Reverence

These next two weeks are already stressing me out. My planner is so scheduled that I added paper into my week to write down more tasks. My "To Do" list is out of control, but there's hope.

To Do List

Class Work:

• Non-Profit Marketing case study and presentation (due Monday)
• Service Marketing case study and presentation (due Wednesday)
• Social media paper (due Tuesday)
• Ourblook assignments and group meeting (Tuesday)
• Social Dance performance test (Thursday)
• Non-Profit Marketing test (next Monday)
• Service Marketing test (next Monday)
• 8 pages of research paper due (next Tuesday)
• Service Marketing Research Project 
• Start online porfolio for media programming

School:

• Meet with Student Government advisor
• Have A&M game day shirts approved, ordered and in my hand by November 8th
• "If it weren't for Baylor..." essay for Ken Starr's alumni Christmas presents (due Wednesday)
• Scholarship application finished and mailed (Friday)
• Graduate school application finished and sent (Friday)
• Petition filled out and approved for minor concentration (Friday) 

Internship:

• After hours event (5-7pm Monday)
• 2 interviews for articles--and articles written
• Organ donor ceremony (Saturday)
• American Heart Association Pledge Drive (next week)
• Deliver pledge promotional cards (Monday)
• Meet with boss about upcoming tasks (Tuesday)

Other:

• Put my car in the shop--hopefully get rent car
• Take checks to bank
• Babysit Thursday afternoon
• Get money from Robinson Tower for rent
• Pledge Song practices
• Vertical- Monday night
• Church- Wednesday night
• LAUNDRY AND CLEAN ROOM 
• Breathe, eat, sleep and see my friends occasionally 
• Oh, and GLEE- Tuesday night!

Luckily, church this morning was about priorities and running out of hours in the day. We focused on these encouraging verses:

Hebrews 4:10-11  “...for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his 

own work, just as God did from his...make every effort to enter that rest…”  

Proverbs 10:27  "Reverence for God adds hours to each day;  

so how can the wicked expect a long, good life?" 

Proverbs 3:5-6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on  

your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and  

he will make your paths straight." 

Awesome. Reverence for God adds hours to each day. How cool is that? I keep reminding myself that God WANTS me to succeed in all that I do, He just wants me to do it through Him. He wants to be the strength through it all, He wants to be the comfort in my weak moments, and He knows that I cannot do it without Him. I can see Him begging for me to not try to do this on my own, because I will get bogged down and fail every time. The goal this week is not to get everything finished, but to keep my priorities straight for the duration of the time. I pray that not only do I find my quiet time with Him every morning, but that I can find a moment of rest and thankfulness in each day. The Bible says to make "every effort to enter that rest." Who knew rest was so important? In this busy life we always focus on what comes next and soon enough your life has passed you by and you haven't accomplished anything you wanted. Rest in Christ. Love the people around you. Focus on the important things in life and leave the stress to God, who is more powerful than you. And my final goal for this week? Do everything with a smile!

"I Wanna be a Millionaire so Freakin' Bad..."

Lately I have had to interview people to fill different positions in campus organizations. Of course, this isn't a real job, BUT many of the same interview rules apply. No matter what you are interviewing for (and I have been through SO MANY interviews between organizations and internships), it is crucial to show the position's importance to you. As a graduating senior, I have been consistently reading about resumes and interviewing and these are some of the best tips I have found. 

20 Tips to dominate your next interview:

1. 10 seconds to sell or say so long
Unless your resume catches the interviewer's eye in 10 seconds it's over, you're done. So the big question is how do I catch the interviewer's eye? Here comes the best advice on how to get a job interview you'll ever get. Cater your resume to the job description! I can't stress this point enough. It's imperative that you cater your resume to each position you apply for. And I mean taking each line on the job description and writing a line on your resume to reflect your experience with regard to that line.
Yes, it takes more time than sending the same resume to 100's of jobs, but you're far better off applying to a fraction of those jobs with a resume specifically written for each job. Put yourself in the interviewer's shoes. Their job is to hire the most qualified candidate. They've been given a set of qualifications to look for: aka the job description, and that's exactly what they're after, so give it to them!
2. Be on time
There is no excuse for it, none! You don't want a pissed off person interviewing you. Leave extra early, do whatever it takes. Blaming it on traffic or anything else doesn't matter (even if it's true).
3. Cell phone off
Obvious but easily forgotten, at least it was with 2 of the people interviewed. Double and triple check to make sure your cell phone ringer is turned off.
4. Know the company, and why you want to work there
Google the company you're interviewing for. Learn as much as you can about the company's mission, objectives, goals, and future plans. If you're asked why you want to work for the company, you best answer something better then, "I like the company's location", which was said.
5. Bring resumes
Your interviewer(s) will likely have a copy of your resume but bring spares. It shows you're prepared and serious about getting the job.
6. Bring a notepad
Very few people bring a notepad with them to a job interview. It's a very subtle thing that makes you stand out. Take notes when appropriate.
7. Dress in a clean conservative manner
Make sure you go into a job interview having showered and wearing clean clothes. If you like wearing cologne or perfume, don't wear any on the day of the interview. What's subtle smelling to you may be overwhelming to your interviewer.
8. Profiles to private
If you don't think interviewers Google you or look you up on Facebook or MySpace, you're crazy. Hiring managers I've talked to all do this, as one put it, "to weed out people who wouldn't be a good fit in the company's culture." Don't give them ammo to not like you, set your profiles to private.
9. Don't make jokes
Too many people think they are funny when in reality they're not. A job interview isn't the place to test your material. Be friendly and outgoing, save the jokes.
10. Don't babble
When answering a question, answer the question. Don't start out answering a question and then veer off to talk about something else. Make sure your answer directly reflects the question being asked.
11. Don't badmouth a boss
Bad mouthing a previous boss in a job interview is a huge negative. They may have been the worst boss in the world but expressing that in a job interview is a huge mistake.
12. Don't flirt with the interviewer
Even if he or she is really attractive...
13. Don't play with your face/hair
Interviews can be a nervous experience but rubbing your chin, twirling your hair, or anything else along those lines makes you look like you're lying or lacking confidence, both not good.
14. Less is more
Sometimes certain details of your life are better left unsaid.
15. Have good eye contact
Staring at the floor, ceiling, or wall when speaking or listening makes you appear disinterested. Again, simple and obvious but happens way more then you'd think.
16. Have goals
Maybe you don't have any idea where you want to be in a few years professionally but figure out something to say. If you don't and you're asked, you appear un-ambitious, which leads an interviewer to think you'd be a lazy employee.
17. Have accomplishments
Be prepared to talk about something that you're proud of accomplishing, whether professionally or personally (or a failure and what you learned from it).
18. Have passion
Be able to express why you want to work in that field/industry and what you do to further your knowledge (books, blogs you read). The more intelligent or informed you are the more impressive you'll look.
19. Ask Questions
At the end of the job interview make sure you have some questions to ask. If the interviewer doesn't offer you a chance, ask to ask. Again, it reinforces your strong interest in the job.
20. Send a thank you note
It's easy to send an email but take the extra effort to mail your interviewer a hand written thank you note. It reinforces your interest in the job. It doesn't need to be long, just make it sincere.
There you have it. The best job interview tips you'll ever get. Stick to them and you'll be on your way to getting hired!


www.howtonailaninterview.com

Not My Time (yet)...

I have a habit of getting on Facebook Sunday mornings before church, and every Sunday morning there are at least five new engagements on my NewsFeed. Basically, everyone wants to get engaged on a Saturday night (guys...come on. get more original) and by Sunday morning all the girls have put it on Facebook. So far this year I have received SIX "Save the Dates." I can't fit much more in my schedule and the more weddings I have, the smaller your wedding gifts get. So in the midst of this engagement frenzy and wedding planning craziness, I have thought of a few reasons why I am not in a hurry to get married.

21 reasons Rachael Gilbert is not getting married at 21:
1. You can walk into my bathroom and know it's not going to smell.
2. You can sleep horizontal in your bed.
3. You can eat all of the "dinner for two."
4. You can have girl nights without consulting anyone.
5. You can watch TLC without complaints.
6. You can spend your money on whatever you want.
7. No one sees what you look like first thing in the morning.
8. There's half the housework to do.
9.  I don't like touching toilet seats.
10. You can have all the closet space.
11. There's no pressure to make the bed in the morning.
12. You don't have to trade miniskirts for minivans.
13. No one is financially stable yet.
14. I still have a lot of school left.
15. You'll never have another first date.
16. You can move to any city you want.
17. Weddings are expensive and I am broke.
18. Only your music plays in your house.
19. It doesn't matter if you burn dinner.
20. He might find out your crazy, or worse-you might find out there's actually someone crazier than you.
21. Because no one asked...


Disclaimer: Shout out to my boyfriend Kyle and all the weddings I am in this year. I still love you guys!

Papa Turns 70!

Here are a few good pictures from Papa's birthday party on October 1...

The Great Divorce

   I am working on an extensive crisis research paper for my Media Programming class. Our assignment was to choose a crisis in the past two years and research on how the media covered it and the public relations efforts that were implemented. I thought about it, but it didn't take long for me to come up with what I thought was a HUGE crisis. Many people would choose something normal...the BP Oil Spill, the Toyota mess, the toy recalls...but I chose the most important...The Divorce of Jon and Kate Plus Eight! 

I mean, who can deny this was a huge crisis for America, for television, for TLC and for the family itself? I am in the process of researching the statements TLC released about the tabloid allegations and the statements released from Jon and Kate individually. 

Of course, I have my own opinions (Jon is a tool bag), like most people do, but it will be interesting to see how the media framed my opinions along with the public opinion. Until then, watch Kate plus Eight and stay tuned to be influenced on your opinion of Jon Gosselin!

Mission Possible.

My group has continuously been working on the OurBlook.com public relations campaign this week. One of my assignments was to write a mission statement for the Journalism Resource Center. This sounds easy, but don't be fooled. Trying to come up with a mission for someone else's company is difficult, and this statement represents the company and it's goals for the entirety of its existence. In order to draft the mission statement for OurBlook, I first did research about what a good mission statement should include. It needs to provide direction, a vision and a goal. 

Then I got hungry...and started craving my new favorite food...

So naturally I looked up Chick-Fil-A's mission statement and it said, "Be America's best quick service restaurant."

Genius. I think they have accomplished this, but that's just my opinion.

Here are some great tips I gathered before I wrote the mission statement:

1. Bring in many perspectives. 

    In order to do this, I talked to the company employees as well as my group members to     see what they thought should be included.

2. Allow enough time. 

    I am glad I did this. I started drafting ideas, made changes as I read it the following days and got input from my fellow members.

3. Be open to new ideas. 

    To be close minded is to be ignorant. My group members saw different perspectives than me and our collaboration is what will make this a successful campaign.

Here is what I came up with for OurBlook.com's Journalism Resource Center:

"The mission of OurBlook.com's Journalism Resource Center is to provide the journalism world with a dynamic online atmosphere that will empower students, professors and practitioners to acquire the tools and knowledge they need by engaging in conversation about subjects that will define our future."

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same." - Coco Chanel

Have you ever wondered how the Associated Press got to make all the grammar rules for journalists across the world? Why do they get to decide whether I write website or Web site in my article? Why can I say teenager but not say teenaged? 

No matter what my thoughts are, the AP Stylebook is important to the journalism world. Each year a new addition comes out with new changes, and it is important for journalists to stay on top of the changes. Since I have been in college, MySpace has become a lesser used source than Facebook and Twitter was developed. These are used in many stories and journalists need to have a blanket, common way to reference them. 

The AP Stylebook also includes text/IM abbreviations, such as G2G (got to go), BRB (be right back) and POS (parent over shoulder). I thought there was a different meaning for POS, but that is another story. AP Stylebook, you are just so young, hip and internet savvy. I'm impressed! Maybe parents should get ahold of this book to understand their children's texts, or maybe they should just go to UrbanDictionary.com. 


AND just incase you were wanting to freelance write about the teenager you met in your backyard while promoting a policymaker's online fundraising event in the Midwest, you need to look at this chart for the new spelling changes...

I think that is enough style for today. At my internship at Hillcrest Hospital, I have been working on stories for their next newsletter going out. One of my stories is on their Wellness Center and how to burn calories by doing daily chores. Stay tuned if you want to fit back into your skinny jeans!


Until then, TTYL, BRB and G2G.