Working in PR Full-Time for the First Time
While I was studying at USC Annenberg, I had the opportunity to work with Jacquie Goetz, Account Supervisor at Weber Shandwick in Detroit. We worked together on a project for General Motors. Working with Jacquie was very inspiring and convinced me that I really want to do PR. She has always given me great advice, so I thought it would be helpful if she could share some of that advice with others who are also entering the PR profession or who are thinking about it. I sent Jacquie several questions and here are her answers and some tips:
PR ramblings from yet another person thinking she knows it all
It’s hard to believe I have been working full-time for going on eight years now. It seems like yesterday that I graduated from college and was a newbie in the work world! If I could give a younger, greener version of myself some advice, it’d have to be the following points:
- Volunteer to take on new projects
- Always work to improve on your skills
- Read often and much
- Check your ego at the door
Volunteer to take on new projects
Nothing shows initiative like volunteering to take on the task no one else wants to do or that seems like a lot of work. Not only will you impress your supervisors, you’ll gain valuable experience you can use on future projects. Volunteer to help out even on other people’s projects if you have the time. People always appreciate an extra set of eyes to review a document or help with media follow-up. The good karma you put out there will come back to you!
Always work to improve your skills
Though I consider myself a decent writer, I often volunteer to take on writing assignments and tasks because I know I can always get better. Same thing with public speaking. You can never get enough practice! I would recommend every PR professional become involved with some sort of professional society through which they can attend seminars of interest. I know my public speaking skills can only get better, so I joined Toast Masters to get additional practice and critique from knowledgeable sources within and outside of my profession. Writing groups and PR and Marketing associations are other examples of professional societies from which I have been able to take courses and be exposed to new perspectives. Join one (or two or three), but remember to then go to the meetings and take advantage of the benefits.
Read often and much
I am a firm believer that reading is crucial to being a good writer. By exposing yourself to other people’s work, you gain ideas and perspectives that can help influence your own. Read anything (books, newspapers, blogs, famous speeches). You may find inspiration, a good quote or a style that you want to emulate in your own writing. Expose yourself to all sorts of reading material (blogs, books, newspapers, speeches, etc.)!
Check your ego at the door
People will always offer you advice, edits and critique of your work. That may bother you. It bothered me (and yes, sometimes still does). Sometimes their feedback is right on and will benefit your work. Sometimes it’s not. But realize that your work may be better in the end from the suggestions of your supervisors and peers. Critique is not personal. It’s generally a result of your peers’ previous experience in the same area. Welcome their knowledge and attempt to help out! Having said that, know when to take feedback and integrate into your work and know when to leave it (but realize that you must know the rules before you should break them). Leave the ego out of it!
If you’re really struggling with this, find a creative outlet outside of work where you don’t have to listen to anyone’s critiques but your own.
Other musings
Everyone will make mistakes in their first year as a PR professional. And guess what? You’ll make mistakes every year after that too. That’s part of learning and becoming better at what you do. Expect to make mistakes. What you do after you make them is what really counts. Do you learn from them? Do you become better at that particular task? If so, the mistake was worth it.
What has helped me most in my career?? That’s a good question. I guess I’d have to say having what I think is an easy-going personality that tries not to get caught up in office politics or gossip and remembering that life is so much more than my career. I try to remind myself that we’re all in this for a common goal—to help our clients and to do good work, and at the end of the day, to go home and enjoy all that life has to offer.
