ResearchGoddess

This chick Jessica Lee left a comment on my most recent video post. Didn’t she read my post about opportunistic commenters? Just kidding – Jessica is a dear recruiting and PR colleague – so I will humor her and keep this alive.

I do believe that I participated in something like this back in December of 2006, except that I had to share five random things about myself as opposed to seven. I think stuff like this every once in awhile is entertaining, because it gives you the reader a glimpse into who I am on a more personal level. This puts a bit of reality into the posts I normally do on the topics of social media, PR, and internet research.

So, without further adieu, the rules:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or twitter.

Seven things you may or may not have known about me:

• I was an all-county oboist in high school. I even made my own reeds. For those who don’t know what an oboe is, there’s a Disney cartoon that was made in 1946 called “Peter and the Wolf“, and the oboe is the instrument of the duck.
• I’ve been SCUBA diving in the Cayman Islands. Yeah, those of you who are divers are feeling a little jealous right now – the Cayman Trench is arguably the best diving in the Eastern hemisphere.
• In middle school, I was the trifecta über-nerd: I was smart, chubby, and my mom taught at the same school I attended. She would know if I’d done something wrong before I even executed it, so I never even tried. Those were three years of ultimate hell on earth for me, socially. I’ve tried to discard all photos from those awkward years; sadly, my mom still has lots of them. But they are hidden!
• I dislocated my knee at age 11 by trying to put on a pair of shorts. Yeah – completely lame…ever tried to put on a pair of pants that were JUST a little too small? You hop around the room trying to somehow squeeze into them – well, that’s how it happened. Not my most  graceful moment!
• Last summer was the first time I’d ever ridden a rollercoaster. No joke! Now I absolutely love them.
• I played powder puff football my senior year in high school. That’s where the boys dress as cheerleaders and the girls put on helmets and go at it. They put me on the O-line opposite a VERY large junior girl who mowed me down on every play. I thought I was athletic until then!
• I’m heading to South Africa on November 20th with 200 other folks on an aid trip to build homes, plant gardens, and bring some much needed love and joy to the community of Mamelodi. If you didn’t know this about me yet, you must be a brand-new reader

From here, I will faithfully submit the following bloggers as the next to be tagged:

• David Mullen – Communications Catalyst (PR blogger)
• John Simonds – Delusions of Adequacy (PR/AR blogger)
• Carmen Hudson – PeopleShark (corporate recruiting blogger)
• Chris Hoyt – The Recruiter Guy (corporate recruiting blogger)
• Michael Brito – Britopian (social media blogger)
• Michael Marlatt – CloudRecruiting (recruiting/social media blogger)
• Shannon Nelson – A Girl’s Gotta Spa (beauty blogger)

By the way, I will put a plug in for each of these bloggers – they are worth adding to your RSS feed. They’re all on mine!

This post is a collaborative effort between myself and Paul Matson, a soon-to-be Ohio University graduate from the Scripps School of Journalism. We took the data gathered from our survey and each wrote our thoughts on the topic…

In the field of communications and PR, the value of GPA vs. professional experience has been a hotly contested question for new grads and employers.

To undertake this dubious topic and shed some light on the issue, Waggener Edstrom recruiter Amybeth Hale and I recently administered a short survey to gather the opinions of practitioners and students alike.

From a working professional’s viewpoint, and especially one who works in the field of recruiting, I can tell you that through the years I’ve learned that no one really cares about your GPA, unless you’re studying law or medicine (and I’d agree that good grades are important for success in both those fields!) This is not to say, of course, that you should neglect your studies, but what it means is that employers are more interested in your activities and any experience within your field that you have gained while in school. Balancing experience with a decent GPA shows that you are well rounded and are able to handle multiple things at the same time. Even college professors agree with this; one professor said, “No one cares about GPA & no one asks. What people care about is what will translate directly into the job you’ll do.”

Gaining experience, once you’ve graduated, is a bit of a Catch-22 – employers want you to have it before they offer you a job….but how are you supposed to gain it if you’re not offered an opportunity (a job) in which to gain it? As a working professional, I highly recommend pursuing internships and work experience while you’re still in college and these opportunities are relatively easy to come by. Burying yourself in books, cramming to get a perfect GPA, and devoting every waking moment to maintaining a 4.0 unfortunately doesn’t translate well in most employment situations. DO your best to maintain a well-rounded slate of activities. - Amybeth Hale, Waggener Edstrom

In favor of experience, a common argument is that PR and communications, unlike engineering and math or medical-based fields, is much more subjective in nature. Therefore, a strong GPA in these fields is inherently more valuable (if you solve an engineering problem incorrectly, the bridge falls down.)

“It shifts over time, but recent grads need a good GPA. Further into your career, experience matters more. I prefer bridge engineers, architects, and my doctor to have both.”
- Jon, a working professional

In PR, innovation, originality and accuracy are king to being successful – there is no substitute for real-world experience. Conversely, a sturdy GPA (for the sake of argument, around a 3.0 and above) reflects strongly on commitment and time management throughout college.

“I could easily have a 4.0 GPA, if I spent all of my time focusing solely on my classes. Instead, I have a 3.5 GPA and a lot of relevant experience. I am active in PRSSA, PR Central (a student-run PR firm), the student government, and work for the university’s public relation department 15 hours a week. There is a quote in the student organization center on campus: ‘You can go to college and get a degree, or you can get involved and get an education’”
- Rachel, a student at Central Michigan University

Ideally, having both would be ideal. But what about the thousands of students with brilliant minds, plenty of professional experience, but a 3.0 or 2.9 GPA? Is the person with one internship and a 3.8 GPA more deserving of that entry-level position?

“Experience has proven to be more valuable to me. GPA is a reflection of the classroom and oftentimes, class work is more of a means to an end. Not to say that I haven’t had some great classroom experiences, but at best they acted as complements to what I’ve learned through my internships.”
- Aaron, student at Ohio University

Based on the responses we received, I was very surprised to find that most practitioners value experience far more than an outstanding GPA. From my own perspective, this indicates that employers are able to holistically analyze a new grad’s potential within their company. At the end of the day, an A+ in microeconomics and psychology is not the selling point to getting that coveted new job.

“Good grades are not as much an indication of ability in the student’s chosen career area as they are of the student’s ability to figure out what a teacher wants.”
- Nan, a working professional

As more responses were gathered, it became increasingly clear that many employers agree a strong GPA is good, but will not be the sole factor in earning you a first job. Many students, however, often become worried that their GPA may be the first concerning factor in being considered for a position.

“In my opinion, a good GPA and professional experience should go hand-in-hand. Obviously, if you are a good student who works and studies hard, you are more likely to be prepared to take on the challenges of the professional world. A great deal of professional experience can be an asset to your knowledge and understanding of concepts learned in the classroom.”
- April, a student at Ohio University

On the other hand…

“Relevant work experience… I believe is the best. You could be the worst student in the world, and yet be the most accurate candidate for a position. It’s up to what you can do.” - Guido, a working professional

Students have long struggled over being required to take “irrelevant” classes. I argue in favor of an employer looking at a student’s transcript, but paying close attention only to their core coursework and applicable courses. Work samples could also be provided that a student may have completed taking a particular class, which could count as a subtle form of experience (especially for younger students looking for internships with little experience).

“The ‘real world’ experience from internships and organizations helps in molding a good overall professional.”- Chelsea, a working professional

After reviewing this wide variety of opinions, I personally conclude that a strong GPA is valuable, but relevant experience and knowledge in a particular field will always take the cake.

Here’s the video from the latest tweetup – registration is now open for the December Cincy Tweetup on Friday, Novemer 12th!

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7214314640557313939]

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to meet up with some local blogger chicks here in the Cincinnati area, and I was asked to describe a little bit about what I do as an internet researcher. Sometimes, it’s hard to describe what I do, and quite often, I get puzzled looks, confusion, the occasional “so you stalk people”, or most commonly, the “so you play on the internet all day” comment. So, to help clear up some of the confusion, I would like to take the opportunity to give you some idea of what an internet researcher’s job actually is.

To begin, I would like to point you to my very first blog post, which tells a short story about what first got me so interested in research. I think this will provide some background as to why I do what I do, and why I absolutely love it. I love the fact that so many little bits and pieces of my life have come together to make me who I am today, and there is a lot of irony in the fact that these experiences have each played a sort of puzzle piece to complete the picture that is my current chapter in life.

You may wonder why I find irony in the fact that back in the early 90s I spent $400 in a single month on AOL when they still charged by the minute for internet access, or that I was addicted to BBSes in high school, or that I tracked down the drunk driver who hit my car in college based only on some paint and a broken headlight, or that I participated in ‘internet dating’ w-a-a-a-a-a-y before it was cool. But each of these pieces of my life was pulled together to create a genuine love of internet technology, networking with people, and taking clues left by someone to pull a complete picture together.

As internet researchers, we of course need to have skill in navigating the internet. But this skill alone does not a successful researcher make. As colleague and fellow researcher Joshua Kahn recently commented, “Any technique you apply but can’t modify yourself isn’t a technique you understand. It’s mimicry…” If all you want is to plug formulas into search engines, there are plenty of automation products that can do that for you. But true internet research, in a recruitment setting, must consist of a combination of technique and strategy. There must be a human brain behind the technique in order to pull everything together.

Doing research is much the same as putting together a jigsaw puzzle. In fact, many internet researchers use this analogy to describe our function. There is a box cover with a complete picture to help guide you. But once you dump out all the pieces, it’s up to you to find which pieces fit together, and where in the picture they belong. Each of those puzzle pieces is a clue, a digital footprint if you will, left by a potential candidate that may or may not lead you to discover its neighboring piece. Some sections of the puzzle will be easy to find, such as the corners and edges. Specific areas of the puzzle will come together quickly, such as an area with a distinct color or pattern. But all in all, you must figure out each puzzle piece’s position within the picture in order to complete it, or your picture will be skewed. The complete picture, in this case, is the ideal candidate we search for. The puzzle pieces can be either the resources we use or the clues we discover within these resources.

So, how do we go about completing this puzzle? Each researcher is different in that we do not all use the same resources, strategies, or procedures. But there are common points among all of us in that we do use tools, strategies, and procedures unique to our companies and industries. In my case, one of the first things I do is look for documents online which contain information that will lead me to a person with a certain specialization. A common resource for me would be a press release with media contact information, preferably a combination of name/email or name/phone. This first puzzle piece is my “corner piece”, and from there I can determine a person’s skill level, location, contact information, and much more.

Things do not stop here though, because building out a prospect profile like this often requires some preliminary relationship development. This is where using social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook come in. I won’t give away all of my secrets, but if I have reached out to you in the last, oh, 6 years, chances are one of these tools helped me to find, and friend, you I often tell people that I make friends for a living – in fact, it’s in my bio line on my Twitter account. While I tend to be very targeted and focused with the people for whom I build profiles, what sometimes happens is that we don’t have anything immediately available for them. Building relationships is a good 50% of what I do, so once I complete my picture, I need to start developing a relationship. Networking, interacting, engaging in community discussions, and basically just being a resource to people is part of what I, and many others, do as an internet researcher. We call this developing a pipeline. Anyone who understands GOOD networking understands that not every new connection will be an immediate benefit to you (though it may be for your new connection!) but that it might be later down the road. Something I always remember when doing my job every day is that there is a live human being behind every profile, post, tweet, update, and contact I uncover. Remembering this keeps what I do in perspective.

Many of you reading this may have been turned on to my blog through any one of these various strategies I’ve used to reach out to you. I fully believe that using these resources responsibly keeps us honest in our work. Referring back to the “stalking” comment I mentioned I hear once in awhile, research used properly leads to great opportunities. Research done maliciously, just like pretty much any other task done for the wrong reasons, leads to unfavorable results and potential destruction of one’s reputation. My pledge as a researcher to anyone I reach out to is that I will always be upfront and honest with my intentions. Any good researcher in this business will echo this sentiment.

Hopefully this provides a little clarification to some of the fuzzy areas of what a researcher does! I have also written a series of articles going into some more detail on internet research:
 

• Part I: Specific job duties a researcher is responsible for
• Part II: What to look for when hiring a researcher
• Part III: A typical day in the life of a researcher (if that indeed exists!)
• Part IV: Some myths about internet research

If you would like Word doc copies of any of these, please leave me a comment or send me an email and I’d be happy to forward to you. Please stay tuned for more to come!

I would like to ask you to take part in a VERY brief survey looking at the importance of GPA vs. experience for college graduates entering the workforce. Please click here to take the survey – we will be collecting results for about a week and then analyzing them to report back to you!

By the way, while you’re here if you have not yet taken the career values survey, please do so here. Survey submissions will be collected until the end of November with a post to follow at the beginning of 2009.

Thank you!