In November, I attended a virtual event, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). “IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry.” The event was a Career Development Bootcamp hosted by Elyse Spalding and Karen Elders. In their presentation, a few of the key points were how to begin exploring career options, personal pitch, first impressions, finding direction, resume/cover letter, and organizing your search. Below I will briefly summarize two key points that helped me understand what I need to prepare for my career development.
How to Begin Exploring Career Options
Elyse explained that confirming your key strengths and motivations can be a great way to explore your career options. This can be done by assessment or by self-awareness. Get perspectives by having conversations with your friends and peers in the industry to understand the workforce. Also, be sure to read about the industry and attend events to further your knowledge and see where you begin to fit in the industry.
Personal Pitch and First Impressions
After you have decided on your choice of interest, you’ll want to create an elevator pitch. It will be a brief persuasive speech that will describe yourself professionally, mention your key strengths, skills, and what you are interested in doing. Pitches are helpful for industry events you attend and will likely change as you further develop your career. The speech should be consistent throughout your resume, cover letter, social media, etc. A practiced pitch will help you look prepared and professional.
Your pitch will also be a part of your first impression. “Your first impression = your best impression,” so when using your pitch, you want to make sure you keep eye contact, remain confident, expressions are brief and clear, you are taking pauses, and you are being natural. Again, practicing your pitch will help you with all of the above. And be sure to know your audience.
My Take of the Event
I appreciated that the presentation was informative and that the chat room was open for questions. I recognized another student from City Tech attending the event, which I then connected to on LinkedIn. This event gave me a different perspective on searching for a career. I have a resume and cover letter available, but I need to work on a personal pitch and practice being natural and making an impression. I’m undecided on which concentration I would like to focus on. However, the points discussed during the event will guide me to success.
