5 Career Options for Communication Majors

Graduating soon with a Communications Degree? Or currently hold a Bachelors in Communications. If so, here are 5 career options available to you. 


Sports Broadcaster-

ESPN Sports Broadcasters, Bram Weinstein & Steve Weissman on Air

A sports broadcaster works as analyst or play-by-play announcers for sports networks or specific teams. To be a broadcaster, a person would have to posses a minimum of a Bachelors degree in Communication, Journalism or Broadcasting according to education-portal. Some key skills to become a broadcaster is having strong communication and speaking skills, due to the industries competitive nature. Also, experience playing collegiate or recreational sports is beneficial to have. Lastly, a sports broadcaster can make from $45K to $47K a year. Some broadcasters begin as a reporters, equipment operators, or production assistant. Once achieving broadcasting status a person can advance to having his or hers television or radio show.

Public Relations Practitioner-

Public Relations by definition in PR News “ Is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and patience’s”(Cameron, Wilcox, Reber & Shin, 2008). Some key skills to becoming a PR representative is having strong writing, planning, research, business competence and problem solving skills. The median salaries for a person with 1-2 years in the field is 42K a year, those with 21years plus of experience can earn up to 158K a year Cameron, Wilcox, Reber & Shin, 2008). A person looking to advance in the field has many options of advancement, some careers include but not limited to, Public Relations Manager, Senior Vice President or Vice President of a company, and Managing director.

Technical Writers-

Technical Writers translate complex, technical information into clean and simple langue. They create a variety of documents, such as how to install a microwave, or install furniture from IKEA. Those materials are training manuals, assembly instructions, online customer service guides and technical reports. Technical writers can earn from 65K to 82K in a yearly salary. To become a technical writer one must hold a bachelors degree in English, Journalism, Communications or a technical related field. Technical writers most be skilled in online publishing software and programs. A writer must have a sharp eye for detail, research, and the ability to work under strict deadlines.

Journalist-

What a journalist does is collect news and valuable information to provide to the Mass public. Journalists report their information through the Radio, Television, News Papers, Magazine, and the Internet. To be part of this career one must have a minimum of a Bachelors Degree in Communication and or Journalism. Important skills a journalist must posses are writing, communication, visual communication, social perceptiveness, and problem solving according to education-portal.com. Also, Journalist have a potential to earn anywhere from 45K to 75K annually. One can also be an Editor, Copy editor and photojournalist.

Announcers-

Announcers present music, news and sports and may provide commentary or interview guest about certain topics or important events according to the United States Department of Labor. The median pay as an announcer is about 27K per year. Radio announcers need to have a neat and pleasing appearance, strong computer skills, people skills, research skills, speaking skills as well as writing skills. Because there is commonly short staff advancement in the field is low however, to advance the best one can do is go to a large network.

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Cameron, Wilcox, Reber & Shin (2008). Public Relations Today. Managing Competition and Conflict 1^st edition. Pearsons Educations, Inc.

Education Portal (2012). Hot to Become a Sports Broadcaster. Retrieved on October

30, 2012 from http://education-portal.com/how_to_become_a_sports_broadcaster.html

United States Department of Labor (2012). How to become and announcer. Retrieved on October 30, 2012 from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/announcers.htm#tab-4

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Delivering Bad News Tactfully & Effectively

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Delivering Bad News Tactfully and Effectively

           

            Employee productivity is important for a company who depend on a team of people to be able to achieve its mission statement to succeed. When an employee lacks production it can have a negative affect on the entire organization.  Many times employees fail to produce because they have other goals in mind that does not involve the company or personal issues at home that diffuse their work efficiency.  Within a management scenario provided. My staff members are required to maintain high level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One staff member of 2 years although, has produced years before, is now performing at a substandard level, has been part of recent complaints from co-workers and customers. Also, has been displaying confrontational behavior in which as created a hostile environment. Unfortunately, as a manager delivering bad news to employees who are in need of change is part of the job. In this paper I will share how I, as a manager will approach my employee and provide that person with an ultimatum of improvement or be dismissed. Also, I will anticipate the employee’s response and analyze the assertive communication technique that I will use towards this conflict.

            There are many ways I can approach this employee and deliver my message. I can send him an email, write a letter and communicate electronically or I can sit with this person face to face and have an interpersonal productive conversation. The best way to approach this person is via face- to-face interaction. When delivering bad news or towards this specific employee to lack being insensitive I will put my self in their shoes. When sitting the person down and beginning the process I will share aspects within his or hers performance that are positive. And or will thank this person for the hard work and dedication he or she has delivered for the company to this point. Opening my conversation this way will create a receptive audience. If I attack them with all the negative news from the beginning he or she will close up and will lack sharing his or her experience.

            My approach will also be assertive collaborative approach. I would go with this approach because I want to learn what is going on with him or her that is causing the issues. The person has been a loyal employee in the past and their might be something outside of work that is distracting the person. I want this employee to redeem themselves from all allegations and have a second chance. I want them to understand that we want the person as an employee but they will have to work hard and understand where the company is headed with or with out their cooperation. The assertive conflict resolution style “reflects the premise that all persons should communicate in a manner that does not violate one’s self-worth; the needs and goals of both persons have equal value. The outcomes of assertive behavior may include the accomplishment of goals, reinforcement of the self-concept, and relational development or maintenance.” (Cahn, 2011)

           

            I will remind the employee what the mission of the company is as well as the qualities that are important to make the company successful are. It is imperative that he or she knows what is important for the company so when I share his or her lack of production, attitude, and environmental impact he or she can understand where the company stands on there behavior. After I share my concerns and how his behavior lacks congruency with the company mission than I will provide him with an ultimatum. I would say in the most respectful and positive manner that he or she needs to step their game up production wise, develop a better working relationship with there co workers and provide exceptional customer service from hear on out or be released. Once providing him with this information to end the meeting I will end our encounter with a positive note so that there won’t be any negative energy between both parties.

            In conclusion, delivering bad news is part of Manager duties. It is something that is unfortunate however, I will make sure to put my self in the employees shoes so when stating my case I will not be insensitive to his or her feelings.  Also, I will open and end our interpersonal conversation with positive thoughts. Lastly, I will share the company mission statement and what we think would be important to make the company succeed. After sharing the company mission statement I will share what their attitude, production and environmental energy is causing the company so they can understand the ultimatum decision. 

 

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Reference:

Cahn, (2011) Managing Conflict Through Communication: VitalSource eBook for Ashford University, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions.

Four Different Media Technology Assignment: Comm 480

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 Four Different Media Technologies

            In "today's society", people utilize technology through the World Wide Web to interact with friends, family, and the world. The Internet allows us to communicate through many different channels to get our personal and professional messages heard. Four different media technologies that will be discussed are Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. All four media technologies are utilized via the World Wide Web and all four have factors that make each unique.

Blogs

            A blog is a web log in a website where users post ideas and discussions, all displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs can be used to connect to other similar discussion and to offer comment and provide feedback. Owners of blogs are organization owners, public relation specialist, people in the entertainment industry, business professionals, mothers and your every day people that have information they want to share to the world. Blogs are great for real-time information from custom feeds and e-newsletters on preselected topics such as health, science, technology or business (Lannon, 2008). Blogs can be created to deliver personal or professional news to a small group of people. They allow people to create stories that one's network of people who think similarly, can read and discuss. Prior to blogs people received most of their news via newspapers, radio and television. Now with blogs anyone can be a reporter and deliver news and ideas at rapid and customized way. To create a blog all one has to do is visit a website such as www.blogger.com. There, a person can create an account, with a user name and password. Select create a Blog, enter a name, choose a template, and finally begin Blogging. To design a blog entry, select Add Post, enter a heading, compose your message in the main body, and then select Publish Post. One can click on View Post to see how it will appear to others when they read it (Bowles, 2010)

 Twitter

140 Characters in each tweet is the maximum allowed.

            Twitter is another form of blogging that is streamed through a social network website. Twitter can be accessed and used by all people through one's computers, tablets, and cell phones. Twitter enables people to post short statements describing what one is doing at any given time of the day. Twitter account holders have a maximum of 140 characters for each post, which is called a tweet, so brevity is required. Typically, people use Twitter to discuss some of the ordinary activities that they do during the day. People are simply answering the question: What are you doing? (Bowles, 2010). People who use twitter include, but not limited to, Politicians, Celebrities, Artist, Businesses, and Business owners, Teenagers, Athletes and College Students. My personal twitter is EdwinsMind, if a person wants to follow my posts, what they would do is search for my name and click the follow button or they can visit www.twitter.com/EdwinsMind. Here people can see and get daily updates of what’s on my mind. Not only can they see my past posts, they can also see my network of people that I follow and network of people who follow me. Twitter is a great way to interact with people like athletes and celebrities. A person can mention a persons Twitter name in his or her 140-character message and that person can choose to interact or not with his or her fan.  When watching the ESPN channel many athletes who own a Twitter account say certain aspects about the sport they play or their teams for their fans to learn about. One has to be cautious about what they say on Twitter because it can damage ones relationship with their business and with the public if a comment is taken out of context.

Facebook 

My Personal Facebook Page

            Facebook is a social networking website that is used by millions of people. Facebook allows people to blog, establish private networks, share photos, and locate friends. People can open an account, to share experiences through pictures, thoughts and creativity. People can look for friends from high school, work, and requests friendships. Once a person creates an account, he or she will create a profile page. Within the profile page, a user can share information to the world or ones private network about themselves. People can interact with one another if one receives or asks for a friendship request. Facebook’s biggest attribute is the Wall. The wall on Facebook, is like a big note board where an account holder and his or her friend's can post notes. The wall can be used as news feed because people often share ideas or live updates on politics, relationships, celebrities, and sports games. One also has an option to like an organization, athlete, celebrity or television show. When a person chooses to like a certain company, athlete or organization the organization usually post events, quotes, or news about them or the organization for their fans to enjoy. As a member of Ashford University's Facebook page, I receive up-to-date news about graduation, classes, and login portal problems. Facebook can be used to market one's company or as an individual. Facebook allows a person to see a Facebook friend's network. This is great because people get job opportunities, find relationships and attend events based on the network they know. If one chooses to expand his or her network, that person can have an abundance of resources to contact if in need.

 YouTube

            YouTube is a website that allows people to upload videos for others to see. There slogan is "Broadcast your self". Through YouTube, Entertainment sensation Justin Bieber was discovered and now is a world pop sensation. Anyone can post a video of them singing, teaching a subject, or a video of a funny live event, movie, music and share it so people can see it. People on YouTube, can share their skills and passion with the world. I have also used YouTube to learn how to cook, fitness techniques, and communication techniques from experts. I have friends who post videos of themselve's singing or performing live during an entertainment event. The hopes are for the video to become so popular due to how many viewers they get to watch that the video becomes viral. When it becomes viral, this increases their exposure to the world and can land a possible record deal. If a person is interested in watching videos about current events, TV moments from the past, hobbies, film trailers, lectures, visit video.google.com and enter some search terms. According to YouTube's own statistics, every minute of the day, viewers are uploading 20 new hours of video (Bowles, 2010)

References:

Bowles, M. D. (2010). Introduction to Computer Literacy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Lannon, J. M. (2008). Technical communication (11th ed.) Ashford Custom. New York: Pearson Longman.