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“Finding your first job won’t be easy,” or so said Fred Whiting, accredited public relations professional in Washington D.C., talking to public relations students assembled from all across the United States at a conference last weekend at American University’s Public Relations Student Society of America workshop sessions.
This year, the activity featured representatives from The Martin Agency, Manning Selvage & Lee, Ketchum, Ogilvy Public Relations, Ringling Brothers, the FBI and other governmental agencies.
“Listen and learn,” said Whiting. The purpose of an interview is to get an offer and the purpose of an offer is to help you decide if the job is something you want. In order to get the offer, he said your resume has to scream, “talk to me!”
Don’t be afraid of your student status, he advised. Use opportunities in classroom and around campus. Taillor the experiences you have had in college to the job you are applying for.
“The business world is very different from the classroom,” he said. “It’s good to develop a thick skin, because you are going to need it. You’ll make lots of mistakes at first. Learn from them. And don’t take criticism personally.”
Whiting emphasized the much of what students have learned in the classroom is theoretical and a student should never go into an interview or a job pretending to know all. Whiting said instead to “apply your knowledge of PR theory to construct practical solutions.”
What is the goal of good PR? According to Rodney Huey of the Ringling Brothers, it is to “create solid and valued public relations for your clients instead of settling only for publicity.” In Huey’s workshop on “The Ropes of Entertainment Public Relations,” students took part in a discussion of the difference between publicity and public relations in the field of entertainment PR.
According to Huey, in this celebrity culture, the greatest advantage for a PR professional in the entertainment industry is that people are innately interested in the lives of other people. What is the greatest challenge for entertainment public relations professional? That people are innately interested in the lives of other people.
With clients such as Geico and UPS, Danny Robinson of The Martin Agency was faced with an uneasy task. Responsible for the Geico Cavemen and the UPS white board commercials and the Dale Jarrett “Race the Truck” campaign, the job for The Martin Agency is to integrate brands and extend their campaigns deeper into popular culture.
Kevin Saghy, immediate past president of PRSSA National, currently is working as an account coordinator of corporate practice at Ketchum in Chicago. Saghy gave a presentation about PRSSA National’s resources and opportunities. He explained what seniors should know about their first job.
“All about your attitude” he said. “Don’t get too casual too quickly. It is good to be part of the team but keep it professional. That loose attitude is a liability. Keep in mind that you are still a professional.”
Concerning finding your first job out of college, Saghy told the students not to be scared of a post grad internship or externship.
“Think of it as a trial period,” he said. “In the grand scheme of your life, two or three months is not bad.”
Once you land that job, be a team player and maintain a can-do attitude.
“Make yourself so visible in that office that they can’t see life without you,” Saghy said.
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