Tian Ming | Jan. 20, 2008
 |
| Photo by Tian Ming |
| From left, J560 students Megan Williams, Emily Wilson and Yolanda Zhang talked with Hirons & Company’s Jim Parham (standing) last week. |
Students in lecturer Beth Wood’s J560 Principles of Public Relations course visited Hirons’ Bloomington offices Thursday. They were greeted with a slice of pizza and conversation, but the following discussion was all business.
“You have to help your clients look the way they look best,” said Parham of the goals of his profession and the importance of reputation. He is the chief operating officer of the company and has been in the public relations industry for more than three decades. He told the students that public relations work is much more than superficial news releases or brochures.
“It involves preserving your client’s reputation, managing crises, carrying out strategies and so on,” said Parham.
Over the 30 years he’s been in practice and as he’s watched Hirons evolve from an advertising firm into an integrated communication agency, Parham now says the big market lies in media planning and media buying.
To prepare for landing those jobs, Parham, who has taught PR classes at the School of Journalism several times over the years, suggested students going to interviews should seriously consider each question and avoid trite answers.
“When you are asked why you choose to work in PR industry, never say ‘I like work with people,’” he said. Instead, interviewees should show both what they already know and that they are eager to learn.
Parham also suggested students and new graduates work for a while, either as interns or new hires, and return to the classroom if they still find skills are missing. One student asked what he thought about PR professionals with masters of business administration degrees.
“I would love to have MBAs,” he responded, adding that it is the business knowledge that really matters.
Students said they appreciated Parham’s candor. “He is so straightforward,” said graduate student Jingting Zhao.
"He explained both the positive and negative aspects of the profession in addition to explaining a crisis happening in real time," graduate student Danielle Dravet said after the visit. "In doing so, we were able to see how many roles a PR practitioner must perform on any given day."
