Now that college is back in full swing, you could be overwhelmed with a full course load on top of looking for internships or your first job post-graduation. Add the presence of the Delta variant, and beginning or advancing your career in Public Relations might seem impossible. Take a breath and check out these four tips to help any aspiring PRo through.
Set manageable goals
You’re in school. You have classes, homework, your social life and mental health to think about, not to mention research, informational interviews and applying for jobs or internships. You need to make all this work manageable. Use SMART goals to set your projects up for success. These are goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
To start looking for your dream job or internship in PR, set a goal to connect with your network, but make it SMART. Be specific: Make it a goal to set up a time to chat with your favorite PR professor to learn more about their career before becoming a professor. Make it measurable by meeting with each of your PR professors or a new professor once a month. Set a realistic goal to find two jobs that you would like to apply for biweekly. If your goals during school aren’t SMART and manageable, you can burn yourself out and end up feeling depleted.
Use your social skills
Social media is already such an important part of your life, because who doesn’t want to spend an endless amount of time scrolling through TikTok!? Incorporate that feeling and dedication into your professional social channels. Take advantage of your savvy skills and use your platform to find jobs, make connections and more.
According to Jobvite’s 2020 Recruiter Nation report, the social media channels most used for recruiting are:
- LinkedIn (72%)
- Facebook (60%)
- Twitter (38%)
- Instagram (37%)
LinkedIn can also be a great place to develop specific skills with LinkedIn Learning, which is free for a month. Take some time to build your personal brand online. This is a huge step in standing out among your peers and making connections in the industry.
Develop your skills
If you’re studying PR, Marketing or any kind of Communication-related career, it’s very likely you’re creating and managing a variety of projects. Save them! Your coursework is one of your key selling points when it comes to landing that internship or job. Every project you do means more practice you have with PR materials and processes. Create a PR portfolio of your class press releases, media advisories and campaign projects. Even if it seemed like a small class project or homework assignment, every project reinforces your existing experience, and all of it can help you land that internship.
In the PR industry, it is important to be a diligent communicator, both verbal and written. Whether you’re drafting social media content, pitching reporters, or on the phone with clients, communication is one of the most important skills to have, if not the most important. Use all the opportunities you have while in school to work on communicating. Just like with anything, the more you practice, the better. Write every day, even if it’s a sentence or just an idea. Read everything to learn new perspectives. This will make you a better communicator and allow you to relate to different types of people from clients to coworkers. It can also help expand your vocabulary, making you a more successful writer.
Use this time in school to take all the opportunities around you to become the PR professional you want to be!
Are you a college student or recent grad looking to get your foot in the door of PR agency life? We’re now accepting internship applications for Spring 2022! Dittoe PR’s paid internship offers both full-time and part-time options. Check out our application call-out.
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