Today in my networking challenge I am interviewing Kat Krull. Kat is the Associate Marketing Director at Resunate. She was recently an intern at the company but just got a full time job so congratulations Kat and I am excited to share what you learned about getting a job with Classy Career girl readers!
In case you are reading this at work and can’t watch the video, you can read all of the great advice below instead!
1) You have an usual career path, how did you end up at your current job?
I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an industrial engineering degree. While I was in school I did five separate internships. By time time I graduated, I had a lot of knowledge about industrial engineering and I found that wasn’t a path I wanted to pursue any longer. I ended up volunteering for Americorps for a year and I tutored disadvantaged teenage boys. After I was done, I still didn’t really know that I wanted to do professionally. I ended up doing a lot of research and going to a lot of networking events. Finally I came across a product marketing engineer internship position for a startup company. It appealed to me because I had taken a marketing class in college that I really liked and thought it might something I would be interested in doing. Also, I had worked for a lot of non-profits but never for a company as small as a startup.
2)How did you get your current job as Associate Marketing Director?
I was very interested so when I found it, I immediately called up Careerimp offices and told them that I was very interested in this position and was wondering if it was still available. They told me it was and to email them my resume. So that is what I did, I was really excited about the opportunity so I blindly sent in my resume without tailoring it. A couple of days later I was thinking about the job and I realized I probably wasn’t going to get the job because I didn’t have any marketing experience on my resume. I knew I needed to think outside the box so I ended up researching the company a little more. I found that their main product is Resunate, an online resume and job application tool that allows you to tailor and optimize your resume for a specific job. I knew this was a perfect opportunity for me to tailor my resume for this job using Resunate and hopefully I would have a better chance at getting a job. After I finished I couldn’t have just sent in a duplicate email, so I printed out my resume and went down to the CareerImp offices and went into an impromptu interview. I handed my resume to the marketing manager and told her that I used resonate and loved it and was very interested in the position and why I thought I was a good fit for the position. After that, I got an email from the marketing manager who said she really liked my initiative and she asked me to come onboard as the intern. That was in October and in December they offered me a full time job as Associate Marketing Manager.
3) How did it go just walking into the company and handing them your resume since so many people are nervous about doing that?
In the past I have tried it out and it hasn’t worked because you just hand your resume to someone and they give it to someone else later on. But I do think it is really good because it does show initiative. Because this was such a small startup company, I was able to just go in and speak to the marketing manager. If you are able to get that face to face interaction I think that is huge and very helpful.
4) What are the steps that you took when researching different careers?
I did a lot of research online. I went to the onet, which shows you what different careers are all about. I also researched a lot of grad programs because I thought I might want to go back to grad school. I went to universities and talked to them about the grad programs. I also did a lot of networking and reached out to everyone that I could. I reached out to my family, friends and acquaintances. I just tried to talk to them about their careers and what they did and also about open opportunities that they knew of to see if it was something that maybe I wanted to do. I also did the Myers Briggs assessment which was really helpful because it showed me what my personality strengths were so I could choose a career that had those strengths. You can actually take it on Resunate for only $19.95 but if you take the official version elsewhere it is up to $100. I definitely recommend taking it because it was very helpful for me in deciding what I wanted to do. Finally, I really just self-reflected. I tried to figure out what I was really good at and what I am passionate about and how much money I want to make in my life because those are all very important considerations.
5) What is your favorite part about your job in the marketing field?
I really like the fact that it is very creative. I am always doing different things and having to think outside the box which I really enjoy. I also really like the fact that I am always talking to people. I am always brainstorming and coming up with ideas with my co-workers and creating strategies.
6) Did you know a lot about social media before you started?
I didn’t know a lot about social media. My sister was a social media consultant so she helped me a lot when I started the position. Now I feel like I know so much about it because I do so much with it. I do love socia media.
7) What do I wish I would have known when I first chose a career path?
I wish I had done a little more research when I was selecting a major in school. I know I was very busy in high school just trying to get into college let alone picking a certain major or career I wanted to pursue. So I wish I would have done a little more research and shadowed more people and really just learned about more opportunities that were out there. A lot of people when you are trying to figure out what to do will tell you because of three things 1) stability 2) money 3) you are good at math so maybe accounting would be great for you. But, what I have learned is that work becomes such a big part of your life after college that you really want to be happy in your career. No matter what anyone else says, you really have to look within yourself and decide what is going to make you happy and what are you going to enjoy doing for the rest of your life.
8 ) What are you tips to young professionals who are currently in an internship that they want to turn into a full time job? What should they do to make a great impression on an employer during an internship?
Make sure that you show them that you can be responsible and that you go to work no to work on time. Also, show that you are willing to stay a little late at work. If you are still working on a project and you are supposed to go home, stay longer. Also, make sure that you have good time management skills and that you accomplish all of your deadlines on time and show that you know how to prioritize. Also, show that you have really strong work ethic. Go and take initiative and work really really hard. Go above and beyond. Do the best job possible on all of your tasks. This will really show that you are very valuable to the company which will make you indispensable at the end. Also, show that you are very passionate about what you are doing. If you don’t show that you are passionate, they won’t think that you care. Show that you are passionate about the company and the project or service that they provide. The last thing I recommend is to ask questions. I think a lot of interns and people starting out at an entry level job are afraid to ask questions because it seems like everyone else around them knows all of the answers all the time so they feel stupid for asking questions. But that is what you are there for to learn as much as you can in the time that you have there to learn about the company, the product or service and to learn about your specific job. That will really help you decide at the end of your internship, if you want to continue doing that or if you want to move on to something else. These tips also work for if you want a raise or a promotion as well.
9) Where can people find you online?
You can visit the Resunate website. It is a great tool and definitely helped me land my job. You can also find me on Twitter and we have a twitter chat called #resuchat which is every other Tuesday at 8PM EST. You can go there to learn about everything resumes. We always have a guest host who answers some of the most important job search questions. You can also find me on Facebook as well.
Note: I am an affiliate for Resunate because I have used it and recommend it. If you purchase an account through my links I will earn a commission. When you order through my link, it helps me continue to offer you lots of free stuff so thank you in advance for your support!
