I'm Twinterning This Summer!

I have been a horrible poster lately, but since my surgery I feel like I've been so behind, or simply doing horribly at the small, everyday things I do. So my blog, cleanliness of my room, gym attendance (although this was expected :P), eating habits and more have really been suffering lately. But I'm feeling almost back to normal (hopefully that will last) and hoping to get things lined up over this weekend—so by the beginning of next week I'll be going strong again.

I'm loving the personal motivation I always feel once a weekend rolls around!!

Sooo, there are several important blog posts I've started but haven't gotten around to further researching and finishing. But I've save those for next week.

Today, I'm really excited to share a little information about the "twinternship" or Twitter internship I'm doing this summer with none other than my favorite site—Careerealism.com

We are just getting started but, wow, I am so excited and think this is a great opportunity. For those who haven't followed my previous Careerealism-related posts (I swear I've been obsessed from Day 1.), one of the things that first attracted me to this source was the tag-line "Every job is temporary."

How awesome is that? It takes me back to December 2007 when I was just graduating and accepted an internship with the LDS Church magazines. Everyone asked, "Oh, will you be able to make a career out of that? Do they hire the interns right out of these?" Then, when I accepted my current position with this publishing company, again everybody asked, "So will you be making a career out of this?"

This question always confused me.

I earned my degree in journalism, with emphasis on design and editing. And since at least my freshmen year of college, I had been snatching up dozens of editing, writing and design jobs. When I was graduating, those new positions offered new opportunities for me to grow and learn and encounter new work environments. Did I know how long I'd stay in the positions? NO. But, they did and do involve the things I love to do professionally and, of course, help me grow as a professional and understand what kind of "company culture" I work best in.

Maybe I didn't explain my thoughts too clearly there (I'd suggest reading my Preparing For Your Second Job post for a little more insight), but I was simply confused why people kept defining my career with the length of time I'd stay with those companies.

Today, through a video conference/chat set up (through Ustream) with J.T. O’Donnell, Careerealism founder (@jtodonnell), we interns learned that we need to throw out everything we know about "careers."

I honestly didn't make the connection until halfway through this post about how well this insight connects with my previous qualms with what people expected for my career. But, in the Careerealism world, everything is about your "business of one." You are your own product and, because every job is temporary, the only "career" you have, is that of branding and promoting yourself.

Again this post has taken a different turn from what I expected, but with more to come, I want to share the two main objectives from the twinternship I'm participating in.

1. Learn how to use Twitter for business and marketing.

Today consumers of any kind don't want to face hard core sales pitches. Instead, they want to be informed and make their own decisions from the information presented. So, I'll be learning how to become a Twitter expert and about the endless opportunities it has to brand, connect and work with customers.

2. Learn how to build your personal brand—marketing your company of one.

J.T. O’Donnell shares that today (very different from 20 years ago) every person will have an average of 9 careers and 3 jobs within each career. And the average college graduate will have 10 jobs in the first 10 years of their career. Isn't that crazy? Online branding for your career is the way everything is going and is almost essential in snatching that amazing dream job.

Come on, how many of you have or known of someone being Googled or looked up on Facebook when being considered for a job? It's almost unavoidable, so it's very important to have a well-established presentation of yourself on this most accessible source—the Internet.

I'm stopping there, but again, I'm so excited for this opportunity and know I'll be saying more later!