At one point in time, I’m sure each of us has been victim — yes, victim — to a really, really baaaad handshake. Did you know … employers are more likely to overlook body piercings than a bad handshake? Seriously.

Personally, I’m not very forgiving of poor handshakes. There’s a broad range: too strong, too tight, too flimsy, too long, and everything in between. Mediocre handshakes are just … mediocre. But they’re somewhat more forgivable that the extremes of too aggressive or too weak.

I guess I have little patience for poor handshakes because it’s SUCH an easy thing to address! And the benefits of nailing a good handshake can be huge. Don’t you want someone to shake your hand and literally think to themselves, “Hmm, good handshake. I like this person so far.”? (Yes, I’ve literally had that cross my mind when meeting someone new before.) So what makes a good handshake? I would describe it as … firm, but not too strong, a brief pause without lingering, one or two small and solid shakes (from the elbow, not the wrist), with confident and friendly eye contact. It’s also good to step toward the person and lean slightly forward as you extend your hand. (By the way, I learned this from a workshop session with a career and etiquette coach. I’m not just pulling this out of my arse!)

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Money…they say it’s what makes the world go ’round. I am not sure about that, but it can determine your fate in getting a position you want. Most people do not like dealing with salary requirements and negotiation. It seems to have become a game between job candidates and companies. I have received questions as of late in terms of a salary negotiation strategy and thought I should share my opinions to help you in your negotiation efforts.

Companies typically handle the initial discussion of salary in one of two ways: the company will provide you with the position salary range or the company will ask what you desire in terms of salary. It is always a gamble when pitching a desired salary to a company. Some companies are very in-tune to market salaries and skill-worth while other companies think it perfectly acceptable to pay a very low salary for a very valuable job. A good company should engage in negotiation, but some companies simply remove a candidate from the applicant pool if the salary request is too far out of range.

The key to successful salary negotiations is to first, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Research salaries for the specific type of position for which you are applying. When matching positions on those sites, try to match the position and your skill set as close as possible. The second key is to KNOW YOUR WORTH. You know your education level, experience, and so forth. Know what your skill set is worth and be prepared to defend that worth in a salary negotiation. The final key to salary negotiation is to KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. If you have your heart set on a specific geographic location with minimal opportunities, the company may be in a position to offer lower wages. If this geographic location is really where you want to be, you might have to accept a salary that is not exactly what you want. If you are focused on a particular career path, it may require you to start low. You need to be educated and realistic in approaching your salary negotiation. Do your homework…know your worth…and know what you really want.

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I’ve declined an invitation to write a heavyweight textbook because I’m more interested in writing a lightweight one. My aim is to write A Beginner’s Guide to Public Relations that I hope will be published in the Forward Guide series. Its focus will be vocational rather than academic.

It will be written for two main groups:

1. High School students faced with a choice of college courses and careers advice
2. Graduates from other disciplines needing to turn their skills in a vocationial direction

As a social media enterprise, I’d like to involve others in reviewing chapters and contributing sections to this. (As a social media enterprise, it doesn’t need a publication date or revision schedule; it can start small and grow over time.) While it will be an English language publication, it shouldn’t be entirely anglo-centric in its view of the world. But I need your help to achieve this.

So, if you fit one of the categories above (or were recently in one), then please read on. I’d like to hear from you.

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An interesting discussion took place on Julie Rusciolelli’s PR Maven blog a couple of months ago regarding PR students and information interviews.

Being a public relations student, I’ve heard the term “information interview” float freely through the lobbies and lecture halls of my college since I started school back in January. From what I understand, academia has been having a love affair with the information interview for a long time. It’s a great way for students to tap into the knowledge of an experienced practitioner and make valuable connections in the PR community.

But is the information interview becoming outdated?

As pointed out in the post on PR Maven, the internet has become an excellent source of information for students looking to get into public relations. The increasing popularity of social media is making it easier for students to tap into the thoughts of industry leaders without actually having to meet with them.

Has technology transformed the information interview into nothing more than a job interview in disguise? Are students really going in for information, or are they just looking for the quickest way to get a foot in the door?

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Oftentimes, when the prospect of beginning a job search comes on the horizon, our plan of action is to print as many resumes and cover letters as possible and perform a mass mail-out hoping to get a few call-backs. This can be likened to randomly throwing a bunch of darts in the general direction of the dartboard and hoping to get a bullseye. Possible…but not very likely. In this post I just wanted to share with you some ideas on preparaing a strategic marketing plan for your job search where you will be aiming for the prize.

A good first step is to define your professional objective and state the work functions you wish to perform in the job you acquire. You should match those work functions with your skills, abilities and interests. Then prepare a positioning statement that targets those work objectives. (See prior post “Do You Have Your Elevator Speech Ready?“)

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Warren Johnson of the Unsolicited Marketing Advice blog has written a great post that I wanted to pass along to our Forward readers. If you already graduated and could use some help settling into (or kicking off) your PR career, his tips are key. Even if you don’t graduate for another couple months (or years) — now is definitely the time to take the initiative to prepare yourself. I suggest using this as a checklist to help make sure you’re properly prepared.

Warren was gracious enough to allow me to include the post here in its entirety for your perusal. (The post can be found in its original location here.)

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Here are a few tips for finding your first job in public relations.

1. Know how to get your foot in the door
John January and Tug McTighe had a fairly long riff on job seeking tips for creative types (including copywriters, of course) in their August 7, 2006 edition of the American Copywriter podcast. Some key points:

• Have a disposable book of your work that you can send out or otherwise provide to art directors.

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Recently I attended several workshops concerning recruiting and the job search process. One of the things the speaker stressed was the importance of having your “elevator speech” ready. It is coined an elevator speech because of the fact that we meet many poeple who could be instrumental to our career in an elevator and your speech needs to be short enough to deliver in the duration of an elevator ride while still being effective. This elevator speech is also called a positioning statement. It is basically the response you should have to the ever-popular request of “Tell me about yourself.” Your positioning statement or elevator speech should consist of the five or so things that you want that person to know about you and can also be used on the resume.

As I sat in that workshop, I figured this concept was basically common sense and I would just “wing it” if asked to tell about myself. However, the facilitator had us write out our elevator speeches and read them in front of our collegues. In composing mine, I realize that it can be a bit more difficult that one thinks. To “wing it” often results in your most important points not getting across. After I took the time to pick out those points I deemed most important and composed my elevator speech, I realized that this small time investment resulted in a better quality speech.

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Haha — I really have nothing to add.  Just read, be amused — but most importantly — do not make these mistakes!

My favorite under things not to include:

“I am attending college to obtain two degrees and three certificates in the field of Computer Science. In my spare time I like to work on my computer and do various activities with my girlfriend.”

Hat tip to Tiff.

Technorati Tags: career advice, resumes, resume mistakes

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It’s a question that will cross the mind of every young PR pro: where is it best to look for work – Agency or in-house?

The latest edition of Inside PR has a look at this age old PR dilemma, sparked by a comment from Ed Lee, a great young Canadian blogger.

The Inside PR team – David Jones and Terry Fallis – look at the pros and cons of each, and appear to come down on the agency side. However, they do take pains to note that they both come from agency backgrounds and point out that the real answer is ‘it depends’ because every situation is unique.

Here’s an overview of their key points:

• Agency work gives you a wide ranging experience with varying projects for different clients

Working for a PR agency means that you’ll have several clients on the go and every day will give you a different experience. Alternatively, in-house work at times will give you a narrow focus and a less varied experience.

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Shortly after I graduated and my internship had ended, I was without a job. This, as I am sure all who have been without a job will know, is particularly stressful. It is also something that most recent graduates will have to face—because really, will you have your dream job lined up after graduation?

One piece of advice that one of the senior level people at my internship gave me proved to be an excellent way of bringing structure into your job search and relieving some of the stress. This is what he told me:

People love to talk about themselves, so make a list of ten to fifteen people in the area in which you are interested that you want to see for a chat. Tell them you would love to hear from them how they managed their career; tell them you are new and would love to discuss the different career paths you are thinking about. This is much more effective than telling them you are looking for a job and you would like to discuss the possibilities in his or her organization, but basically, you are asking the same thing.

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