Purdue University Student Chapter

Association for Women in Communications

ComCOComCommunications

February 2011

Dear AWC members,

With graduation coming up in three months, I have a lot on my mind. Like what would I’ve done different four years ago, knowing what I know now? How am I going to pay student loans? What if I don't find a job? And I have to say; the most stressful thing in the above topics is finding a job.

The number one thing I’ve realized in the last three months is finding a job isn’t ONLY about perfecting your resume (although it REALLY helps), writing the cover letter, interning, joining student organizations and getting straight A’s, it’s about networking.

I really hate this buzzword. I do. It comes up all the time at career centers, classes, and conferences and in conversation, but it’s true, you MUST network. After you’ve written the resume and cover letter, and built an online presence (e.g. website, LinkedIn, Twitter), you need to start attending professional luncheons, regional and national conferences, career fairs, etc.

Continued on P. 3

You can apply to hundreds of jobs online, but know that almost every one

of those jobs is going to someone the HR employee knows, or it’s going to

someone who can be recommended by an employee of that company. You

wouldn’t set your best friend up with a guy you didn’t know just based on

his Facebook interests, would you? So why would you be hired based

solely on the resume?

Mission Statement

The Association for Women in Communications is a professional organization that

champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by

recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and positioning its members at the

forefront of the evolving communications era.

Upcoming Events

3/8

3/28

Meeting: The Art of

Magazine Publishing

6:30 p.m.

Meeting- Cover Letter &

Resume Workshop

6:30 p.m.

Letter from the President

Offering communication students

a welcoming place to grow,

connect and succeed. http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~awc/index.html

2/18 Company Visit to Burson-

Marsteller-Chicago

C

3/18 AWC’s Sarig Scholarship

Applications Due (Check

out Page Three)

*All meetings are in UNIV 303

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AWC Members’ Spotlight

Meg Fingert, Meghan Denny, Julie Smith, and Irene Wang,

have all been accepted into the London Summer 2011

Internship Program.

Alejandra Sierra is participating in the Maymester in China

Program. And Kara Cook will be

studying abroad in Madrid, Spain.

Meredith Barack is currently interning for Artistic Media Radio,

which includes 96.5 WAZY, 95.7

The Rocket, and 95.3 Bob FM. In

less than a month she has already

learned how to record, edit, and

produce radio commercials. She has

also helped with the advertising

sales team, and learned about broadcast radio as well.

Valerie Petrey was selected to be on the Purdue Marketing

& Media Student Advisory Board and is giving a

presentation on social media during CLA Career Week

2011.

Nicole Kowalczk spent 10 days of her winter break in

Baudin, Haiti. While there she talked with the Haitian

workers and played with the kids. She was amazed by how

much can be communicated with little use of words. This

experience allowed her to have a greater heart for those in

poverty.

Lauren Hausermann spent eight days of her winter break in

Honduras. There she worked in a medical clinic and

interacted with children at an orphanage. The experience

allowed her to see how different health care is around the

world and how good we have it here in the United States.

Gaining Communication Skills While Making

a Difference

Nicole Kowalczk

AWC Treasurer

For those of you who have never heard about EPICS, let me be

the first to tell you what a great opportunity it is for students to

gain real world experience and network. Yes, the acronym

EPICS is fooling, because the program is not just for engineers.

In fact EPICS teams are in need of students from all majors,

meaning us Liberal Arts students can have part of the Purdue

engineering experience as well!

When I signed up for EPICS I joined the HAITI team, simply

because the course description caught my attention over others.

During the first lab meeting I decided I would get the most out of

the experience by tailoring what role I took to align with my

major. One project on our team was building a marketing plan

for selling Haitian children’s crafts to raise money for schooling.

I decided to be our team’s Recruitment Chair as well, which

meant extra meetings, but worth being a part of deciding what

strategies and public relations EPICS would use for recruiting.

There are other teams in the EPICS program that have places for

Liberal Arts majors, and it helps LA students by fulfilling three

credits for the Social Ethics requirement of the CLA Core. Last

semester, four students from Lorraine Kisselburgh’s COM 491

received the William P. Corcoran Award in recognition of their

work with EPICS. No matter what team it is, I believe students

in EPICS develop the broad set of skills needed to be successful

in the changing global workspace and world.

Attention Members!

Do you have an online portfolio, website or blog that you would like us to showcase on our

website? Let us know by emailing us at purdue.awc@gmail.com

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Letter from the President continued…

Go out there and meet professionals in your field. AWC is a great place

to start because we bring the connections to you, but it’s not enough.

Think about where you’d like to intern or work. Now, Google all the

professional AWC’s PRSA’s, SPJ’s and AAF’s in that area. Figure out

when their networking events are. Sign up, put on a suit, take business

cards (not resumes) and network. Remember, networking isn’t about

asking for a job, it’s about making the connection and building the

relationship. When a job opportunity comes up, they will think of you.

Attend any networking events you can, and career fairs (even if they’re

at another college). If you don’t want to stay in Indiana, the

professionals may know someone who could help you. The next two

BIG events coming up are CLA’s Career Week and the Big Ten Expo

in Indianapolis, so test the waters locally.

Good luck,

Valerie Petrey

President

AWC Member of the

Month….

Hannah Kimberly

Major: Communication &

Psychology

Year: Junior

Hometown: Saint John,

IN

Plans for the future:

After I receive my

Bachelor’s degree I plan to

continue on and get my

Master’s degree in

Psychology.

Fun fact: I have three first names.

Industry News

Paid or Unpaid, Time to

Evaluate PR’s Use of Interns

To Call or Not to Call? That

is the Question.

Twitter ‘Investigative’

Journalism 101: The Syllabus

You’re Only Human, and so

are Interviewers

Purdue CLA Career Week

(Lots of stuff for COM

majors)

The Emma Bowen Foundation Recruiting is Underway for

2011-2012 Taylor Adams

AWC Multi Media Director

The trick to getting internships is knowing where to look and not be afraid to look

outside the realm of the most common searches. I am currently the Marketing &

Promotions intern for Comcast Spotlight, which is the ad sales division of Comcast.

I came across this opportunity with a company called The Emma Bowen Foundation.

This foundation has helped hundreds of minority students studying media, connect

with the internships of their dreams. One of the many GREAT things about the

internships they offer is that you have them until you graduate from college.

In addition however much money you make, will be matched by the company you are

interning for use as a scholarship. They even fly you out to New York City for four

days to attend the Media Network Convention and network with reps from companies

such as: NBC, CNN and The Today Show! This applies to minorities that are juniors

in high school through freshmen in college who are planning to, or are majoring in a

media related field. I also encourage you all to check out their website and review the

application as they are currently recruiting new interns, but act swiftly as the

application is lengthy and the deadline to apply is February 28, 2011.

Sarig Scholarship

Offered by the Lafayette Chapter every spring.

Must have two samples, two letters of recommendation, write

a 200-word statement and provide a recent transcript.

You must be an official member, and be an incoming junior or

senior in fall 2011.

It’s worth $500. For an application, email us!

100 N. University Street

West Lafayette, IN 47907

Purdue AWC, Beering, COM Office 2114

President

Valerie Petrey

@valeriepetrey

Vice President

Myriah DeBoer

@myriahdeboer

Treasurer

Nicole Kowalczyk

@NicoleKowal

Marketing Director

Julie Smith

@Julie_Smith55

Special Events Coordinator

Irene Wang @irenew0201 Multi-Media Director

Taylor Adams

@T_TayJ Newsletter Editor

Lauren Hausermann

@Lelyse14

Alumni Relations Director

Megan Fingert

@MeganFingert

Secretary

Alejandra Sierra

@ alesierra2424

Interested in writing or taking pictures for

the AWC newsletter? Email Lauren Hauserman

n at lhauserm@purdue.edu

Interested in writing or taking photos for the newsletter? Email Lauren Hausermann at

lhauserm@purdue.edu

Join us: Association for Women in

Communications-Purdue University

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Communications

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