Success in the City

New York City (n.) -- A place that thousands of public relations students and professionals dream to work in the hustle and bustle of the fast-paced public relations industry.

For many, it stays a dream, but for a few lucky ones, it becomes reality. Penn State College of Communications helps make it reality for hundreds of Communications students through its annual "Success in the City" career fair. On Friday, April 9, hundreds of students traveled to the Time Warner Center in New York City to make as many contacts as possible in five short hours.

The career fair was less than successful for most PR students looking for traditional or interactive social media. There was tons of contacts for potential future jobs, but the most relevant current jobs were in sales. Yeah, I know I have experience cold calling media, working with business professionals and networking on a daily basis, but sales is completely different.

None the less, NYC is always a great place to visit and the College of Communications created a great opportunity for most of its students. Who knows, a contact made yesterday, may actually follow through with a job in the near future. For the next two days, I will be sending more than 15 follow up e-mails to contacts I met at "Success in the City" in hopes of finding that perfect job.