On Monday, Oct. 23, Cal State Fullerton’s National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAJH) hosted its fourth event, "Building Your Personal Brand,” and took place in Titan Student Union (TSU) at Gilman AB from 4 to 5:50 p.m.
This event aimed to educate students about internships, scholarships, resumes and building a brand on social media while becoming independent, safe and self-sufficient.
NAHJ had called their club's previous president and current serving NAHJ LA Vice President Jorge Flores. He wears several hats, such as being an alumnus of Cal State Fullerton, former vice president of the Orange County Hispanic Youth Chamber Of Commerce, a National Association of Hispanic Journalists member, a public speaker and many more. Due to his extensive resume, students were eager to learn and understand the world of journalism further from him.
Flores started with his presentation; he discussed three topics: his leading role at the NAHJ LA chapter, the advantages students can utilize from the chapter, and ways to improve or add to their resumes. He further explained the chapter's different categories of scholarships and internships, such as the ESPN internship, CBS News internship, Cecilia Alvear Scholarship/Ana Real Scholarship, Ada Lourdes Vigo Afro-Latino Scholarship and White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship. Each scholarship is listed in terms of the interests and backgrounds of the students. Still, nevertheless, they are for every passionate student who wants to make a difference and shed light on the Latino community.
During his presentation, students were given different types of tacos: carne asada and al pastor, beef and pork paired with red and green salsa, and Coca-Cola as their primary beverage.
As Flores continued, he discussed the most significant event of all time: that NAHJ will host their 40th Anniversary: Conference and EXPO. The magnificent event will occur in Hollywood, California, on July 9th. It is a perfect opportunity for students to interact with professionals from different journalism industries and learn about their journey. He kept encouraging and motivating students to join the conference because this event was another way of breaking out of their shells and conversing confidently with professionals.
After completing his first part of the presentation, Flores asked students whether they should continue or take a five-minute break. Students looked at one another and looked toward Flores, mentioning that he should continue his presentation. His next slide was about resumes, building your brand and the ways to improve your LinkedIn page.
He addressed that building a proper resume is very important, but having a professional profile picture is also necessary. If not, potential recruiters might misunderstand their persona with their clothing.
He also mentioned that if students have additional experiences, such as podcasting, graphic designing for a website or editing for their school’s newspaper, they should share their portfolio as it helps boost their resume.
The same aspect goes with internships, where students should continue to apply even if they receive multiple rejections. He also mentioned that they should follow up with their interviewer after applying for an internship. It helps them understand that someone is genuine and interested in working with their team.
The event ended with a final Q-and-A, and a couple of students went to Flores for one-to-one conversations. The executive boards and Flores took a group picture to make the event memorable.
