As a current final year Communication, Advertising and Marketing student, and having recently completed a year’s Regional Communications placement at The Walt Disney Company EMEA in London, I’ve come to appreciate the key inner workings of the PR industry that can only really be discovered outside of the lecture theatre, and on the job.
Increasingly, it seems that your academic achievements can only take you so far in the hunt for a job, with most employers valuing experience above all else, and so it’s more important than ever to get out there and into the nitty-gritty of the industry.
With that in mind, here are 3 things, in my experience, which I learned through my work experience, which my academic studies couldn’t teach me:
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NETWORKING IS KEY
The PR industry really is all about who you know! It was only through my work experience that I began to realise how fundamentally social the industry is. Alongside the fact that you’re always working as part of a wider team, networking is a core function of the profession, and occurs not only in the work environment, but at industry events and gatherings and nights out! PR professionals build up relationships with stakeholders and journalists over time, sometimes years, and retain these relationships throughout their careers. Whilst we learn this in theory as part of our university degree, actually witnessing these interactions in real life is essential for budding PR professionals, to develop the skills to form your own relationships with these types of people. Throughout my time with The Walt Disney Company, I met some great people from all over the world – exposure and experience which is very hard to come by so early on in my career. It is essential that we learn how to put ourselves out there and build a personal brand of sorts.
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THIS IS NOT A 9-5 JOB
I hate to break it to you, but PR professionals don’t always live the glamorous life that Samantha Jones portrays in Sex and the City; they work exceptionally hard! With constant deadlines across several projects, it can get a bit overwhelming, but some of the best advice I received was from the intern before me, who told me, “You’ll get out of it what you put in.” Throughout my year I found this to be 100% true. Coming in early and working later than expected is all part of the job, but it’s worth it when the end product finally comes together. The world of PR really is non-stop!
3. IT’S A LOT OF FUN
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” – Mary Poppins
Remember I said it wasn’t all glamour and fun? This isn’t necessarily true. During my placement, I got to work on some incredible projects, like the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, numerous press junkets (including one in Milan), and countless events. Whilst I worked hard approaching all of these projects, it made them all the more rewarding to be a part of the final execution, and meant I could enjoy what I was doing. PR professionals work hard, but they play harder!
Meeting Anthony Daniels at the Star Wars “Fashion Finds The Force” event last year.
PR is a really exciting industry for young professionals, and is one I have become truly enthralled with after having been given the chance to see how it really works from an inside perspective. Additionally, in today’s world, PR is an intrinsic operation within every aspect of our surroundings and culture. With its diverse nature, and the ever-changing role of the PR practitioner, PR is set to remain a key part of business, and a growing industry constantly on the hunt for new talent. This being said, a university degree is no longer enough; PR hopefuls must aim to accumulate industry experience throughout their studies, in order to have the best chance of cracking, and succeeding in, this great industry.
Charlotte Goss is a 4th year CAM student at Ulster University. She can be contacted at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-goss-b4389895, and on Twitter @CharlotteGoss94