You are the campaign

College seniors who are about to graduate may be facing growing anxiety about that future job hunt. Students of Public Relations are at an advantage if they can treat the job search like a PR campaign. What is the product, who is the audience, what is the message, and how could it best be conveyed to that audience?

What is the product? Make a list of your skills, accomplishments, jobs, and areas of interest in your studies. What clubs or organizations do you or have you belonged to and what did you do for them? It can be difficult to promote yourself. It could be easier to think of yourself as the product that you are trying to sell. What do you have to offer? If you haven’t already you should begin putting a portfolio together.

Who is the audience? Begin by making a list of where you want to be living after graduation. Do you want to stay in the town that you are attending college or are you open to going where the jobs are? Study the market there. Who are the PR pros in that community? Joining LinkedIn can be extremely helpful. You can join PR groups and see what people are saying. Study the websites of these firms or companies and memorize their past clients. Make a note of their past work and even what non-profit they may be affiliated with. Look for the people listed in LinkedIn that work for these companies and if they have a photo on their profile memorize the face and the name. You never know when you may have a chance to meet these people. If and when you do meet them you will immediately set yourself apart by mentioning that you know who they are and what they do.

Now that you have developed a quality product and identified the audience how are you going to connect the two? It is best to get started on your resume while you are still in school and can get advice from a number of people. Ask that professor, the design major in your elective, your fellow PR students. They can all give you tips on how your message is coming across. How would you approach the hip new PR firm differently as opposed to the financial institution? For the first you might send a resume with a QR code that links to your webpage, whereas the latter may respond more to a standard resume on heavy stock parchment.

Promoting yourself is much like promoting a brand through social media. It requires listening to what people want, as well as telling them what makes you special. Even if you aren’t graduating this year, it would be smart to begin studying jobsites to see what companies are looking for. What class could you take that will set you apart when you are out there pounding the pavement? What aspect of PR could you personally improve upon? Work on projects that will showcase your talents, but also on projects that will strengthen your weaknesses.

The 2010-11 Occupational Outlook Handbook says that the public relations field is expected to grow much faster than average, but the competition will be fierce in entry-level positions. So the jobs are out there and they will continue to grow, but you will have to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Why should the targeted audience buy your product? Give them a reason that they can’t say no.

Lesson of the week

The lesson that I learned this week is applicable to anyone starting a new business as well as people starting out in the Communication, PR, and/or Advertising industry. I learned this the hard way and it is not something that is taught in most classrooms so take heed! Drumroll, please.

When starting work with a new client make sure you get a specific deadline.

This may seem obvious to some of you and I wish it had been to me. Not all clients are going to be big-name corporations. Some are people who are new to the business also. When we were told that they wanted the product (in this case a brochure) they said they wanted it “as soon as possible”. We were eager to get started and got some excellent work done, but apparently their ASAP was different from our ASAP and we lost the client. Very embarrassing, but something that will NOT happen again.

Now we have made a note to ALWAYS ask the exact date that the first draft is due and when the finished product needs to be completed and approved. Admitting that you have made a mistake is extremely hard and posting it for all to see is even more difficult. Please take this in the spirit that it was intended; to help others that are new to this business and, maybe, to show that being new isn’t always a liability in the job market. We may make mistakes, but we learn from them. And, we bring a fresh perspective and excitement to our projects that you won’t get from someone who has been doing this for a long time. Experts are great and it’s definitely preferable, but we can’t ALL be experts. Plus, you don’t have to pay us as much as the experts!

Check out this post on the “expert” phenomena at http://linkd.in/nU44ft

                                                                                                                                                           Until next time! Good luck to you all!

Why Communication

When I was twelve my school science project was chosen to be entered in the city-wide Science Fair. Kids from all over Houston converged on this one junior high for the fair and while we waited for our projects to be judged we sat in the auditorium and talked. None of us knew each other, which may have made it easier to open up, but that day I had a conversation like I had never experienced before.

There we were, sitting in this big empty auditorium, about eight of us. We talked about love, we talked about God, we talked about the problems of the world. Someone would share their view on something and my view would expand. We all became larger by opening our minds to each other. I felt like I was filled with helium when I went home that night.

Twenty-eight years later I was talking to someone about not knowing what I wanted to do with my life (still!) and my friend asked me what made me feel more alive, more myself, than anything else. This moment in the auditorium immediately came to mind and I knew. Communication.

Now I’m about to graduate with a BA in Communication with an emphasis on PR and I feel even more strongly that the times that I have been at my best are when I’ve expanded on my own knowledge by discussing things with a group of people.  I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to be the Account Executive at Blue House PR, a student-run firm, with some beautifully like-minded people.

While sometimes public relations gets a bad rap, what drew me to it was what it stands for at it’s best. Public Relations people are the liaisons between the public and the client. It is a two-way street. We are not only here to make a corporation look good, but to help the corporation hear what the public expects from it. We can be so much more than branding experts or image consultants. We can push the bottom line into something better. We can help shape the world!

 Okay, I got a little excited there. I’m going to bring it back home now. I want to share with you what I learn as I learn it. I will never be an expert. I will always be growing and learning and I want to share that with you. When you think that maybe you are the only person on Earth that doesn’t know what their doing 100% of the time, you are not alone. I’m here. And we can learn together.