New York, New York

In the past month, I’ve more than doubled the number of blogs I read regularly (remind me later, and I’ll create a page with links to a few of my favorites) and a result, I’ve spent more time reading, and less time writing to you all, my few loyal readers. I would apologize for the frequency in which I post, but I am a firm believer that if you don’t have something to say that contributes to the conversation at hand, you’re better off keeping your mouth shut (or fingers still.) Apparently you all agree, because my site statistics inform me I’ve had over 1,000 visitors in 2012 alone, with an incredible returning visitor rate. I can’t express how delighted I am by these numbers, so thank you all so much for reading, and (since I tend to post on an irregular basis) I urge you to subscribe via e-mail by using the button on the upper right hand side of this page. You’ll get an e-mail every time I release a new blog post, but you won’t be bothered all too often, since my posts seem to come few and far between. If you’re worried about spam, I promise not to sell your e-mail addresses for money… unless I get a really good offer. Relax, I’m joking.

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know I went to New York City over spring break. If you didn’t already know that, follow me on twitter. I was invited to join the Texas Exes of NYC for their annual seminar to network with public relations and other media-related professionals from all types of agencies all over the island of Manhattan. As I’ve said over and over in practically every bio I’ve had to write for myself, I’ve always planned on living in NYC for at least a little while, but I rarely mentioned the fact that I had never visited the northeast. I had ridiculously high expectations for the city I’d seen over and over again on the Internet and in movies. I knew that New York was where I wanted to be, but when the plane touched down, and I have to admit I was a little nervous. I wasn’t nervous about being in the big, scary city all by my lonesome; I was worried the city wouldn’t quite compare to what I had been building up in my head for years.

 I stepped out of Penn Station and an overwhelming sense of satisfaction hit me like a baseball bat straight to the face. Manhattan was everything I hoped and dreamed and so much more. It’s safe to say that I will be packing a bag and loading myself on the first plane the day after I walk the stage at the University of Texas. Some people have told me it’s not a city to live in because it’s too busy, too rushed, or too competitive, but these are the exact reasons I fell in love. Even on my spring break, I constantly felt like pushing myself. I was scheduling visits with companies I was interested in and meetings with professionals within those agencies, I was reading and responding to emails faster than I do at my own home desk, and hell, I even went for an early morning jog through central park on a Saturday. I live a pretty hectic life, but that’s what makes me happy. I enjoy competition and pushing myself, and a city that never sleeps isn’t such a bad thing in my eyes. I can’t help but feel like everything I do until the moment I set foot on the next plane is simply going to be setting me up for the real adventure that awaits in the northeast.

As I stated earlier, I was in the city for a seminar, and I have brought back some useful information I believe may be of use to a good portion of my audience. I spent three days traveling between different PR firms and two nights networking professionally with the Texas alumni. The remainder of the week was spent exploring with my dear friend Leyla, who attended the same seminar for the advertising portion. Between our two different groups, and each group’s respected eight firms, and the rest of the alumni we spoke to, we gathered a few valuable tips. Most of them are things you can read in any old career advancement book (make connections, stand out, résumé this, résumé that, etc.,) but the real shocker that virtually everyone we met agreed on was something I didn’t expect at all.  If you want a job in the city, you have to move there first. This concept seems a tad bit insane to me. Move to the single most expensive city in the world – without a job. The first time I heard it, I assumed the speaker was just on the naive side, but by the tenth (and no, I’m not exaggerating) I realized that I was the one who didn’t quite understand.

After some much-needed Q&A I gained some insight. The world of media, be it PR, Advertising, Broadcasting, etc., isn’t like the world of finance. Some of your friends may have a seat at an investment firm lined up for years, but media hires for the right now.  This field is extremely competitive, and when you’ve got 500 résumés lined up for an entry-level position, it’s pretty easy to weed out a couple hundred based on address alone.  New York City is the media capital of the world, and the top firms don’t have time to sit around and wait for you to load up your UHAUL and mosey onto the island when there’s a candidate just as qualified ready to start tomorrow. In New York you sink or swim, there’s not much of an in-between. I can’t wait to dive in.