This is a first post in what I assume will turn into an ongoing series of opinions and insights for MT students, or recent grads working on networking, applying to internships, looking for jobs, etc. This particular post is about professionalism with presenting information about yourself in a networking situation. It stems from an experience of some friends and coworkers at a recent MT conference. If you want to be taken seriously when passing out a “business card” there are right and wrong ways to do it. It is wonderful if you are creative and want to design your own personal information cards to present to internship directors and future colleagues and cohorts, however no matter how cute your construction paper hand made cards are, they will end up making you look somewhat immature. If you do choose to go that route make sure that you are cutting straight lines. If you REALLY want to draw/color your own business cards, you may want to start by going to Target/Walmart/Office Max/Staples etc and purchase the Avery (or generic equivalent) business card sheets. They are convenient in that they are perforated so you just pop them out and then you have straight edges and uniform sizes. While you are at it though, it also comes with a website and information on how to design your own cards using the computer/internet. If you have an ink jet printer, you can print out your business cards without the use of glitter or glue. The information will be legible as it will be typed, and they look like you could have possibly special ordered them or had them printed professionally. Believe me, I’ve printed my own networking business cards this way many times. You can scan in a designed logo or image, or you can select from their print-art options and backgrounds. The Business card sheets also tell you how to print them properly so everything is aligned well. There are also some lovely business card websites that will let you order professionally designed cards where the first 100 are free.
How did this topic come to mind? A friend of mine was at a conference and spoke to a lovely young woman who is a music therapy student during the internship fair as my friend is the director of an internship program and the supervising MT in the facility at which we both work. The student then presented my friend with a personal information/business card (actually a good idea if you want the internship director to send you a packet if they don’t have any at the fair or if they have run out when you get there). The card however was homemade, It was an almost square (unevenly cut) piece of construction paper, with a printed out white colored printer paper with her typed information on it glued to the construction paper. It had a glitter design drawn on it as well, hearts to be exact. That is super adorable if you are in elementary or middle school and giving your phone number and address to your new best friend so that she can send you an invitation to her birthday party. However, this is a faux pas of professionalism. She made herself look immature, or not entirely serious about her future, and that is not the impression you want to make on a prospective internship director or professional contact. Her faux pas will now serve as an example to my friend’s current interns and practicum students of how NOT to present yourself when seeking a job or engaging in professional networking. General rule of thumb in the adult world, always avoid glitter on a business card. No one likes everything in their wallet to come out covered in glitter because of your card.
While on the topic of networking and professionalism, here's another example stemming from an interaction my friend had with a different prospective intern she met during the internship fair. My coworker gave this student our brochure for our program which included her email address as the director of the internship. When she arrived back to work on Tuesday she had received an email from this student she had talked to at the internship fair. It said something along the lines of, “Dear first name of internship director, My name is insert name of student. I met you at the internship fair. It was nice to meet you at conference. I really liked insert names of seminars or occurrences from conference. Did you have fun? What was your favorite part? I hope you had a safe drive home. I know it’s kind of a long drive. If you want to you should totally friend me on facebook. -Name of student.”
As in the previous example, this student’s thought process was in the right place, just not presented in a professional way. It is excellent to follow up with new contacts particularly if you are interested in applying for a position with them in the future, such as in the case of a prospective intern. However, her general email was not appropriately professional. A more appropriate follow up might have said something along the lines of, Dear Ms/Mr/Dr. + Last Name of recipient, I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you about the internship program offered at Name of facility/program. You answered many of the questions I had about the intern experience and what to expect from your program. Thank you for the application materials OR I would like to request application materials. (depending on whether you got application materials or just a brochure on the program.) I look forward to applying to your internship as I feel it could be a good fit for me and my future career goals. Regardless of whether I am given the opportunity to intern with you in the future, I would like to maintain contact with you for professional networking/I would like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Name of student. (Okay, so that’s probably not a perfect example of a follow up email, but it's an improvement) In general, with a follow up, you probably don’t want to greet them by a first name this early in your professional relationship. You definitely don’t want to tell them to find you on facebook. Not a professional networking site (that being said there are professional groups/pages on facebook where MTs go to network, but for a future job, I’d probably steer clear of facebook.) Don’t ask personal questions if you don’t personally know the individual you are emailing. Always re-read your professional networking emails and make sure they actually read as professional. Have a friend or trusted MT professor read through it and tell you if it’s appropriate if you aren’t sure. You don’t want the reason you do not get offered an internship to be because you presented yourself as immature or unprofessional early on in the process.
As in the previous example, this student’s thought process was in the right place, just not presented in a professional way. It is excellent to follow up with new contacts particularly if you are interested in applying for a position with them in the future, such as in the case of a prospective intern. However, her general email was not appropriately professional. A more appropriate follow up might have said something along the lines of, Dear Ms/Mr/Dr. + Last Name of recipient, I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you about the internship program offered at Name of facility/program. You answered many of the questions I had about the intern experience and what to expect from your program. Thank you for the application materials OR I would like to request application materials. (depending on whether you got application materials or just a brochure on the program.) I look forward to applying to your internship as I feel it could be a good fit for me and my future career goals. Regardless of whether I am given the opportunity to intern with you in the future, I would like to maintain contact with you for professional networking/I would like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Name of student. (Okay, so that’s probably not a perfect example of a follow up email, but it's an improvement) In general, with a follow up, you probably don’t want to greet them by a first name this early in your professional relationship. You definitely don’t want to tell them to find you on facebook. Not a professional networking site (that being said there are professional groups/pages on facebook where MTs go to network, but for a future job, I’d probably steer clear of facebook.) Don’t ask personal questions if you don’t personally know the individual you are emailing. Always re-read your professional networking emails and make sure they actually read as professional. Have a friend or trusted MT professor read through it and tell you if it’s appropriate if you aren’t sure. You don’t want the reason you do not get offered an internship to be because you presented yourself as immature or unprofessional early on in the process.
Remember these first impressions really do matter, and you don’t want to be remembered in a negative way because of a silly mistake with a business card or an awkward email. Prove that you understand professional and ethical boundaries and appropriate business etiquette.
Finally, I'd like to share a potentially lesser known action that makes you stand out it a good way. After you go to an interview, Send a thank you card to the internship director immediately following. It shows that you appreciated the time they took to consider you and gives you a chance to give one more final positive and professional impression before they make their decision. Same goes for job interviews. My internship supervisor told me this, if they are undecided between two prospective interns and one sends a thank you card and the other doesn’t, then 99% of the time they are going to choose the one who sent the card because it shows how much they really do want it. It's an easy enough way to make a lasting impression and get just a little bit ahead of your competition.
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