the resume workshop and the interview rounds. I wouldn’t worry about the whole “business casual” thing too much, if anything it’s a great learning experience. I also had a few individual tell me about how good my interviewing skills were but there was a guy who, not necessarily bashed me, but told me I needed to do more community service type activities. It’s always good to get others feedback on what looks impressive on both resumes and interviews.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow journalism student, I also felt that the proffesionals at the event gave some good insight into the current state of the journalism field and where it may be headed. I was informed of some jobs as a writer that had never even crossed my mind.
ReplyDeleteI also made the mistake of dressing 'business casual,' and like you said...never again.