We're looking for an intern! (Toronto, January)

Do you want to work at DDB Canada? My team, Radar DDB / Tribal DDB is looking for an intern to start in January 2012 at our Toronto office. You'll get some really amazing experience working with Laura Muirhead, Melissa Smich, myself, and even grizzled industry veteran Ed Lee.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you've got any questions ( I'm parker (at) blogcampaigning.com ), but all official applications will have to go through hr.toronto@ddbcanada.com

For more details, see the official post that appeared on the DDB Canada website:

Do you scour the internet for the latest and greatest ideas? Are you on social networks your friends haven't even heard of yet? Want to experience the strategic and creative drivers behind great social media campaigns? Radar DDB Toronto, one of Canada's top social media agencies, is offering unpaid internships to students interested in pursuing a career in social media, digital communications and advertising.  You must be completing or have completed your formal education in advertising, marketing or public relations and and be ready to get hands-on experience.  As an intern you will be exposed to an array of projects, all allowing you to work on a number of different facets involved in the process of creating and executing great ideas.  You'll help us write, research and think; in particular, focusing on conversation analysis, content creation, and influencer relations. You'll be very busy, but you'll get a lot of experience in a growing field.

If you are interested in a 3-month internship starting in January 2012, please send your resume and a cover letter that also explains what your favorite website (or app) is and why to  hr.toronto@ddbcanada.com with Radar DDB in the subject line.

MAVERICK Idol Is Back Again

Last year, I wrote about how MAVERICK offered an internship position via an American Idol-type of competition.

Now that I work at MAVERICK, I'm excited to see that the agency is doing it again. One of last year's contestants, Katie Boland, is still a full-time employee here and I work with her on a couple of different projects.

This year's competition will mean that the aspiring intern has to face two rounds of questions from a panel of MAVERICK employees. I think this is a great chance for the applicant to show that they are good at public speaking and can think quickly on their feet.

The winner will be notified that day, and will receive an twelve-week paid internship (from what I've heard, the pay for this is above average for similar internships). More importantly, they'll get experience in media monitoring, writing, planning and social media. While there is no guarantee that they will end the internship with a job, the experience will help them in their career.

For more details, please see Julie "The Maven" Rusciolelli's blog post about the contest (or check the MAVERICK website) . Interested applicants should send an email with their resume to idol@Maverickpr.com by May 7 at 5:00 p.m. They will then have to show up in person at the MAVERICK offices on May 12 at 10:00 am.

Is this a good way to find interns? If you are a student, would you apply for a position this way?

-Parker

Job Opportunity: Multimedia Coordinator

There is an immediate opening for a Multimedia Coordinator at CNW Group (my employer)!

From the official description:

As the Multimedia Coordinator you will be responsible for all elements related to the distribution of our video and photo services.​ You will be part of the overall Multimedia Production Team which is responsible for all our rich media products at CNW.

Your primary role will be to assist our Broadcast Producers and successfully manage all our Video Production feeds and our Photo Distributions.

You are able to work with clients, field calls directly, offer advice and support for the production.​ You will need to maintain good working relations with many of CNW’s various suppliers.​ Please note there will be after-hours work involved both at the office and remotely.

Responsibilities:

* Organize all broadcast production feeds including: * Fulfill client orders * Prepare advisories and instructions * Book suppliers *Arrange for tape shipments * Manage all our web on-demand distributions * Coordinate all tape distributions * Prepare weekly and monthly tracking reports * Book video crews * Book photographers * Produce Social Media Releases * Process and distribute photos * Assist on team projects as needed

Qualifications and Experience:

* Strong planning and organizational skills – able to identify all components of a project and appropriate resources which need to be applied.​ Able to follow the project through to completion ensuring all elements are completed properly and on time * Understanding of the technologies used, key drivers, and trends in content delivery * A good appreciation of video production * Proven and demonstrable experience of web production * Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, pertaining to both technical and non-technical information is essential * Strong work ethics - take pride in your work and strive to exceed expectations * Deadline oriented - ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines with a demonstrated willingness to work extra hours as required * Strong sense of urgency – need to move quickly * Assertive – professional with the ability to ensure co-operation of other departments and team members and capable of pushing others where required to achieve results * Ability to work independently in a fast paced environment * Impeccable attention to detail * Self motivated and enthusiastic * Knowledge of Social Media/​Web 2.​0 concepts * Bilingual (English-French) an asset

If you are interested in the position, please email HR@newswire.ca.

-Parker

Friday Morning Highlights

I was going to write a full-on blog post this afternoon, but I think I got too much sun today so I'm going to leave you with a couple of other posts I think you should read: -David Meerman Scott has a great post about personal branding and Twitter - it was so great that I shared it with some of my coworkers, then immediately realized that my own Twitter page isn't exactly up to par (I'm working on it!).

-io9 makes the point that web-series are the new direct-to-dvd. The example that they use is for a series called The Artifact that is being offered on YouTube and on the show's website. I think that's just a great way to repackage something, and it will actually make me (a guy that doesn't have a tv at home) more likely to watch it.

-Our favorite PR Maven has some good advice for young job-seekers (in the field of PR or not): don't skip the "interests" section on your resume. This is your chance to stand out.

Until next time...

-Parker Mason

The Ol' Job Hunt: Redux

A little while ago I made a post directing people to some posts those more knowledgeable than me had made about getting a job in the communications biz. (or, for that matter, any biz) Canuckflack has some more great advice, which can be found here.

-Parker

Online Records

A couple of days ago, my dad wrote me an e-mail to tell me that I should be careful about what I post online because the CBC (he didn't specify if it was radio or television) did a story about how some young guy was supposed to get a job, but at the last minute his future employers Googled his name and found his blog, the contents of which were not consistent with the beliefs of the company. The end result was that this young chap wasn't hired. The point of my dad telling me about this was that I should be careful of what I post online. While my initial response was to tell him that if anyone found what I wrote online and didn't want to hire me because of it, then I probably wouldn't want to work for them still feels valid.

The kneejerk reaction is that no one should ever post anything even remotely personal or controversial online in case a potential employer were to find it. However, I don't think that this whole matter is an argument about the permanence of one's online record and the differences between online and offline lives and reputations.

No, it is much more simple than that. It is a matter of relevance.

Techdirt has an excellent example, in which they recount the story of a chef who had a job interview online in second life. Apparently, much of the candidate's time was spent figuring out how to navigate the virtual world. These are skills that have nothing to do with managing a kitchen, no matter how obtuse you want to get.

To put a bit of a more meat-space spin on it, its like if you had a job interview with company on a Thursday, and you felt it went rather well. You wore a nice suit for the interview, spoke well, and generally had the right experience for the job. All is rather well until Friday night when you are out celebrating with your friends. You might be wearing your favorite t-shirt, you might not have shaved before going out that night, and you might have had a few beers. How would you feel if the person who interviewed you showed up at the bar, clipboard in hand, to tsk-tsk your behavior? You'd probably think "What the fuck are they doing here? This has nothing to do with what my job would be..." and you'd be absolutely right to think that. As long as one's social life doesn't interfere or cross over into the workplace (example, showing up hungover all the time), it shouldn't be an issue.

The exact same thing holds true for online activities, and I've got nothing more to say on the subject. If anyone else does, I would love to hear it.