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When I first started my PR & Marketing degree, I always imagined that these two majors would rarely overlap in the real world. How wrong I was! I'm currently completing my internship at my place of work - I work 30 hours a week as the Marketing Assistant at WA PCYC - and my role has really proven how much all communications roles are intertwined. Even though PR isn't even included in my job title, about 50% of my role could be considered PR-based activities.
For example...
- I manage 1 Twitter page and 3 Facebook pages, and then oversee another 19 Facebook pages that our individual centres also have access to.
- I write media releases regularly and liaise with (mostly local) media most weeks - we need to have a great relationship with local media as our centres are scattered all over the State.
- With the above also comes maintaining media distribution lists, tracking which stories were picked up and ensuring we have copies for our records, which I'm also responsible for.
- I'm accountable for producing WA PCYC's bi-monthly newsletter, Intervention (which I'm excited to say will be getting a fresh new look soon!).
- I am currently on a three-person planning team for WA PCYC's 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner, which involves working closely with our internal stakeholders and various suppliers.
- I'm also on a three-person planning team for the 2016 Youth and Community Justice Conference, which will be held in October. The Conference boasts speakers like WA Police Commissioner Dr Karl O'Callaghan, Chief Justice of WA Wayne Martin AC QC, ACIC CEO Chris Dawson APM and the 2IC of ASIO, so stakeholder management is essential.
- For the above two events, I'm responsible for creating and implementing a PR plan to maximise ticket sales and secure media coverage of the events. I've also designed the invitations and programs for both events.
- Even in the more marketing-type duties I do, my PR skills are so valuable - you're not taught how to write succinct yet engaging copy in your marketing degree.
Since the cross-over between
disciplines and duties can be pretty large (especially when you're working in
an in-house comms role), I think having extra skills can always be helpful and
can even give you a bit of an edge in interviews! If there were 3 tips I could
give first year PR students, they would be:
- Learn your way around the Adobe
Suite.
Having a basic knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator will help you so much! I know that we now have Canva for creating social media tiles, but I sometimes find some of my favourite fonts aren't supported by the platform - plus it's not a photo-editing software. Adobe offers a great deal on their student subscription, so it's worth checking out. There are heaps of free tutorials on Youtube to help you on your way. - Learn how to read and code basic
HTML.
I'm not saying that you need to know how to code an entire website, but even knowing how to insert a picture or create bold text through code will put you in good stead. In fact, while formatting this post I had to go in to the HTML editor to override the rich-text "compose" mode, as it wasn't formatting the way I wanted it to look. Codecademy has some FREE basic courses you can take if you're unsure where to start. - Learn how to use different
communications platforms.
MailChimp, SurveyMonkey, PRWire and Hootsuite are just some of the platforms you'll encounter in your travels, and if you're a proficient user of them you'll be making your bosses life so much easier. Plus, if your boss hasn't used that specific platform before, you've now got a unique skill to bring to the table. Win-win!
I'm by no means professing to be an expert, so I'd love to learn from you!
What are your top three tips for PR students/graduates to help put them a step above their competition?
'Til next time,
Jess.
3 comments:
Jess,
Thanks for this great post! I have noticed that quite a few jobs on seek would like applicants to have photoshop and illustrator- design skills. This made me happy to see the adobe suite tip in your post, because I have noticed that some of the-especially creative positions have listed adobe suite skills as a requirement. For me personally, I have an interest in photography and photoshop, but haven't really immersed myself in it because I think I should be prioritising other things. After reading your post however, I have been able to convince myself that it would be more than just a hobby for me - because it might make me a more desirable candidate for some employers! As soon as I finish this semester, I will seriously look into studying photography and design, or teaching myself!
P.S Love the images in your post. Oh, and did you know that you can also learn and practice basic coding on tumblr?
Hey Jess,
I really enjoyed reading your blog- I'm also impressed with how busy you are, and your ability to manage full-time work and Uni! Seeing what you do in your job was also interesting as the crossover with Marketing and PR is something I am noticing more and more as I progress through my career.
The crossover really does exist, and is often hard to distinguish sometimes! I agree with Michelle's previous comment, regarding learning the Adobe Suite. More and more employers are looking for these skills and it has always been something I have thought about! Learning these skills would no doubt be highly beneficial to myself, I am definitely going to be looking into learning more about the Adobe Suite!
Best of luck with the Youth and Community Justice Conference!
-Georgia.
Hi Jess,
Great post! Marketing and PR are intertwined, this is absolutely true.
In Mauritius, many companies hold communication or marketing department and very little uses the title of PR department, some even don’t know what PR is! And yet as you mentioned 50% of there daily activities are PR related.
I am actually in a marketing department, but the tasks assigned to me are “purely” PR, just like yours and this is absolutely mesmerizing how PR is the shoulders of marketing.
I also agree that different skills are required in the PR field. And there are many tools and online guidance to help one develop those skills nowadays. I don’t understand HTML codes, even if I have a knowledge of what it is and can manage to get through it. Nethetheless, I always wanted to learn some HTML basics, so thank you for the site; I will definitively check it out.
Learning those skills are great advices for first year PR students as many think (for e:g) those designing skills won’t help them later in the PR field, but actually it form part of the basic of PR itself.
Till next time,
Doralie Lebrasse
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