In theory, a high school graduate should be able to go to college, get an undergraduate degree in Public Relations or Communication Arts, and be set to start a career in public relations. However, in today’s world, competition is fierce – especially in public relations which is such a popular industry at this time.
I think, subconsciously, I have been preparing myself to be a workhorse from a very young age. When I decided I wanted to be a competition cheerleader and threw myself into gymnastics, I spent 5-6 days of the week in a gym pounding the mats. Even now, I still refuse to be a show pony. I have always told myself since I committed to this path that I wasn’t going to get where I wanted to be without working for it. I believe that in order to secure a job in public relations after undergrad, you must be willing to put the work in during undergrad. Being active on campus, holding leadership positions, and taking a job that will teach you more about public relations than any class – are important. According to Marketing Mel, a PR pro, looking for opportunities like these are ways to set yourself up for success.
The more you “work” and the more active you are, the more people you meet. Networking is especially important to the public relations field. You will never know when you may need to call on someone to run a press release or find a job. According to PR Channel, public relations graduates should “take advantage of networking opportunities with PR professionals in their area…They will appreciate [their] initiative, and [they] may have an edge should a job opening become available.” Networking is always a positive thing because you never know who you might have the chance of meeting!
The final thing public relations students must do in order to secure a job in public relations is to get over the mentality of being “above” entry-level positions. We will all be interns doing the dirty work at one point at another, and we will all work our way up. However, having that type of attitude towards job prospects could make undergraduates miss out on some really great experience.
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I agree with everything in this post. To secure a job in PR it is so important to work hard at it. I believe getting involved while still in school is very important. It will help set you above the rest if your employer has seen you are very involved in your school. I also believe networking will majorly help in the field of PR because it the field is all about knowing the right people.
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I love all your blogs Megan! This one was my favorite so naturally I commented. Getting involved is a huge thing to do when you’re in school because once you get out you’ll have an idea of what is needed to be done. Networking like Allie said above is another thing that will help in the field that we all are going to pursue. Knowing the right and wrong people will help us get to where we need to be.
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Megan, I completely agree with everything in your post! Just at the begginning of my junior year is when I decided to change my major to PR, and since then I have tried getting involved in as much as I can that will help me land a job. I believe it is important for studetns to understand how many great oppurtunities we have at Georgia Southern while we are undergrads. Once we leave, most of our resources will be gone so it is important to use them, especially when your paying so much for your degree. I have never thought much about your last comment on working your way up with a good attitude. I feel like everyone thinks they will get out of school with a glamorous PR job, but it is going to take a lot of working up the line to get to that point.
This was very helpful..I am thirtynine and and lookikg at changing careers my job now has me doind some pr work but I would like to learn more. Be more aggressive at what I do. I have some Ideas anddont know where to srart them any suggestions