I am often asked for advice on a career in the PR industry. Here are just a five thoughts…
Pay your dues. When you are first starting off in a career in PR, you really need to ring fence a few years just for gaining good, hardworking, unglamorous experience. Get your head down and slog, rather than thinking about the glory. If you get genuine experience early on, you’ll have a solid foundation to build on when the bigger, more exciting opportunities come along.
Be nice to people. It is the right thing to do. And people will remember you later in your career. PR is obviously about managing relationships. Build relationships with journalists – not just for the story you are currently working on but for longer term benefits. Same goes for clients and colleagues – and not just the marketing director. Where will the most junior member of staff that you deal be in five years’ time?
Take a risk! In PR, if you risk nothing, you win nothing. Don’t be afraid of big ideas, however new you are to the industry. Back your own thoughts and beliefs and you will get noticed. Big, crazy, outlandish ideas often pave the way to killer concepts that are more realistic.
In PR, if you risk nothing, you win nothing.
Read… a lot! Read PR text books and industry publications, read biographies for media and PR people and borrow ideas that you can put in your own words. You are not expected to know everything when you first join the profession but your proactive ideas are what will set you apart. Consider studying PR at undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Do work you are proud of, at the highest level you are allowed to. If it is writing a press release, make it your best. As soon as you can, enter PR industry awards. People who are negative about awards have never won any! Be healthily cynical about them but the process of entering them will help you evaluate what you are proud of and how to communicate this to other people.
And, one final bonus point… make sure you keep checking careers websites.
Good luck!
JustinMcKeown's Blog 
Great post.
These are really useful, and all things I try to adhere to having recently(ish) started my career.
Anthony
Thanks Anthony. Obviously there’s loads more that could be said – especially with regards to digital media – but these are some points I don’t hear too often. Thanks for the kind comment. ; )
wise words, and glad to see reading is in amongst the advice 🙂
Thanks Jane. Developing a PR career without voracious reading is like being a the dog from the story of the Little Red Hen (see http://bit.ly/ekwSpF )
Good advice for final year PR students like me! I think a lot of people are afraid to take risks…that’s what i want to work on.
Glad to hear it. Of course, you have to do the hard work before you can take the risk but that’s where the fun is.
Like Jane, I’m pleased to see that reading gets a mention.
I have a sporadic ‘bookshelf’ feature at Behind the Spin in which practitioners or academics list – and very briefly describe – the ten books they’ve found most useful in their careers. (Not limited to textbooks; nursery rhymes welcome too).
Are you up for this challenge?
Some great nuggets here Justin that will all be expanded on at the CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Young Practitioners’ Networking Event in Leeds on 3 Feb. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/gihqLD
These tips probably apply to all industry sectors don’t they? Great post!