SPARK Internship: Why Peer Reviewing is For Everyone

I know sometimes we become so confident with a piece of work that we are certain there is no way that there can be anything wrong with it… not one spelling error, grammatical error, awkward image, poor color choice, ect.

This is the brutal truth to the people who think that (and myself because I have been guilty of thinking this way at some point too: There is always an error, whether you see it or not.

The good news is is that it can be the smallest of errors, such as misusing a comma or forgetting to put a space between two words. The point is, most times the errors within your work are small, sometimes they are bigger, such as structuring problems, but why let your work contain any type of error when you don’t have to?

No matter how short or long what you write is, or no matter how simple or elaborate the infographic is you create, you should always ask your peers to peer review it! Most of the time they will agree to do it, because they want you and the company to be successful. In the instances that you ask someone and they act like they don’t have enough time to help you or don’t seem to want to, then they probably aren’t someone you want to peer review your work anyways because they won’t provide the best feedback or don’t really care about your success.

For those that are nervous to have someone peer review your work, don’t be. This is something you will have to get over at some point in order to be successful and accept criticism. Whether you are nervous about handing your work over to someone to be reviewed, or at times unsure what sort of feedback you should be giving, this is a great resource to answer all peer review questions!

Peer reviewing works as a two way street. If you want your work peer review, you’re going to have to peer review the work of others too. I know for myself, after I had moved up into higher level classes in college, I had became part of a group that worked as a peer review team. We’re were all up into the late hours of the night doing homework, and we all want to get the best grade on our assignments, so we weren’t afraid to send a message to each other at one in the morning asking if someone had time to look it over for us because we all  hoped someone would do the same for us. I’m sure within each company you find a clique of some sorts that are willing to help each other out that become your work friends.

 

SPARK Internship: How I Passed the Google Analytics Test

I few weeks ago I wrote a blog about my first time attempting the Google Analytics Test and I failed miserably. I had an idea that I would fail with a 44 percent because I took the test blind, having no prior knowledge as to what to expect on the test or having studied the tutorials at all.

However, when I took the test a second time I passed with a 92 percent. How did this 48 percent increase happen with just one retake? Surprisingly it happened quite easily.

This time around I was pretty determined I wanted to pass, mostly for the fact that I didn’t want to have to take a 70 question test again (I felt the like questions nevered ended.)

Before I started the test, I spent about two and a half hours reviewing the study guide and tutorials Google provided, making note cards of topics that seemed to be repeated or seemed to be stressed (I had a feeling those topics would reappear on the test and they did!).

In all honesty it was as simple as that. Two and a half hours or review and seven notecards by my side is what got me through the Google Analytics test! My all means, that test is scary and sort of a monster of a test, especially if you are in summer vacation mode, but it can be done! I advise to anyone taking it for the first time with little knowledge on it to take it blind the first time to get an idea of what it is like. This will you help prepare much better to take it again because you will have an idea of what it is like and feel more comfortable with it.

SPARK Internship: Use LinkedIn to Land a Job (part 1)

For college students, especially those ready to graduate such as myself, LinkedIn can be a scary place (at least I think so).

When I first began my college career, five years ago, I was told to create a LinkedIn, so I did. There obviously wasn’t much to add to it so for about three or four years it just sat out there dormant, which the only connects being old high school classmates. It wasn’t until halfway through my junior year that one of my professors in my Fundamentals of Social Media class told us all how important LinkedIn really was. Almost my entire class sat there in awe, and instantly panicked knowing that we had to hastily update our profiles and add any sort of  relevant internships and classes to it that we could. I remember my professor telling us that LinkedIn may very well be the way we end up landing a job after graduation. Little did I know that wasn’t even the half of what I would have to do to get noticed on that social platform…

Ever since that class I have been sure to always update my LinkedIn whenever I take a new relevant course, learn how to use a new software , obtain another internship, and connect with guest speakers that come to speak in my classes and internships.

Up until last week I was fairly confident with my LinkedIn profile, then Jasmine Burns, a senior recruiter at Duo security, came to speak to my digital marketing clinic and flipped my entire perception of the importance of maintaining a strong LinkedIn profile upside down. I found myself again

Whether or not you are just entering college, about to graduate, switching career paths, or just late to the LinkedIn, I invite  you to read my follow up blog of my summary of LinkedIn tips from Jasmine and also taking a look at the blog my fellow classmate and colleague Nicole Raymond wrote for the EMU Center of Digital Engagement on what Jasmine had to share with us.

SPARK Internship: Failing the Google Analytics Test

This past Wednesday I decided to give a go around at the Google Analytics test. A few different people had told me about the method of taking it the first time completely blind, meaning taking it without any studying or much prior knowledge about the test, so I did.

I knew that first time that I was going to take the test that I was going to fail, and I did. I received a 44 percent on the test, and honestly after taking it, I couldn’t believe I even scored that high. For someone who knew almost nothing about Google Analytics or how many people/businesses use it, I was fairly impressed with myself for scoring that high.

A few things that I took away from taking the test the first time is that I will actually have to study the materials provided by Google before I take it again, those 70 questions seem to drag on forever, and certain topics seemed to repeat themselves a few times throughout the test. In other words, I need to study and make notecards to have before I take the test again, I need to make sure I’m well prepared for the test because I do not want to have to sit through answered 70 questions again so I need to pass, and I need to focus my studying on the topics that I noticed repeated themselves on the test.

I’m serious about the 70 questions dragging on too. They especially do, as true for any lengthy test, if you don’t know much about the topic. It seems as though if you are stuck on a roller coaster you want to get off of. Be mentally prepared for the length of the test, and you only have 90 minutes to complete it, so don’t get too distracted during it or doze off for too long!

Read about how I ended up passing the test with a 92 percent on my second try here!

SPARK Internship: Simple Tips To Make the Most of Your Work Day

There are plenty of days that the work day drags and you are counting down the minutes until you get to go home, but other days we find ourselves stressed to the max with things to do, not knowing how we will get them done.

When those days happen we need to utilize every minute we have, wishing we could have all those minutes spent staring at the clock back. When I feel days like that coming on I take a few precautions and measures to make sure I can utilize every second of those busy days. Here they are… (taken directly from the balance.com)

1. Use technology to get organized. You cannot be your most productive if you are disorganized and surrounded by clutter. Get rid of those random piles of papers and sticky notes and use a simple electronic filing system. There are numerous software programs that can help you organize a wide array of customer and product particulars, allowing quick and easy access. Also, adopt a personal scheduling program that allows you to keep a calendar, to-do lists, work plans and a directory of contacts.

2. Group incoming messages. Constantly checking and answering your e-mail, voice mail, and other messages only interrupt your train of thought and hamper productivity, especially in jobs that require creative, innovative or strategic thinking.Learn to respond to incoming messages in batches and consider checking them only three or four times a day.

3. Adopt a “one-touch” approach. Utilize the “Do, Delegate, Delete or File” principle for dealing with e-mails, letters, bills, text messages, voice messages, and other requests.

4. Drop time wasters. Much time is wasted on the job by procrastinating, doing “busy work,” visiting distracting websites (especially social media sites), attending unnecessary meetings, over-editing reports and interacting with chatty colleagues who are always gossiping or complaining.Concentrate on the tasks and activities that actually “move the needle” of the business and reduce or eliminate those that do not.

5. Take frequent mini-breaks. Even the busiest people need to clear their mind and stretch their legs now and again. Periodically take a five to ten-minute breather away from your desk. Take a brisk walk outside if you can, do some stretching exercises or walk up and down the stairs a few times. Talk to someone you enjoy. Drink water. Eat a healthy snack like fresh fruits and vegetables. Briefly stepping away from your work will relax your body and rejuvenate your mind. In addition, you will be less frazzled when you return home in the evening.

6. Delegate. You don’t have to do it all. Really. Other people are quite capable of handling some of the tasks you generally reserve for yourself. Consider which duties you could be sharing with others. Then start slowly parceling out some of these responsibilities. This will allow you to focus on your high priority items while giving your coworkers a chance to grow and shine.

7. Learn to say no. Such a small word, yet so hard to say. When someone asks you to do something that is not your passion or priority, politely but firmly decline.Remind yourself that saying no to one thing gives you the freedom to say yes to something else that is more fulfilling and more worthy of your time and skills.

8. Stop aiming for perfection. You will seldom reach it, and it is almost always unnecessary. Perfectionism often leads to micro-managing, poor relationships with co-workers, procrastination, low productivity, depression, stress, and anxiety. The most successful people are those who are satisfied when a job is well done and save their need for perfection for the few, truly important things.

9. Know when to ask for help. If you are overwhelmed at work, and it is causing undue stress, don’t suffer in silence. Shed the Superwoman/Superman image and explain your situation to your boss or supervisor. Untenable work situations can usually be alleviated, but it will take some assertiveness on your part.

SPARK Internship: Tips and Tricks to Networking Events

My time with the SPARK Digital Marketing Clinic has provided me with many networking opportunities. Some of them went smoothly and were based on topics that I knew, and others were a bit awkward and about topics that I didn’t really have knowledge on.

Regardless of whether you feel confident at a networking event or not, I’ve come up with a collection of tips from my own experiences, from a few coworkers, and from a few other blog posts. I have executed all of these at some point, and trust me, you will at minimal feel much more comfortable if you do these, even if you don’t know a thing about what people are discussing.

1. Have a Good Handshake

Do people judge, instantly, from a handshake? Oh yes, every time. Firm. Dry. And with a steady gaze right in the eye. Bingo. I literally remember people by their handshake years later – and I’m not alone.

2.  Have your ‘elevator’ pitch ready

Have a short, concise version you can share about what you do and where you work, who your clients are (if you have any) and what your goals are. If possible, give a sense not only of what you do but who you are. This is the story you’d like to write for your life. Practice it, if necessary. No smart networker loves a rambler. Give yourself 90 seconds max.

3.) Listen

Use “what’s your story” as an ice-breaker – and give other people time to share theirs. (Everyone has one.) All the time, be asking yourself: ‘What can I offer this person?’ Perhaps you can put them in touch with someone who’d be useful – appreciate that might not always be you.

4.) Have a diverse network, not a large one

If you only network inside your industry or social group, it’s easy to become insular. Go to work ‘mixers’ and social events, yes, but also attend events for your chosen professional body, as well as designated networking events organised by people who specialise in putting people together.

5.) Next day, log your contacts

6.) Reach out

I can almost guarantee you’re going to think this is taking things too far. But I still like the observation by networking ‘guru’ Keith Ferrazzi that “every free moment is a chance to e-mail or call someone.” He makes hundreds of calls a day. He sends e-mails constantly. He remembers special birthdays.

That makes me want to have a bit of a lie-down, actually – but I do nevertheless try to reach out to contacts, sending a thank-you note (I have a ‘Gratitude’ list on Wunderlist, for this). I often send an newspaper or magazine clipping if I think it would be interesting/useful to someone – and I’m always happy to tweet the business news of contacts, if it’s something I believe in.

7.) Don’t ‘only connect’

Build solid relationships. Don’t expect overnight miracles from networking. It takes time for people to develop confidence in you and you need to invest in those relationships. Try connecting with them on a level other than business – as humans, we always bond through shared interests, no matter what they are. You don’t need to be BFFs – but you should seem three-dimensional. Perhaps there are other events you could attend together?

9) And above all, remember that networking isn’t a competition

It’s not like the person who dies with the biggest collection of business cards wins. Networking should be about building real relationships, actively maintaining them – and above all, giving as much as you take.

SPARK Internship: Ghost Writing Part II

“Whenever you leave behind failure that means you’re doing better. If you think everything you’ve done has been great, you’re probably dumb.”

– Louis CK

In my last post I described what my ghost writing responsibilities were for the eDiscovery management company I am internship for were. After the whole experience was wrapped up, I have developed different thoughts about the whole thing…

Let me begin sharing my new thoughts by first informing everyone that after I had turned in my testimonies that were composed from a conference call between the company CEO, a fellow lawyer, and myself, our entire group that consists of myself and four others read through these testimonies together to peer review. To peer review three testimonies it took a total of two business days and let me tell you, by the time the group was done those testimonies looked nothing like what they did when I submitted them.

Was I upset that my work had been ripped apart with rewording, restructuring, add ins and deletions? No, not at all! If that’s what needed to be done, then it needs to get done! I would never want a company to embarrass themself by advertising poor work just to spare my feelings. However, what I was upset about how I felt like after the whole thing was done that I was set up for failure to begin with.

I am not personally blaming anyone for me feeling this way except for maybe myself. Once the conference call began, I soon realized that I didn’t know enough about the company or the world of law to have a complete understanding of what was being discussed. The entire call was recorded so I was able to use it to reference after as I was writing, however, I still wasn’t sure of what a few terms were that were said so I wasn’t even sure what to look them up as because I couldn’t understand them. In all honesty, the testimonies I turned in to the CEO were sub par, if that, and didn’t serve the company or the lawyer who provided them justice.

Here I was left feeling embarrassed and ashamed of work that I did, when it took me until almost a week after the fact to realize that there wasn’t anything I could have done different except realize that I didn’t know enough about the company or the world of law before I agreed to ghost write the testimonies. When I began this internship I bragged about my superior professional and creative writing skills and I’m sure the company was expecting much more from me after all of that. 

Now I realized that only working 10 hours a week for five weeks at a company with no prior experience in their field of work is not nearly enough time to have a true understanding of it to be able to produce content as described. More research should have been conducted beforehand, and I should have realized that I probably wasn’t the person to complete this task.  I am confident that the other work I have done for them so far has been up to par and will continue to be for the remainder for this internship, but I have accepted what I believe was a hit and a miss.

What have I learned from this experience?  That it’s better to tell someone you don’t feel capable than make a fool of yourself and waste more company time. But this is what internships are for though, right? To mess up and learn from it? Let’s hope so…

SPARK Internship: Ghost Writing Part I

My most recent task to complete while working with ClariLegal has been to perform some ghostwriting for one of their upcoming panelist members at the New York Master’s Conference in New York City at the end of this month.

 

I have previously done some ghostwriting for a non-profit I was paired with through a public relations course titled The Agency last semester, but this time around I have been a much more nervous. The timeline of completing this task was rather quick, at least quicker than any other task I have had so far as an intern anywhere. To the left is the actual timeline of my ghost writing adventure from start to finish.

My experience so far hasn’t given me any real challenges, especially because Cash (the CEO of ClariLegal really walked me through the process. He gave me the information on how to dial in on the conference call for that Friday before the day before so I was able to familiarize myself with how it would work. He also had spoken with the panelist I would be collecting information from during that call the day before, telling him the type of information I was specifically looking for during our conversation and what elements I would probably try to focus on.

Because the panelist was told this information the day before and not learning it during the call, everything he said during that call was presented in a very organized manner. He knew that I was going to be focusing on three key elements and would be trying to match everything he said to one of those three, so he was kind enough to speak in order of the three different topics. Once I realized he was doing this I was at ease and was not longer nervous and shaking as I typed away during our call. Also, knowing that the conference call service provided me with a full recording of everything he said significantly helped me because I didn’t have to fall off track if I missed a few words that he said here and there. While I wrote all of the content that recording really came in handy and I referenced it five different times when writing what was an hours long phone call.

I am very excited that this work will be published and presented to those who attend Cash’s panel at the Master’s Conference on July 25!

 

SPARK Internship with ClariLegal Week 3 Blog 2: Passing Google Adwords

Okay, before you start reading, I should clarify that I haven’t passed the Adwords Fundamental test yet, but I have passed one of the required subtests, which for myself was Mobile Advertising.

The Mobile Advertising test was 90 minutes long, included 70 questions, and required an 80 percent to pass. It look me about 65 minutes to complete all 70 questions. I was very relieved and was able to stop sweating when I had 5 questions to go and saw that I still had a good amount of time left.

I don’t know if anyone else had heard this, but I have heard from multiple people that the Google AdWords certification is much more difficult than the Google Analytics test. Of course hearing this made me very nervous to take the test, especially with only four weeks remaining in our clinic, meaning I only had four chances to pass it.

I thought it was a good idea to take the subtest first, since there are a total of five to choose from, only having to pass one of them; Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Video Advertising, Mobile Advertising, and Shopping Advertising. I figured if I didn’t pass the Mobile Advertising test the first time it would be okay because 1.) I still had four other tests to choose from to try to take and 2.) It would give me a preview of what the AdWords Fundamental Test would be like.

About 10 questions into the Mobile Advertising test I no longer thought that it was all too difficult. I had read the entire study guide before hand (took me a little under an hour), and when taking it I realized I knew a lot of answers to these questions by simply being subject to mobile advertising all the time. The study guide helped me to know the vocabulary of the test, but my everyday activity with mobile advertising allowing me to understand all of the concepts. I was able to pass the test with 68/70.

Do not freak yourself out about trying to take any of the AdWords test just because it is known to be more difficult than the Analytics test. Being subject to AdWords and advertising forms everyday really helps! I plan to take the AdWords Fundamentals test next week. Make sure to read my next blog to see how I do!

Spark Internship with Clarilegal Week 3 Blog 1

I am happy to say that this week has been very eye-opening for myself. This past Monday I was able to work directly with my supervisor, Cash, on Monday and having that one on one communication with him was able to give a much stronger idea of what I would be personally doing to help benefit this business.

Know that I knew my personal role in helping this business excel, I was able to get started on the tasks asked of me. So far I have written up five case studies based off of information Cash has told me about his vendors and laws he has been able to pair together through his vendor community. I have submitted those case studies to Cash and am awaiting his feedback. I am very eager to obtain his feedback because I want to know if I am meeting his expectations and what he wants me to do differently, if anything. I think receiving my first feedback from him will help me to better set the tone of the other work I will be submitting to him for the remainder of this internship.

I will say that every time I write on a topic that I am unfamiliar with, such as these case studies which had a lot of law terminology I had never used before, I am always very nervous to submit it to be reviewed. I hope after writing these I will be able to go into my next writing assignment without that nervous feeling.

For the rest of the week I will be working on reviewing case studies that were already written to see if any structural and grammatical changes need to be made to them.