Last Thursday was the first episode of the new series on the blog How to Land Your Kick Butt Dream Job with Cait Weingartner, voice behind Pretty & Fun. The idea all started when I was reading interviews on the web of successful business women, but I had so many other questions besides the 5-6 questions they answered. I wanted to dig deeper and discover the steps they took that lead them to their successful careers. There's the saying that if you have a question there's probably others out there with the same one so I decided to make a blog series out of it! When I reached out to Cait and told her my blog series idea she thought it was great!
Thank you again Cait for putting in the time to answer some questions with your busy schedule and new job! If you missed last week's episode about college and Cait's experiences check it out here.
Name: Cait Weingartner
Age: 25
Job Title: Digital Strategist, 360i
Blog name/year started: Pretty & Fun, 2011
Tell us about your 2 internship experiences and who they were with.
During
college I did two internships and then freelanced for one company until after
graduation. My two internships were with Success Communications Group, working
within their Public Relations team and All American Games, supporting PR and
social media for the company’s training camps and events. While at All American
Games I noticed a huge void in social media for the company (whose target was
mostly teenage football players and parents) and launched social channels for
all of their brands, then worked to manage and provide ongoing support as a
freelancer.
What was the process of landing each internship? How did you find each?
My
college’s career services department was very helpful as far as internships go
– I had a general idea of what I wanted to focus on (Public Relations) and was
able to set up interviews for both internships through my college.
How do you think your internship experiences played a role in landing a job right out of college?
My
internships gave me a lot of really valuable outside of the classroom experience
that served as the focus of my resume at graduation. Being able to speak to
real client work that I had done and having a feel for the agency world
provided me with real-world examples that I could reference during interviews
beyond courses I had taken.
What was the biggest lesson you learned during your internships?
Be
a self-starter. I quickly realized during my first internship that “down time”
was a complete waste of time. My managers were busy themselves and didn’t have
time to be continuously monitoring my activities and progress on tasks –
creating little side projects for myself and going beyond the initial task
during any free time showed initiative and got me started with thinking
strategically. Don’t be afraid to speak up and offer suggestions or weigh in on
assignments and the work you’re doing. You’re there to add value, not just
follow directions.
As always, come back next week for episode 3 discussing interviews and what employees are looking for.
Image via Refinery29
With 2 semesters left of college, I already feel the pressure to land a great job and build a successful career. There are countless articles and blog posts on the web interviewing successful businesswomen, entrepreneurs, and creatives all flaunting their fabulous careers. Sure, they are helpful in answering some questions in the industry and giving us a taste for what it takes to succeed, but the interviews don't go into detail about searching for jobs, internships, or the interviewing process. Sometimes I'm left feeling overwhelmed. So many questions about how to accomplish what they did. Of course, I have goals and dreams just like anyone else. We read about women and their careers and want to be just as successful. Now that graduation creeps closer and closer I feel as if I am not completely prepared and equipped with the knowledge and tools I need to set me apart from the competition and accomplish what they have. So many questions and only a few answers.
That's when I decided to create a blog series that was meant to answer a few of those questions and go into more detail about college preparation, internships, the interviewing process, and blogging. When I started thinking about who I could turn to for answers, Cait Weingartner, the author of Pretty & Fun instantly popped in my mind. The first time I came across Cait was her home feature on The Everygirl. She had a sense of realness, authenticity, and the ultimate gallery wall. Her closet isn't packed full of designer labels nor is she mad about it. Cait is a girl I can relate to -- and she already has a great career going.
Without further ado, welcome Cait as she's with us the next 4 weeks answering some questions!
Name: Cait Weingartner
Age: 25
Job Title: Digital Strategist, 360i
Blog name/year started: Pretty & Fun, 2011
Where did you go to college and what was your area of study? I went to a
small liberal arts college in New Jersey called Centenary College – I had gone
away as a freshman and it just did not work out for a number of reasons. I came
home for Christmas and decided that I’d rather commute and live at home. I
majored in Communications with an emphasis in Print Journalism and initially
focused on Public Relations.
Did you participate in activities or clubs throughout school to help build
your resume? What were they? As a commuter I didn’t spend a ton of time
on campus but I rode on my college’s equestrian team and freelanced for the
school’s newspaper.
How important is involvement through school in helping build experience
to land your dream job? Networking is always important, whether it’s on or off
campus. I don’t think being a social butterfly or involved in a ton of clubs/activities
is necessarily required but it’s about making the most of each experience and
then applying what you’ve learned, whether it’s leadership or creativity, to the
real world.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently during school?
Personally I wish I would have transferred to a large school – the network that is
associated with a large university is incredible and looking back I wish I had that
today.
Thank you Cait for taking the time to answer some questions! Next Thursday we are discussing everything about internships. If you have any questions for me regarding internships (I'm on my 3rd internship this summer), tweet @amandarisius and I will answer them in next week's episode.
Image via The Everygirl, photography by Stoffer Photography
