Unconventional Career Paths

As we close out 2016, the #PRStudChat community will gather together on Tuesday, December 13th at 8:30 p.m. ET to discuss how Millennials can find success through unconventional career paths and passion projects. Our special guest and co-host leading the Twitter discussion will be Jessica Lawlor, President and CEO of Jessica Lawlor & Company. Jessica spent six years in corporate PR before launching her own business.

Today, Millennials can take a different approach to business by finding unconventional opportunities after they graduate. Many don’t realize there are various ways to jumpstart a career, which could mean starting your own business, creating a blog, developing  a side hustle, and diving into various passion projects that lead to new ideas and a whole new realm of career exploration.

The questions / topics our community of students, professionals, and educators will answer and discuss the night of the 13th include:

• How do I know if I’m entrepreneur ready?

• What are some of the business skills you need as an entrepreneur?

• Do you have to be good at sales if you want to be in business?

• What has helped you to discover your true passion or joy in your career / life?

• What can you do to learn more about taking an unconventional career path and finding your passion project?

• Should you volunteer your time to find out more about a career path?

• Define career success … what does it look like to you?

• Do you have a side hustle and what are the benefits? If not, would you consider starting one?

• What is holding you back from pursuing your passions? How can you break through that block?

• What advice would you give to a friend / professional who wants to take an unconventional career route?

A little more about our special guest, Jessica Lawlor … After six years in the corporate PR world, Jessica left her job to start her own communications agency focused on content management/development, public relations, writing, social media strategy and branding. Her writing has been published on various websites including Brazen Careerist, Ragan’s PR Daily, Muck Rack, SpinSucks.com, Mediabistro, Business Insider and AOL Jobs. Jessica regularly speaks to groups about personal branding, public relations, and social media. 

We hope you’ll join us on December 13th for an unconventional career discussion. As always, we welcome your questions before or during the chat session. You can tweet @PRStudChat, @ValerieSimon, @dbreakenridge or @jesslaw with your questions. Be sure to also visit our LinkedIn Group to share your ideas.

About #PRStudChat:

It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU). “Is PR Right for me?” A follow-up blog post by PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals … A community where everyone can learn and grow together.