The Man: Ernesto Gluecksmann Guest Speaker Reflection

Ernesto Gluecksmann talked in our COMM107 class Wednesday, October 13, about what was labeled as “Interviewing Successfully and Social Media in the Job Search.” While he did cover those topics, and cover them well, I learned much more than those two concepts from Ernesto.

He spoke casually, but projected confidence. He dressed casually too, with a grey shirt, jeans, and his characteristic sunglasses perched atop his head (a common resting place for them, based on his Facebook photos). His MacBook, plastered with stickers, had trouble starting Keynote and projecting it onto the screen. While he tinkered with the technology to get it working right, Ernesto talked with the class about some of his points. What could have been a boring, awkward start to the class while we waited for him to iron out the presenter turned into a normal, engaging interaction.

Working for a web development company in D.C., Ernesto handles “tough web projects.” Since he has to find new clients constantly, he says he interviews a minimum of five people a week. As a journalism major, I know I’ll have to interview sources eventually. But five a week seems impressive, especially as a minimum! Ernesto, to me, seemed to be a great subject for my guest speaker blog post reflection, because he works almost like an investigative journalist—my future career, hopefully.

He told us a great story about figuring out if a representative for “The Globalist” was a good client for his company’s services. The “something extra” that the rep said over coffee was that a rival company didn’t have enough time or resources to offer what Ernesto’s company can also offer. So, naturally, Ernesto did some investigation. He went to the competitor’s website, looked for a “Client Relations” employee, found him, then sought him out on LinkedIn. He saw two shared connections, and then starting hanging out with the competition to build rapport. Ernesto should have met up with the Client Relations consultant today, in fact.

Besides being a great asset to his company, Ernesto is a good example for us as communication students and me as a journalism major. He gave us invaluable interviewing tips, most importantly to simply engage people. At networking events, he says, it’s important to just walk up to people and find out what they do and what they need. Like a good journalist, Ernesto keeps connections in the back of his head to draw from later when he needs them. In his words, we are “always interviewing” in our social interactions. I agree; we inherently search for information through conversations and other forms of communication.

In terms of social media, Ernesto talked mainly about Twitter. That service’s easy following capabilities are a great way to become friends with people at your own companies or others. He also mentioned Blogger as our “body of work,” and that people who hire us will Google us. He said to not be needy in the job search, too. A few years ago, Ernesto would have sounded ridiculous as an early adopter of what were then seen as passing fads. But today, Ernesto is ahead of the curve, using social media as a great platform for launching his career to greater heights. Some of that knowledge was passed to our class through his presentation.

As others mentioned, the most innovative and useful part of Ernesto’s interviewing advice was likely his suggestion to ask open-ended questions—and then shut your mouth! He said that you get tons of information from the interviewee filling in awkward silences. And finally, he told us to “GO BIG!” I’m glad I chose Ernesto as my guest speaker. He gave a great talk, inspired me, and helped us see how we can better interview people. Thanks Ernesto!