Pre-Media Day Workshop: Preparing Students for Media Day

Preparing to speak with mass communication graduates can be nerve-wracking but with the Pre-Media Day Workshop you can be fully prepared to show off your best skills.   

“Students will learn how to engage with potential employers both at the event and beyond,” said Melanie Conrad, Communication Studies Lecturer. “The guest speaker Ian Houston will be there to discuss how to work a career fair.”  

This workshop will provide students with the necessary skills that are needed when talking with employers. This is an important skill for college students to have.  

“This is only the second year having the Pre-Media Day Workshop,” said Conrad. “The turnout last year was light mainly because we were on a much shorter timeline. I hope we will have a better turnout this year because we have had more time to advertise.” 

Even though the workshop has only been around for one year, the workshop seems to prove beneficial. The turnout was light last year because the advertising was done late. Conrad remains hopeful that the turnout will be larger this year.  

“I think I speak for a lot of professors when I say how frustrating it can be to see students who are capable and intelligent not achieve their goals because of the way they communicated their message,” said Conrad. “To be able to show students how to make a positive first impression is rewarding.” 

The event helps students by showing them numerous powerpoint slides of what to say and what not to say when speaking with an employer. Students also are able to ask questions pertaining on how to be professional at a job interview. The professors know that students are capable of communicating but knowing how to communicate effectively is the key. This workshop will provide students with all the tips and pointers that they will need to impress employers and professors.  

“Since we have only done this once before and the turnout was low it is hard to measure how it was received,” said Conrad. “The people that attended last year seemed to find it helpful.” 

As far as the positive and negative feedback goes, there were only a few comments. Conrad has only received a few since not a lot of students attended the first year.   

“Putting this together has actually been very enjoyable and rewarding. The students really do seem appreciative of it and find it useful,” said Conrad. “I also am thankful for the support and assistance of my Comm Studies colleagues who have helped me out with the planning and implementation.”