Presentation by Amy Paul

            Today we had an opportunity to listen to a presentation by Amy Paul, Public Relations Assistant for the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office. Amy earned her job at the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office straight out of college. She graduated from UW-Whitewater with a degree in Public Relations in May of 2011 and started her current job with the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office two months later in July. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for a recent post grad.

            Amy has a number of different tasks required of her at the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office. She manages the office’s social media, monitors media coverage, and manages their website among other tasks. Earlier this month Amy was given the responsibility to organize the Milwaukee County 9/11 Memorial. She informed us that she had to learn quickly at her new job due to the important task she was given. She was in charge of creating the logo that appeared on everything associated with the memorial. On the day of the memorial Amy was in charge of literally everything including media coverage. Thanks to her hard work and promotion Fox 6 News had a two minute story about the memorial on the evening news.

            Amy had a very interesting journey through college and various internships along her way to her current job position right now. During her last semester at Whitewater Amy worked two jobs, had two internships and was enrolled in school full-time. Throughout her college career she worked a total of four internships. She was a communication intern with the Milwaukee Admirals, brand ambassador with Qdoba Mexican Grill, student assistant at the UW-Whitewater Development Office, and the fundraising and special events inter with the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Amy is a huge hockey fan and informed us that her favorite internship was with the Milwaukee Admirals. As an intern with the Admirals, Amy had the opportunity to write for the Admirals website and also create their photo website.

            Amy had a lot of advice for our class. She told us that the best internships are the ones that are not paid. She said it felt more gratifying and she worked harder because she wasn’t receiving a paycheck for her hard work. She also said we should get as many internships as possible because more experience will be incredibly beneficial when we enter the job market after college.

            Amy’s internships weren’t the only reason she got where she is today. She was also involved with various campus activities. She was an active member of PRSSA. Amy was a strong writer and worked as the insight editor for PRSSA and later served as a regional activity coordinator.

            She said that it is also important to maintain social media and networking connections on our journey’s to our various careers. She said we should be active on Twitter (@AP2005), LinkedIn, and even Facebook. However, it is important to filter what appears on our social media sights because future employers will look at our websites.

            Amy had a lot of great advice for our class. But I think the best advice she offered for us was to work hard. Hard work and dedication is the only way we will be able to make our end goals after college. But she said it is also important to never give up.