Paige is a senior at West Virginia University said some interesting things during her presentation to a journalism advisory board meeting recently. Paige just returned from a study abroad stint in London and was detailing her trip to several dozen people. I sat up during her presentation when she mentioned calls home to talk to her parents.
"I'd call my folks each weekend and while they were asking about my grades and classes, I ignored that and talked about how I wanted to leave the country," Paige recounted. We all laughed, she finished and left the stage. Later, I pulled her aside and asked her some questions. Starting with, "How did you manage to get to London?"
Simply put, Paige was determined to have a learning experience in a place that was not in the US. To do so, she knew she'd have to save her money. She worked two jobs on campus, scrimped and saved and also searched online for companies that she thought could use an intern. She chose a company that had essentially no online presence and she spent the summer of 2010 getting this company online and using social networking to drum up business. Paige told me that despite appearances, she had no marketing or promotional experience. She didn't go to England as someone who fully understood the business side. But, Paige had these traits: serious online savvy, journalistic based research skills, a drive to do something substantive overseas and a willingness to not rest until her goal was reached.
Paige's time in London taught her that in today's market you have to take (researched) chances and make sure you can bring a skill set to a company that it needs. And, you have to openly say that you can help them and show a company some concrete examples of how you are the right choice.
Seems the "new school" finds that some of the "old school" still works.
*Chantal de la Rionda edits this blog
