KTLA reporter highlights career

Speaker focuses on importance of networking

Jessica Boyer Arts & Entertainment Editor

Pierce College students received insightful networking information from KTLA reporter Kimberly Cheng at the final Media Arts Department Speaker Series event for the semester.

“I wanted to come here today because I really wanted to give you guys some information that could really help you because that’s what helped me when I was in college,” Cheng said. “When speakers would come in, I would keep notes from their lectures.”

More than 100 Pierce College Media Arts students attended the lecture in the Great Hall on Monday, April 28.

“I want to know what I can do to help you,” she said.

To begin the event, Assistant Professor of Journalism Stefanie Frith introduced Cheng to the audience and directed them to tweet questions from their phones to Cheng’s personal twitter including the hashtag “#ChengPierce.”

“I wish that someone had talked to us [in college] more about the power of networking,” she said.

“The best thing that you can learn is how to build a relationship.”

Her main focus in the lecture was to inform students of the importance of networking and creating relationships with potential employers.

“What can you do to help me grow and what can I do to help you,” Cheng said. “It might be as simple as being excited and interested in how the person got to their position.”

She described how students should start building relationships as soon as possible to create lifelong connections.

“I would put aside a few hundred dollars every year to meet people for lunch, dinner, coffee, if they could just talk to me on the phone for ten minutes,” Cheng said. “I would email people, I would ask my friends, colleagues, fellow students ‘Do you know someone who is in this business who can help me, just talk to me for ten minutes.”

Cheng discussed how working on her connections and persistence in communication helped her get every job as a reporter.