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By Chris Yandle
Sometimes during the week, I like to kick up my feet and share my war stories with some of our interns. Maybe it’s my teacher quality, but I like to offer (past and present) interns advice — solicited or unsolicited — because like most of us in college athletics, I had to learn some lessons the hard way. I learned a lot by trial and error growing up in my profession. Not because I needed to but because I had to. And I’m still learning lessons today.
My goal is to learn at least one thing or teach someone something new each day. If I don’t, then that day is not a success to me.
My stories may not be as cool as some others in the business or in other professional sectors, but each story has played a critical part in my development. And I want to impart those experiences on others.
As a former intern myself, I knew if I wanted to make it in this profession, I had to separate myself from the pack.
How do you separate yourself from the others? Whether you’re a young intern learning the ropes, or a veteran in need of a refresher, here are 11 insights (my original post was seven) that I think are crucial for anyone who wants to work in sports, public relations, or a communications-related field:
ORIGINAL SEVEN INSIGHTS
1) Every day is a job interview. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record on this one because I say it so often. You never know who’s watching your every move. Plus, people in the industry talk. Make sure the impression you’re leaving is a good one.
2) Stay in your lane. Don’t veer into “oncoming traffic” or other people’s areas of expertise. Curiosity and wanting to learn new things is great, but recognize when someone else knows better than you do.
3) Under promise and over deliver. Don’t set the expectations so high that you fail to reach them. Talk is cheap. Don’t promise the world just to sound good if you know you can’t achieve the follow-through.
4) Don’t be above the job. Here’s what I mean: just because it’s not in your job description, or it’s “grunt” work doesn’t mean you get a free pass. Do it. I’ve done grunt work every day since I started working in college athletics 15 years ago. To be great in this industry, know that you have to put in extra hours and do more than just what’s required of you.
5) Expect to screw up. No one is perfect. I’m a perfectionist. I hate to make mistakes, but that is the only way we learn and get better.
6) Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Maybe you’ve heard this one before, but that’s because it’s good advice.
7) Never stop learning. Always try to learn as much as possible. With as quickly as things evolve in our profession, you never know when that knowledge will come in handy.
(WARNING: NSFW language)
FOUR “NEW” INSIGHTS
1) Network…the right way. What is the right way? Almost daily, I receive LinkedIn requests from people 1) I have never met or spoken to before or 2) that don’t at least add a personal note to their request so that I have a small idea of who they are. Don’t network for the sake of networking to “check the box.” Make real connections with people you admire, aspire to be, and you can learn from in order to achieve your career goals. I’m always reminded of Gary Vaynerchuk’s video from SXSW in 2012.
2) Be a fountain, not a drain. Translation: be a fountain of knowledge and support, not someone that drains the life out of those around them.
3) Be nice. I know I sound like a kindergarten cliché, but seriously…be nice to one another. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
4) Have a digital footprint. After reading 1-9, this one sticks out like a sore thumb, right? This is my own opinion (so take it for what it’s worth), but I am miffed by “communications experts” that don’t use a social media platform, or even have some sort of digital footprint (i.e. blog or personal website). If you don’t exist on the Internet or in a Google search, then you might as well not exist in real life.
When I was younger, I thought I had to be this hard-ass, hard-nosed person in communications in order to get the job done. I quickly realized that’s not the way to do business. Additionally, no matter how nice you are, there will be people that just don’t like you for any reason.
To this day, I am still miffed by some in the field (whether it be sports or corporate) that treat others horribly or only care about themselves. It doesn’t cost you anything to be nice to others or to help others. And to those people that not like you or treat you unfairly? Kill them with kindness.
I’ve had to learn a lot of things the hard way.
I offer this advice not because I think I’m sage or wise, but because I never had the resources to seek advice from others when I was new to our profession. If this advice helps even one person, then I feel I’ve done my job.
About Chris Yandle
Chris Yandle is the Assistant AD for Communications & Public Relations at Georgia Tech and an Adjunct Instructor in Public Relations at Kennesaw State. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisYandle. You can also listen to his podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, TuneIn and Stitcher Radio.
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