It used to be that a college diploma was a reserved seat in a nice office, possibly even one with windows. Alas, those days are gone. Offices have become cubicles, and that diploma doesn’t guarantee any job, even one that requires you to wear a nametag and work a drive-thru window.

Don’t leap out of that third floor window yet. It’s not as dire as you might imagine. Your time and financial investment in a college degree will make a big difference during your working lifetime, when you do get a job. But that piece of paper needs some back up, and it’s never too early to start developing another important piece of paper –– your résumé.

I can hear you asking, “But what can I put on my résumé? If I don’t have experience, I can’t get experience.” A legitimate question. The answer? GET INVOLVED.

GET INVOLVED IN YOUR MAJOR. There are opportunities to learn more than just what you’re taught in the classroom. Find an organization that gives you professional development and networking opportunities. Here in the SMC we have chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the American Advertising Federation (Ad Club) and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Membership not only looks good on that résumé but it opens doors to internships, jobs and advancement. Plus, each chapter needs interested members to help put together programs, attend professional conferences and communicate with other chapters or levels of their own organization. And you get to meet other students with similar interests, some of whom might be from other majors around campus.

Each of these groups is getting started on a very busy year of speakers, programs and trips…and membership drives. In addition, Ad Club and PRSSA are also looking for those creative and hardy students that will become members of their competition groups, the Ad and Bateman teams, respectively. (Deadline for Bateman applications is Friday, Sept. 24; for Ad Team applications is Tuesday, Sept. 28.)

Need more information? Find a member and ask how you can GET INVOLVED. Or contact:
SPJ: Jean-Paul Arguello, president; Professor Michael Giusti, adviser
Ad Club: Margaret Sanders, president; Dr. Yolanda Cal, adviser
PRSSA: Ashley Stevens, president; Dr. Cathy Rogers, adviser