Communicating Crisis within Minutes, Hours and Days after Tragedy
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuscany Steakhouse, Decatur
Join the Central Illinois PRSA chapter in celebrating our 30th Anniversary and hear how PRSA 2009 Best of Silver Anvil Award winner, Melanie Magara, and her staff at Northern Illinois University were successful in communicating one our state’s worst crisis situations in recent years.
Magara is assistant vice president for public affairs at NIU, where a shooting on campus killed six people and injured 19 others on February 14, 2008. She will share the story about how the NIU Office of Public Affairs immediately went into crisis mode, handling everything from emergency alerts, news conferences, message development, to media relations, event management and speech writing.
When the eyes of the world were focused on Dekalb, Magara and her staff consistently provided a story of preparedness, transparency, compassion, courage and healing. One year later, campus, community, media government and professional audiences call NIU’s response exemplary. NIU has emerged from crisis with its reputation as a safe and caring institution intact, and inspired by an increase in applications from prospective students.
Prior to her tenure at NIU, Magara served in a similar position at her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her background includes eight years as director of marketing communications at The Carle Foundation/Carle Clinic Association in Champaign.
Location: Tuscany Steak and Pasta House, 1099 W. Wood St., Decatur (near Millikin University), or www.tuscanysteakhouse.com.
Social/Networking: 6:00 p.m.
Dinner: 6:45 p.m.
Meeting: 7:30 p.m. (Over by 9:00 p.m.)
Dinner selections: Penne with red sauce (vegetarian), Lasanga or Chicken Scarpariella. Meals served with salad, breadsticks, dessert, soft drinks, coffee or tea.
Nonmembers - $30
Members - $25
Students - $22
RSVP: Ruth Slottag, rslottag@aol.com, by September 21, 2009.
Your cover letter has only one job. It is meant to entice the reader to open and read your resume. Sounds simple, but job seekers often stress as much over their cover letter as they do the resume. If this sounds like you, relax, there is a simple approach to cover letters that will streamline your application process and give you confidence every time you send out your resume. Just keep these three cover letter tips in mind and you'll never stress over writing them again.
1. Keep it short.
More often than not you'll send your cover letter via email or some other electronic system. Your reader won't be looking at a piece of paper, but at their computer screen. Ever notice how short your reading attention span is when you're reading text on your computer? That's why online articles are typically shorter than print articles. The same holds true for email messages. If you've got 60 messages in your inbox you don't have the patience for lengthy text. Now imagine you're a recruiter or resume screener and you must get through a couple hundred resumes in a day. If you want your cover letter read keep it short, concise and to the point.
2. Focus on qualifications.
Most job seekers freeze up when writing cover letter because they don't know what information recruiters want to see. The first person in an organization to read your resume is a recruiter or HR professional who acts as a screener. They are interested only in identifying candidates who match their set of qualifications. The better the match the higher the interest. Don't worry about explaining why you are interested in the position, the screener probably doesn't care. He/she only want to know if you qualify as a viable candidate. Use the job posting as a guide to know exactly what qualifications to mention in your cover letter.
3. Don't try to get fancy.
Job seekers get frustrated writing cover letters because they try to make it into a creative writing exercise. That's not necessary. It's much more important that you keep your ideas clear and easily understood. When writing about your qualifications do use the same verbiage to describe your skills as the job posting. You'll make the resume screener's work much easier and they will recognize you as a perfect candidate match much quicker.
Using this simple approach will allow you to take a customized approach with each cover letter you send. Generic cover letters usually sound canned no matter how much time was spent writing them. Worse, a one-size-fits all cover letter looks like it was borrowed off the page of a sample cover letter book. Would you take the time to read a mass-produced letter?
I'm often asked if cover letters are still relevant in today's fast-paced job market. While the form has changed from paper to electronic they are still a vital part of your job-search marketing materials. Cover letters provide your first opportunity to make a good impression on your potential new employer. It pays to write them with clarity and simplicity.
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Deborah Walker, CCMC is a career coach helping job seekers compete in the toughest job markets. Her clients gain top performing skills in resume writing, interview preparation and salary negotiation. Read more career tips at: http://www.AlphaAdvantage.com
RSVP today!
Central Illinois Chapter Public Relations Society of American
Communicating Crisis within Minutes, Hours and Days after Tragedy
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuscany Steakhouse, Decatur
Join the Central Illinois PRSA chapter in celebrating our 30th Anniversary and hear how PRSA 2009 Best of Silver Anvil Award winner, Melanie Magara, and her staff at Northern Illinois University were successful in communicating one our state’s worst crisis situations in recent years.
Magara is assistant vice president for public affairs at NIU, where a shooting on campus killed six people and injured 19 others on February 14, 2008. She will share the story about how the NIU Office of Public Affairs immediately went into crisis mode, handling everything from emergency alerts, news conferences, message development, to media relations, event management and speech writing.
When the eyes of the world were focused on Dekalb, Magara and her staff consistently provided a story of preparedness, transparency, compassion, courage and healing. One year later, campus, community, media government and professional audiences call NIU’s response exemplary. NIU has emerged from crisis with its reputation as a safe and caring institution intact, and inspired by an increase in applications from prospective students.
Prior to her tenure at NIU, Magara served in a similar position at her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her background includes eight years as director of marketing communications at The Carle Foundation/Carle Clinic Association in Champaign.
Location: Tuscany Steak and Pasta House, 1099 W. Wood St., Decatur (near Millikin University), or http://www.tuscanysteakhouse.com/.
• Social/Networking: 6:00 p.m.
• Dinner: 6:45 p.m.
• Meeting: 7:30 p.m. (Over by 9:00 p.m.)
Dinner selections: Penne with red sauce (vegetarian), Lasagna or Chicken Scarpariella. Meals served with salad, breadsticks, dessert, soft drinks, coffee or tea.
• Nonmembers - $30
• Members - $25
• Students $22
RSVP: Ruth Slottag, rslottag@aol.com, by September 21, 2009.
Directions: http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1099+West+wood+Street,+Decatur,+IL&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=39.844329,-88.972607&spn=0.029589,0.06875&z=14&iwloc=addr
For more information on the award, visit the PRSA website at http://media.prsa.org/article_display.cfm?article_id=1287
Job Search Survival 2009
Undoubtedly, this is the toughest year on record to land a new job. Reaching your career goal will take courage and nerves of steel. Are you up to the challenge? Here are four tips for job-search endurance that will keep you on the right track toward your employment goal.
1. Keep your career goal realistic.
This is not the time to strike out in a risky career direction. Following your heart toward a career in which you have little qualifications could yield months of frustration as you find yourself competing against legions of candidates far more qualified. Unless you are in the position to hold out for a very long job search, concentrate on positions where you are best qualified.
2. Realize it will take longer to land your next position.
If you've never experienced a lengthy job search, set your expectations out several months and practice patience. You will apply for many positions as the perfect candidate, and get no response. Expect that. You will conduct perfect interviews and hear nothing back. Expect that as well. Just remember that eventually the right company with the right job at the right time will come your way if you stay calm and focused and don't let discouragement keep you from moving forward. Just keep with it.
3. Write a better resume than your competition.
Less jobs and more applicants equals extremely high competition. The quality of your resume has never been more important. For the best possible resume keep these guidelines in mind:
- Focus your resume. Avoid a one-size-fits-all resume.
- Showcase your best information in the top half of page one.
- Include accomplishments that illustrate your ability to solve today's business challenges.
4. Sharpen your interview skills.
With employers interviewing only the best of the best, when you are chosen to interview be sure you are your competitive best. You CANNOT “just wing” an interview and expect to be called back for a second. Today it takes solid interview strategy to earn a second round of interviews. Interview books are helpful, but they usually fall short of teaching you how to read the interviewer's mind to understand his/her hiring motivations. A study in the art of selling is more effective to achieve great interview performance. A few basic selling strategies include:
- Asking the right questions to understand the interviewer's “hot button” motivations.
- Formulate answers around the interviewer's motivations.
- Know your accomplishments well enough to weave them effectively through your interview to achieve top candidate status.
Throughout 2009, the best jobs will go to those who persevere and stay focused. Keeping your expectations and goals realistic will help prevent the emotional ups and downs. Prepare for your job search as if you were competing in a marathon. With patience, endurance and skill you will win your next job.
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Deborah Walker, CCMC is a career coach helping job seekers compete in the toughest job markets. Her clients gain top performing skills in resume writing, interview preparation and salary negotiation. Learn more about Deborah Walker, career coach at:
http://www.AlphaAdvantage.com |
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Attention PR Professional: Has your treasury or finance department successfully completed an initiative in the past year that contributed significantly to your organization? The Association for Financial Professionals® (AFP) and Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, invite you to nominate that winning solution for the 2009 AFP Pinnacle Awards. AFP Pinnacle Awards are presented annually to organizations that have successfully developed dynamic solutions that make treasury and finance more efficient and effective. The Pinnacle Awards recognize excellence in treasury and finance in three award categories: Innovation, Risk and Strategy. The Grand Prize Winner receives a $10,000 honorarium towards a charity of choice and is honored during a special ceremony at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco. Category winners are awarded with complimentary lodging, registration and transportation for two attendees to the conference. For more information on the AFP Pinnacle Awards and how your organization can enter to win, go to www.AFPonline.org/pinnacle.
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