I will have copies of this in class, but it’s up here in case you lose it.

spe-330-final

For all written work, please don’t do the ridiculous headers. Example:

Name

Class

Professor

Date

Assignment.

It’s a waste of space and it shows me that you’re just trying to take up space instead of actually answering the questions. Your names will suffice, I am more than aware of the class, my name, the section and what assignment it is.

We will cover how to get ahold of me during break so that if your group runs into any problems before the final presentation you can contact me. All written work must be to me by 9pm on 12/4. The oral presentation MUST be given in class on 12/3. There are no exceptions to this.

See you in class.

FCC is back in court debating vulgar speech

I don’t have a link for it, but there was also talk about whether it’s right or wrong for news stations to call an election early. This discussion started on the rumor that on station was saying it would call the election by 7:30 EST. What I saw last night, stations would not call it until polls closed out West. Does it matter? Why or why not?

HERE is your final paper. I mentioned some topics in class, but I also got to thinking that you can really apply any mass communication theory to a social issue as well. For example, someone used the search terms CSI and Cultivation theory and ended up at my page. Now I wouldn’t have put those together, but the idea of cultivating violence certainly applies to shows like CSI (remember Gerbner thinks it’s applies to all TV). So think outside the box, and do something you are interested in and have an opinion on, as that’s the whole point. Sports people–talk about sports and media and it’s effect on viewers, young audiences, etc.  Once I get your proposals on Tuesday I can further guide you along. Don’t forget to tell me if you’re working with someone and who that is.

For people who (ahem) don’t check their Medaille e-mail, here’s the survey link.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Cw9jHk3bNryFrVC4Je1ffA_3d_3d

I am open to SERIOUS suggestions for the final as well. This does not include playing Clue. For the record, why clue? It’s not exactly a group game.

Also, I was really pleased with the work groups did yesterday on the egg drop. I honestly expected them all to break, as I’ve never seen this done where they didn’t all break!! Next time I will use Jennifer’s suggestion of the spaghetti and marshmallow structures.  However, I did notice a lot of issues with groups not being able to communicate with each other…Group think is a serious issue in this class, and we’ll talk about that next class.

Megan and Ron came in today and talked to everyone about what they do and job hunting and much more.

Here’s the link to the events that Career Planning offers, including the job fair and grad school fair.

EVENTS

Did you miss the other links on job hunting, resumes, etc?

Here’s one

Here’s the other.

First thing’s first. You need to decide where you want to go to grad school. In making that decision, seriously look at the faculty in the department (regardless of what department you want to go to grad school in). What you’re looking for in someone whose interests are similar to yours and what you want to learn. Why? Because that’s the person you want as an advisor, that’s the person whose research you want to be involved in. It’s best to have an idea going in, rather than wait and see what happens. So many websites recommend this and it’s something I sorely wish I did when I went to grad school!!

Ideally you should have a few grad schools that you’re applying to. But I only want to go to one, you say. Well the sad reality is, what are you going to do if you don’t get in? I didn’t get into my dream college so I totally had to scramble to apply to a whole other set of schools.

And know what you want: a master’s? A PhD? Do you think you’d get a degree and go back later? Some schools have options to do a project for the masters instead of a thesis. What that generally means is that any credit you have for your masters won’t transfer to a PhD, so you’re shutting that door. I personally don’t recommend it, unless you’re older and know that you’ll never want a PhD or any other doctorate degree. For example, a friend of mine does PR and is in her 50’s, and she only did the project for her master’s because she knew deep down she was never going back to school. In your 20’s, it’s not something you can guarantee. And it’s the same amount of work anyway!

The National Communication Association has a site that ranks different graduate schools, so check out the ones that you are interested in.

Next post will be a list of things you need to do when applying for grad school and the final post will go over surviving grad school.

Consider it your “midterm.” com-475-due-10-23

Download the document and follow the instructions on there. Any questions, just ask. This is due 10/23/08. If I am feeling generous, it might be all we do, aside from talking about the final project. We’ll see….

And yes, you read that right, final project. It’ll be here before we know it!

With many of you entering the workforce very soon, you might be interested in this article which talked about workplace love contracts…My advice? Be careful who you date at work!

I will also be writing a post on graduate school, since I know many of you are looking into that. KNOW where you want to apply to and go from there. Go directly to companies website and check out if they are hiring. Allow yourself to be slightly picky when searching and interviewing, don’t feel obligated to just take anything. Otherwise, you’ll quit your first job after 2 weeks because you are that unhappy.

Below are tons of links to help you with this whole process. Also check out a website run by one of your peers, where she provides her resume and writing samples! Enjoy!

Job hunting:

Network on LinkedIn, you can hunt for jobs, answer questions (to build your credibility as an expert) and stay connected with everyone important. You can also post your profile (mine is here).

Tips for job hunting

get business cards

Career Fairs at UB

Entry level PR jobs

buffalo helpwanted dot com

Look at Craig’s list for different cities

Tips: I personally don’t care for hotjobs and monster because I NEVER found what I was looking for. Never enter “communication” as your keyword term because you’ll get all kinds of crap sales jobs (business2business, etc) or telemarketing jobs. Also, when you find a company and go for an interview, google the company. If enough people hated working there, there will be forums talking about it and why. That’s keep me from taking some jobs that seemed great until I learned the truth.

Here’s a sample cover letter I wrote for the job I mentioned in class.

Organizations:

www.americancomm.org

List of associations in the US

ICA NCA, are both on the sidebar of this page-both list job openings, mostly for teaching comm. Both have student memberships.

PRSA (they also have a job center)

Advertising Club of Buffalo (their student membership is $20!)

National broadcaster’s association

Before, during and after the interview

Like I mentioned, research the company. Look at their site, google them to get any negative feedback, and come up with a list of questions you want to ask them (Why do you work here, what’s an average day like, what are the benefits–insurance, etc? To name a few.)

During, well it can be a bit overwhelming. Stay focused. Remember that you are interviewing them as much as they you–because you need to decide if you want to work there. Sell yourself, but make them do some work too.

After, send a HAND WRITTEN thank-you note. Trust me, it’s worth it, especially if you want that job.

Here’s a  Manual on all aspects of the career hunt.

Medaille’s Career Planning lets your login and search for jobs. Many of my friends found jobs through their own colleges this way.

Link to “How to write a bad resume” and he gives examples! And make sure you are aware of using bad lingo.