As my December college graduation approached, my excitement about what was to come increased, as did my worries of finding employment post-graduation.  Reading countless stories on job-hunting nightmares during a recession, not only from recent college graduates but also from seasoned and qualified candidates, was enough to put knots in my stomach.

I spent my last year of college immersed in my course work and tried to gain as much public relations experience from interning as possible, which, lets face it, is not easy.  These days most internships consist of doing all the tedious work no one else wants or has the time to do. During my numerous newspaper and coffee runs, I couldn’t help but wonder how prepared I was to go out into the “real world” and compete with overqualified candidates for a position.  Sure, I completed three internships during my college years, but does juggling six Starbucks drinks back to the office qualify as a resume-worthy skill?

I did all I could to stand out from the intern pack.  I volunteered for every task presented, stayed late to help finish reports and made it a habit to ask my supervisors if they needed help with anything if it was a slow day at the office.  Throughout all three internships I made many contacts but quickly realized it was all up to me to secure a post-graduation job.

A couple of months before graduation I began to scroll through job posts on various sites almost daily.  I did not want to miss a single opportunity to send out my resume.  Public relations in Miami is a rather small community, so genuine and serious job posts were scarce.

Early November, I came across a job post for a bilingual account coordinator position at Newman PR.  It sounded like the perfect position for a recent college graduate so I immediately knew competition for it would be big.  I stayed up that night to write a cover letter and sent it out with my resume.  My hopes diminished after a couple weeks passed and I had not heard back.

Two weeks before my graduation, after accepting the fact that a PR job was a hard thing to find in Miami, I was prepared to start applying for non-PR positions.  That is, until I received an email requesting an interview at Newman PR.  I was ecstatic.  I went home that night and researched the company to familiarize myself with as much as possible before my interview.

Walking into the office for the first time was nerve-wracking, to say the least.  I usually do not get nervous before job interviews but this one was different.  This was not another job to get me through a year or so of school, it was the first stepping-stone of my career in public relations.

At the end of my interview I was informed that I needed to complete a writing test.  I knew this test would make or break my chances of being hired.  Being finals week at school, this was one more test to add on to my schedule.  I completed and returned the test as soon as I could and, to my delight, received a call back for a second interview.

A couple days and a revised press release later, I was offered the position.  Just one weekend shy of college graduation, I had a job in my career field.  It was more than I could ask for.  While out with friends, a stranger overheard me sharing my new employment news and offered me her congratulations.  She proceeded to tell me about her current situation as a recently graduated nurse struggling to find work.  As if I did not feel fortunate enough, this perfect stranger’s congratulations and words of encouragement made me feel even more grateful.

After mentally preparing myself for a tough couple months of job-hunting, I had to change gears and instead start reading up on the clients I would be working with.  It was now time to put my acquired PR skills and work ethic to the test as I entered the “real world.”

Although some companies are beginning to hire new staff, most HR departments are still under severe budgetary constraints. In response managers seeking talented workers are increasingly bypassing standard recruitment tactics — paid recruiters, job boards, subscription job listings, etc. — and are using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to find and qualify candidates.

That’s according to a survey conducted by JCSI, a corporate staffing consulting firm with a vested interest in identifying the breadth of this trend.

JCSI surveyed HR executives and recruiters in a variety of industries to find out how they plan to find and attract the top talent in 2010.

Survey respondents indicated that despite the high volume of available candidates, their biggest challenge is finding qualified candidates. With tight budgets, recruiters are seeking to complete quality hires as quickly as possible. The time it takes to fill an open position ranked as the most important success metric — even topping cost per hire.

While we’ve known that recruiters are using social networks more in their hiring, for instance to investigate candidates and to evaluate candidates based on their socnet postings and pages, this trend appears to be more of a situation where traditional recruiting tools are being supplanted by social networking sites.

When hiring two new entry-level employees recently, I made use of social networking sites, especially LinkedIn, to add another dimension to the two-dimensional resume I’d received. I tried to get a feel for personality — not the easiest thing to glean from a LinkedIn page — and looked for clues that could distinguish the wheat from the chaff, as it were.

As a result of that experience, here are my top six suggestions about how to manage your online professional presence on LinkedIn when you’re searching for a job:

1) Make sure that your page is up to date — I realize that LinkedIn is not much fun and that you’d rather be on Facebook, but it is important to have your information fresh and current.
2) Make sure that your page and your resume jibe — If your employment history doesn’t match up between your resume and your LinkedIn page, that could be an indication that you’re hiding something or, possibly worse, you’re just sloppy.
3) Proofread, proofread, proofread — enough said.
4) Use a professional, and recent, photograph of decent quality — it’s like wearing business attire to an interview, duh! And nobody wants to see your picture from the kegger at the beach last weekend.
5)LinkedIn doesn’t provide much real estate in which to work your writing mojo, but in those places where you can be descriptive, be creative and show a little style.
6) Join appropriate groups and join their conversations — It is, after all, social media. Be judicious in the groups you choose to join. It’s best to select groups related to your desired career, which should, besides giving you an opportunity to learn about the business, enable you to network with people who might be looking for a sharp, savvy candidate.

The first day of work is always a bit nerve-wracking, especially for recent college graduates. From meeting new people to learning a billion new passwords and account information, it can actually be quite exhausting.

My first day at NewmanPR was a mixture of excitement, performance anxiety and a bit of frustration. I was excited about the position, working with my new co-workers, most of whom I had previously met during meetings with management, and having one additional excuse to hang out in one of my favorite places, Coconut Grove.

I was also worried about screwing up, which I did, and not “fitting in.” All in all, my first day was fine, I don’t even remember most of it.

As a recent college graduate and rookie in the public relations industry, I know that my most important education will come from the real world, not those wonderfully overpriced textbooks I purchased in college. As a newly minted account coordinator with the agency, I will use this blog to document my experience and hopefully inform my fellow Millennials about the in’s and out’s of life outside the ivory towers and inside corporate America.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of seven nuggets of advice to make your transition from recent college graduate to young professional a little easier.

•Learn as much as you can about the company before your first day of work. Sure you may have read the company’s Web site to prepare for your initial interview, but once you’ve landed the position, find out the specific project(s) you will work on, the clients you will work for and learn as much as your brain can possibly retain between that time and your first day of work.

•Come ready to work and learn on Day 1. Contrary to popular belief, the first day of work is not a freebie day with HR papers and tax forms. You are no longer an applicant for employment. You are now a PAID employee and yes, you are expected to contribute. The sooner the better.

•Ask plenty of questions and take notes of everything. Asking questions is not a sign of weakness. It shows that you want to do well and that you actually care. Just don’t ask the same questions repeatedly.

•Adjust your expectations. Yes, you may have been on the executive board of every organization on campus during college, but now you have officially descended back to the bottom of the totem pole, much like your freshman year of high school. You probably won’t make any major decisions or exert any influence on the daily affairs of the organization anytime soon, but you will be surrounded by seasoned, intelligent individuals who have probably forgotten more than you will ever know. Don’t try to be a know-it-all. Instead, listen and learn because humility will take you very far in the early stages of your professional career and life in general.

•Become a good follower. From early on in life, we are encouraged by our parents to be leaders, but one of the surest ways to succeed in the workplace at this stage in your career is to effectively take orders from your superiors. Follow directions and execute.

•Build effective relationships with your co-workers. Your new co-workers will become your second family. Befriend everyone in the office and DO NOT clique-up with any one person or group . Cliques are always a bad thing.

•Above all, don’t sweat the small stuff. Surely there will be screw-ups in the beginning but you should look at every assignment as an opportunity for growth. Relax, have fun and take it all in stride because you only have to do the first day once.

1. Create a profile on LinkedIn and Twitter. LinkedIn has great groups that post jobs all over the country daily and discussion boards with tips from recruiters and professionals on everything from interviewing to resumes. I found my position posted in the #PRintern/ #EntryPR group. Some recruiters and companies have Twitter accounts that post both job postings and up-to-date information on the companies you are interested in. A friend of mine landed a summer internship in New York City at a prominent public relations agency by following the recruiter on Twitter and inquiring about employment via direct messages to her.
2. Create a personal Web page. There are plenty of free Web domains out there that have easy to use templates that allow you to share your resume, biography, writing samples and much more. Many employers ask to see writing samples, and sending them a link is much easier than bogging them down with huge files in their e-mail inbox.
3. Write an eye-catching cover letter tailored specifically to the position and company you are applying for. I like to start with a funky off-topic first paragraph then tie that paragraph to the position and my qualifications.
4. Do your research on the company! Read all available information on the company’s Web site and social media pages. If it is an agency, do research on their clients, especially if the position is dedicated to a specific client.
5. Research who you are interviewing with. If you are provided with the names of the people you will be interviewing with be sure to Google their names and check out their profiles on LinkedIn.
6. Prepare at least five good questions for the interview. Chances are some of your questions will be answered during general conversation in the interview so be sure to have plenty of questions to choose from to make things easier when it’s your turn to take the reins in the interview.
7. Bring suggestions and new ideas that improve the company or their clients’ initiatives to your interview or send a small plan to the company if you are really interested in the job and have not heard from them. Even if they don’t like the ideas or would never use them, they will be well appreciate that you took the time to think beyond the interview.
8. Prepare your answers to possible interview questions. There are thousands of sites that list every possible interview question imaginable. Don’t forget to prepare an answer to the obvious question– Why should we hire you?
9. Follow up! Follow up after you’ve sent your resume, to check the status of your application if you haven’t heard back from them and also after your interview.
10. Be yourself! It’s important to let your personality shine in both the interview and when you’re writing to the company. Americans today spend more time at work than anywhere else, so companies are looking for applicants who have a personality that will be compatible with that of the office.

They all chuckled and said I would have no problem finding a job when I graduated; they were wrong. The resume assistants at our campus career center said I had the opposite problem of most students, while most students tried to squeeze a fluffed-up resume with too much unimportant and non-relevant experience onto one page, I had too much important and relevant experience to fit on one page.

Recent graduates today face one of the most grueling job markets in our county’s history.  Radio morning shows, newspapers and casual conversations are constantly recalling the hike in unemployment with stories of a friend or friend of a friend’s seemingly endless struggle to find work.  Until very recently, I was one of those stories.

While still in school, I, like most other seniors, casually pursued post-grad jobs and internships during my last semester.  Between schoolwork, my internship, my position on the executive board of PRSSA, training for a half-marathon and my social life, there was little time left to pursue jobs, but I had at least half a dozen applications out before graduation.

Once I graduated and returned home, I spent several hours daily researching potential job opportunities. I sent e-mails to friends of my parents, signed up for virtually every job Web site out there and put out daily applications to positions all over the country.

Despite all of my efforts, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months since I had crossed the stage proud and tall at graduation, but I had not even been offered an interview for any of the positions I had applied for. When I came across a listing on LinkedIn about the account coordinator position at NewmanPR, I knew that this job was a perfect fit for me.  I immediately sent in my resume and cover letter.

I heard back rather quickly from NewmanPR, complimenting my attention-grabbing cover letter, but also pointing out that it contained a spelling error. Mortified by my careless mistake, I was sure that I needed to rectify the situation by doing a flawless and outstanding job on the writing test they asked me to complete. I took a weekend to complete the test, rechecking and editing each part of the test several times.

After I sent in the test I sent follow-up e-mails every few days to check on the status of my application, something I had failed to do with the other jobs I had applied for.  After a few weeks of not hearing from them I had pretty much given up hope that I would get the position and focused all of my efforts on researching graduate schools in hopes of getting into a program in the spring and riding out the recession for a year or two.

Just as I had given up hope, I got a call from NewmanPR late one afternoon asking me to come in for an interview within the next two days.  Filled with excitement, I rushed around scrambling to get all of the necessary items to look presentable at my interview in one day.

The next night while I was doing research for my interview, I got a call from my father informing me that my unborn baby brother was breached in the womb and the doctors were going to perform a caesarian that night to ensure a safe birth, a whole three weeks before his due date.  I contemplated driving up to Orlando that night to be there for the birth, but knew that it would mean I would miss my morning interview, so I decided against it.  After a sleepless night, I proceeded to a late morning interview. I left the interview with mixed feelings as to how well it went. My initial feelings were that it went well, but after a few hours of replaying some of my long-winded answers in my head I began to feel as if I would not be hearing back from them again. Luckily, I was wrong about my performance and received an e-mail a few days later requesting a second interview with an account executive within the next few weeks.

This time I was not letting anything go to chance; I spent the weeks before the interview learning all that I could about NewmanPR, the Florida Keys, the people I would be interviewing with and preparing answers to possible interview questions. I breezed through my second interview, spending an hour and a half chatting and laughing with my interviewers. Walking out of the office I knew I had hit the interview over the head with a hammer and nailed it!

According to a recent CareerBuilders survey of 2,600 hiring managers, almost half use online social networking sites to research job candidates. Yesterday we looked at the types of content that will cause an employer not to hire a candidate. In this post we look at the types of online content that can get you hired.

Social media provide job seekers a means of advertising their skills and experience, and 18 percent of employers reported they found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire a candidate. Top examples:

• Profile provided a good feel for the candidate’s personality and fit within the organization – 50 percent
• Profile supported candidate’s professional qualifications – 39 percent
• Candidate was creative – 38 percent
• Candidate showed solid communication skills – 35 percent
• Candidate was well-rounded – 33 percent
• Other people posted good references about the candidate – 19 percent
• Candidate received awards and accolades – 15 percent

DOs and DON’Ts to keep a positive image online:

• DO clean up digital dirt BEFORE you begin your job search. Remove photos, content and links that could work against you in an employer’s eyes.
• DO consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or BrightFuse.com to establish relationships with thought leaders, recruiters and potential referrals.
• DO keep gripes offline. Keep content focused on the positive, whether that relates to professional or personal information. Make sure to highlight specific accomplishments inside and outside of work.
• DON’T forget that others can see your friends, so be selective about who you accept as friends. Monitor comments made by others. Consider using the “block comments” feature or setting your profile to “private” so only designated friends can view it.
• DON’T mention your job search if you’re still employed.
]]> http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/08/21/what-prospective-employers-like-to-see-on-socnets/feed/ 0 http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-using-social-media-to-vet-candidates/ http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-using-social-media-to-vet-candidates/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:21:57 +0000 Buck http://www.newmanpr.com/?p=592

If you’re seeking a job these days, you’d better watch your step on social networking sites and blogs. CareerBuilder’s finds that more employers are turning to socnets to research prospective employees.

The survey of more than 2,600 hiring managers found that 45 percent use social networking sites to research job candidates, up sharply from 22 percent last year, while 11 percent plan to start using socnets for screening.

Among those conducting online searches/background checks of candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace; 11 percent search blogs and 7 percent follow candidates on Twitter.

Nervous yet? You should be.

Thirty-five percent of employers reported finding content on socnets that led them not to hire a candidate. Top examples:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information – 53 percent
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44 percent
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35 percent
• Candidate showed poor communication skills – 29 percent
• Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26 percent
• Candidate lied about qualifications – 24 percent
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer – 20 percent

But wait! There’s more:

Fourteen percent of employers have disregarded a candidate because the candidate sent a message using an emoticon such as a smiley face while 16 percent dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an email or job application.

Now that we covered why employers don’t hire candidates after doing some research, my next post will be on the things employers find online that make them want to hire a candidate.

]]> http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-using-social-media-to-vet-candidates/feed/ 0 http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/19/10-donts-for-pr-job-applicants/ http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/19/10-donts-for-pr-job-applicants/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:39:18 +0000 Buck http://www.newmanpr.com/?p=467

In the spirit of my posts over the past couple of days, I thought I’d share some of the things job applicants shouldn’t do (but seem to do with alarming regularity) when seeking a job in my agency. I suppose these same “don’ts” apply elsewhere, but frankly you can have the crummy applicants and I’ll take the smart and savvy ones.

• Don’t address your cover letter “To Whom It May Concern.” If you really want a job, show you have the initiative to make a call to get the name of the appropriate person to whom your letter should be addressed.
• Don’t write a long cover letter that simply rehashes your resume or tells me what a great asset you would be. Instead, keep it short. Emphasize what skills/experience you have that would be useful in the kind of work the organization does. Be careful of recycling cover letters — it can be a deal killer if you inadvertently leave in the name of another agency you’re applying to. Better to write a fresh one.
• Don’t include in your resume that you are proficient in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Duh! Aren’t we all? Better to say you know Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and have had your own blog for five years. More specialized skills such as proficiency with online media databases or bulk e-mail programs should be included.
• Don’t include an objective statement on your resume, á la: To obtain a position in international marketing/public relations which will utilize my education experience and skills which will provide an opportunity for growth and advancement. Every applicant I have ever met has had the same objective — to get a job.
• Don’t proffer a letter of recommendation. They invariably focus on the applicant’s wonderful attributes and amazing abilities. The only kind of letter of recommendation that carries any weight with me is one that describes how the applicant overcame an insurmountable obstacle, learning disability or personal loss to go on to become a better person and excellent job candidate. Still ….
• Don’t proffer a fancy bound portfolio of things you wrote in Com 201 or the brochure you produced in desktop publishing class or an actual graded exercise with an actual grade on it. School’s over. This is the real world. Tell me about what you learned in an internship or direct me to your blog where you’ve been writing your innermost thoughts and feelings in flowing, grammatical prose for years.
• Don’t wear perfume or cologne to an interview. Job applicants should be seen and heard, not smelled.
• Don’t describe yourself as a “people person” to the interviewer or reference your abiding affection for humans as the motivating factor in wanting to work in public relations. Liking people in general does not mean you’ll be successful in influencing them.
• Don’t miss an opportunity in the interview to ask what a typical day would be like for the person in the position for which you are applying. You might learn that you’re actually applying to be the boss’ personal assistant in charge of coffee and dry-cleaning fetching.
• Don’t forget to send a note — mail or e-mail is acceptable — following the interview. It can be short, but should reference something that was discussed in the interview: I was thinking about your description of the job, and I must say my countless trips to Starbuck’s and the cleaners make me an excellent candidate for the position.
]]> http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/19/10-donts-for-pr-job-applicants/feed/ 0 http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/18/pr-applicant-rudeness-incompetence-are-widespread/ http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/18/pr-applicant-rudeness-incompetence-are-widespread/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:59:34 +0000 Buck http://www.newmanpr.com/?p=450

Yesterday I posted a piece about my recent run-in with a rude, incompetent applicant for an account coordinator position. Little did I know that this is a widespread phenomenon, to judge by the feedback I received from folks around the country.

Indeed, I received direct e-mails from commiserating professionals in Florida, Georgia, New York, Oklahoma and Texas, and from abroad in Australia, Canada and Germany.

Here are a few of the e-mailed notes I received in response to my post:

My search firm encounters many “Janes” each year.

In my opinion, people like Jane lack two essential qualities: raw ability and proper manners.

The lack of ability can be blamed on the so-called institutions of higher learning who send their graduates forward without even the slightest bit of knowledge about what the real business world is all about.

The lack of basic manners lies squarely at home where the Janes and Johns of this world are told that the world is their oyster and all you have to do is ask and you will receive. What ever happened to working hard for everything you have?

Good article.

I’m sure many of your readers commiserated with you.
————–

Wow, I just read your story on prdaily.com. This is an extreme and unfortunate case but sadly this sort of thing is more common nowadays. In our firm, we recently had a similar experience where a junior staff member left to go to another firm. We wished him well and he responded by sending a long e-mail detailing all the ways in which we had “failed” him while he worked here. To use your word, we were gobsmacked. Not only do we take pride in treating all of our employees with respect and fairness but we are very well connected in a very small world here.
—————

I have to start this e-mail by apologizing. This post made me laugh for 15 minutes straight. I am very sorry to say your trip into the Twilight Zone with this young “lady” brightened up a long day of job searching for me.

That being said, I have come across many people such as Jane. Sometimes they are new grads and new to the industry, many are old enough to know better. But they all have the same cockiness and “confidence” (if this is what you want to call it, I call it narcissism and neuroticism) about not only their abilities, but themselves overall. Dealing with these types of personalities is definitely NOT funny. I think you missed a bullet here.
—————-

I enjoyed your article on “How Not To Get A Job in Public Relations.” As a long-time PR practitioner who for the past seven years has taught public relations courses, I can identify what your experience with “Jane.” While I get some outstanding students, I also get some like “Jane” who have both lousy skills and a bad attitude. In my public relations writing class, it is clear that many students aren’t used to having their work critiqued and don’t like it one bit. Most of my students become better writers in the process, but the snarky ones get even with me by writing nasty evaluations at the end of the semester.
—————–

Buck. This is a gem. I will be providing it to my PR students. You did the right thing. But it would have been harrowing.
—————–

Good morning: Jane’s attitude is becoming all too prevalent. Your statement that the South Florida public relations community is “not all that big” is like saying Mars isn’t all that far away. I hope Jane doesn’t cross the Alley with hopes of landing a job in the Naples/Ft. Myers area. What a nightmare.
——————

I read your post, “How Not to Get a Job in Public Relations,” with great interest, as I also find myself in similar situations. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your tests with me. I’ve been looking for something to test job candidates, but have not found something I find suitable. If you can’t share your tests, would you be able to point me an appropriate direction for sources?

——————-
This one was my favorite:

I just read this story on your Web site. I’m graduating in May with a degree in Public Relations from Texas Tech University. I’ll take the AP test! I’m attaching my resume and a letter of recommendation. Thanks for your time!

——————–

]]> http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/18/pr-applicant-rudeness-incompetence-are-widespread/feed/ 0 http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/16/how-not-to-get-a-job-in-public-relations/ http://www.newmanpr.com/2009/06/16/how-not-to-get-a-job-in-public-relations/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:15:26 +0000 Buck http://www.newmanpr.com/?p=433

In addition to my PR responsibilities, I am also in charge of the employee hiring process. I field cover letters and resumes, handle initial interviews and administer our agency writing test. Sometimes this work is interesting and even enjoyable. Sometimes it’s baffling. Not to mention irritating.

My most recent HR experience certainly fell into the latter two categories. I had received via e-mail the cover letter and resume of a young woman who had graduated from a local university two months before with a degree in mass communications. As we were looking to fill a summer part-time internship, I invited her — let’s call her “Jane” — to interview.

She performed satisfactorily in the interview, demonstrating confidence in her abilities and familiarity with the agency. But she didn’t really impress me, and while her resume had several internships and showed some relevant experience, I was not in a rush to hire her. So I thanked “Jane” for her time and asked whether she would agree to take our agency writing test. She said she would and I e-mailed it to her. As always, I did not give a firm deadline to return the test, believing how long it takes an applicant to return the test is a fair gauge of how much she wants the job.

Our writing test has a part where the applicant is asked to write a one-page press release based on about 25 bullet points from which to select content, a PR savvy part where a problem is posed and the applicant proposes a solution, and an editing test where we assess the applicant’s grasp of Associated Press style, basic grammar and spelling, and attention to detail.

The interview was on a Wednesday and I received “Jane’s” completed test the following Monday — five days later. I looked through it and found it to be a generally lackluster performance, with poor writing, poor organization, uninspired ideas and a profound inability to edit. I knew I was not going to hire this person, so I shuffled her test to the bottom of my to-do stack.

A couple of days later, “Jane” sent me an e-mail inquiring after her test results. I felt a little bad about not responding right away, so instead of my usual “thanks for your interest and we’ll keep your resume on file” note, I decided to offer Jane some positive criticism about her test and provide links to Web pages with writing tips and exercises.

As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

The following day I received an e-mail from “Jane,” in a snark-filled and angry missive questioning my grasp of AP style and ridiculing our agency’s press releases. “Jane” actually thought that her press release — full of sentence fragment bullet points and poorly organized as it was — still was better than one written by our agency:

Again, I appreciate the critique, but I just wish that if I did have to compare my release with one that your firm formulated, I hoped it would have actually been one that was at least somewhat better.

After I recovered from being gobsmacked, I got angry. I responded to “Jane’s” critique of my critique with a point-by-point refutation that a colleague characterized as “restrained.” I thought that was the end of it.

Two days later, agency co-owners Andy Newman and Stuart Newman both received an e-mail from “Jane” that claimed I was harassing her and requesting I be prevented from communicating with her. Her version of our exchange conveniently left out her snarky response.

But wait, there’s more! At the same time, Jane sent me an even angrier, snarkier and frankly, crazier note than before — which she did not copy to either Stuart or Andy:

I am very surprised that such a “busy” individual as yourself, or as you should be, would even have the time to respond, I guess business is slow- not surprised! especially from a company that has less than a handful of clients. I’m actually glad I didn’t get the job, it seems like with all the “seasoned” or rather “old” professionals your company has, it won’t be around much longer, especially considering all the other younger pr companies out there who actually understand what a concept such as “social media” really is.

I shared all of our correspondence with the Newmans. Andy wrote a brief note to Jane to say that I would not be communicating with her again and that in turn, she should not contact anyone at the agency.

But “Jane” wrote back two more times, once to thank Andy for handling the situation quickly (probably assuming I was reprimanded) and once more to ask that we dispose of her “portfolio” and not contact the references she included in her resume. Andy did not respond to either e-mail.

Should I have handled it differently? Maybe. I mean here is a young woman woefully unprepared to be a contributing member of a PR agency staff and yet who is incredibly confident, nay, cocky, regarding her own abilities. That’s why I felt a critique of her test was in order — I don’t think she’d ever been told by anyone that she couldn’t write, neither by her professors nor her employers.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have sent that second note, except that Jane seemed so pigheaded, continuing to deny what to me was so obvious. And something about having a youngster fresh out of college preach AP style to someone who has been editing professionally for three decades just stuck in my craw.

In any event, she confirmed my decision not to hire her. But that brings up a final point. The South Florida public relations community is not all that big, and Jane doesn’t know how well connected I am in that community.

The cautionary tale here for job applicants is that someone so young should be wary of burning bridges at such an early stage of her career.

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