5 Signs PR Is The Career For You
(updated October 10th 2017)
At AMP3 PR we are constantly getting calls from college students and recent graduates who are interested in interning or beginning a career in public relations. They're all looking for that perfect opportunity to get a foot in the door at a New York PR firm, a place to launch their careers in PR. With that in mind, please find a list from PR Daily of the "5 signs PR is the career for you."
1. You remain cool under pressure.
"From a crisis involving a client to the hotel mailroom losing the press materials for a trade show, PR people deal with the unexpected nearly every day.
Sometimes you have to be creative: I was once at an event and looked in the “event bag” to find no tape to hang the signs directing attendees to the sign-in table, event room, etc. After looking high and low for a place to buy some tape and coming up empty, I bought a few packs of gum—the event staff all started chewing and stuck the signs to the wall with gum.
If you are the kind of person who can roll with the punches and find solutions, PR is for you. If you are more inclined to yell “Fire” and run down the hall, you may want a less hectic workplace."
At AMP3 PR, we could not agree with this statement more. At some point or another, everyone in PR has run into a situation like the story abvoe about the tape, and had to improvise. PR is a juggling act, and you must be a master juggler. You must also be a creative thinker and a problem solver, these are the tools that ensure you land on your feet when hit with the unexpected.
2. You are a smart phone addict. (Is the iPhone 10 better than the iPhone 8?)
"You can tweet, text, and talk on the phone at the same time—and yes, you actually do talk on your phone and know when a live conversation is necessary and when an email or text is OK."
This is truer now, as we head into 2014, more than ever. If you think of your phone as an extension of yourself and become anxious and agitated without it, then you'll be just fine. If you're constantly updating your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts on your phone while also handling a phone call, a text exchange, and playing the latest round of CandyCrush, you'll be just fine.
3. You are the resident proofreader.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Samantha on “Sex and the City” lied to you. Most PR people spend more time writing or editing than they do attending swanky parties with socialites and celebrities. To achieve success in PR, you need the ability to identify a good story and concisely articulate it in writing and verbally."
If only life as a NYC PR Agency practitioner were really as glamorous as portrayed on TV. Sure, there are events to attend and gift bags to collect, but this is real life, and the majority of your time is going to involve writing press releases and compelling media pitches, and you're job is going to depend on your ability to do those things. If you're not a strong writer, get working on it now. If verbal communication is not your strong suit, better start practicing. If glitz and glamour are what you're after, try another field.
4. You are a media junkie.
"You know the most shared YouTube videos and all about George Zimmerman. You understand what happened with the Kony 2012 campaign, and which presidential candidate rode with his dog in a crate on the top of his car and which one ate dog meat. And you are never far from Twitter.
A colleague once said, “PR people are like Jeopardy players, we know a little about everything.” While I prefer to think of us as the people who take it all on Cash Cab, the truth is that you need to be part walking encyclopedia of bizarre knowledge, part pop culture junkie, and part news addict. So, if you pride yourself on being the first of your friends to know all the latest, you may be built for a career in PR."
Well I think the PR Daily explanation says it all. Are you a voracious reader of all things pup culture and current events? Do you know all the latest cool products hitting the market and all the newest bars and restaurants opening in your city? If you do, keep at it. If you don't, start reading.
5. You are a stalker.
"Among the traits I look for in an entry level candidate are their inquisitive nature and their ability to find information. Nothing will stop the stalker from finding and reaching that one key journalist who is a perfect fit her his or her pitch; the stalker knows exactly where and how to find relevant information and never comes to me to say they don’t know something they could have easily found on Google.
It sounds simple but sometimes it is not. First, you need to know when you need more information. And second, you need to know how to find it. Again, it sounds straightforward, but a small change in your Google search terms is the difference between hundreds of pages of irrelevant information and the one killer statistic you need to make your press release work (and, yes, good PR people do think statistics can be killer).
While I prefer the term detective over stalker, the sentiment is the same. If you have a tendency to become like a dog with a bone when seeking out information, then this could be the career for you. There is a place for tenacity in PR, especially when it comes to hunting down information, be it a specific statistic or an editors direct email and phone number, and there's no place in PR for quitters.
If these 5 signs apply to you, well then welcome to the wonderful world of PR, we're happy to have you. Get out there and sell yourself, because the profession needs more people like you.
If you are interested in the original PR Daily article by Laura Finlayson, please see it here.
At AMP3 PR we are constantly getting calls from college students and recent graduates who are interested in interning or beginning a career in public relations. They're all looking for that perfect opportunity to get a foot in the door at a New York PR firm, a place to launch their careers in PR. With that in mind, please find a list from PR Daily of the "5 signs PR is the career for you."
1. You remain cool under pressure.
"From a crisis involving a client to the hotel mailroom losing the press materials for a trade show, PR people deal with the unexpected nearly every day.
Sometimes you have to be creative: I was once at an event and looked in the “event bag” to find no tape to hang the signs directing attendees to the sign-in table, event room, etc. After looking high and low for a place to buy some tape and coming up empty, I bought a few packs of gum—the event staff all started chewing and stuck the signs to the wall with gum.
If you are the kind of person who can roll with the punches and find solutions, PR is for you. If you are more inclined to yell “Fire” and run down the hall, you may want a less hectic workplace."
At AMP3 PR, we could not agree with this statement more. At some point or another, everyone in PR has run into a situation like the story abvoe about the tape, and had to improvise. PR is a juggling act, and you must be a master juggler. You must also be a creative thinker and a problem solver, these are the tools that ensure you land on your feet when hit with the unexpected.
2. You are a smart phone addict. (Is the iPhone 10 better than the iPhone 8?)
"You can tweet, text, and talk on the phone at the same time—and yes, you actually do talk on your phone and know when a live conversation is necessary and when an email or text is OK."
This is truer now, as we head into 2014, more than ever. If you think of your phone as an extension of yourself and become anxious and agitated without it, then you'll be just fine. If you're constantly updating your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts on your phone while also handling a phone call, a text exchange, and playing the latest round of CandyCrush, you'll be just fine.
3. You are the resident proofreader.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Samantha on “Sex and the City” lied to you. Most PR people spend more time writing or editing than they do attending swanky parties with socialites and celebrities. To achieve success in PR, you need the ability to identify a good story and concisely articulate it in writing and verbally."
If only life as a NYC PR Agency practitioner were really as glamorous as portrayed on TV. Sure, there are events to attend and gift bags to collect, but this is real life, and the majority of your time is going to involve writing press releases and compelling media pitches, and you're job is going to depend on your ability to do those things. If you're not a strong writer, get working on it now. If verbal communication is not your strong suit, better start practicing. If glitz and glamour are what you're after, try another field.
4. You are a media junkie.
"You know the most shared YouTube videos and all about George Zimmerman. You understand what happened with the Kony 2012 campaign, and which presidential candidate rode with his dog in a crate on the top of his car and which one ate dog meat. And you are never far from Twitter.
A colleague once said, “PR people are like Jeopardy players, we know a little about everything.” While I prefer to think of us as the people who take it all on Cash Cab, the truth is that you need to be part walking encyclopedia of bizarre knowledge, part pop culture junkie, and part news addict. So, if you pride yourself on being the first of your friends to know all the latest, you may be built for a career in PR."
Well I think the PR Daily explanation says it all. Are you a voracious reader of all things pup culture and current events? Do you know all the latest cool products hitting the market and all the newest bars and restaurants opening in your city? If you do, keep at it. If you don't, start reading.
5. You are a stalker.
"Among the traits I look for in an entry level candidate are their inquisitive nature and their ability to find information. Nothing will stop the stalker from finding and reaching that one key journalist who is a perfect fit her his or her pitch; the stalker knows exactly where and how to find relevant information and never comes to me to say they don’t know something they could have easily found on Google.
It sounds simple but sometimes it is not. First, you need to know when you need more information. And second, you need to know how to find it. Again, it sounds straightforward, but a small change in your Google search terms is the difference between hundreds of pages of irrelevant information and the one killer statistic you need to make your press release work (and, yes, good PR people do think statistics can be killer).
While I prefer the term detective over stalker, the sentiment is the same. If you have a tendency to become like a dog with a bone when seeking out information, then this could be the career for you. There is a place for tenacity in PR, especially when it comes to hunting down information, be it a specific statistic or an editors direct email and phone number, and there's no place in PR for quitters.
If these 5 signs apply to you, well then welcome to the wonderful world of PR, we're happy to have you. Get out there and sell yourself, because the profession needs more people like you.
If you are interested in the original PR Daily article by Laura Finlayson, please see it here.
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