As the first semester of another school year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on what I have learned so far in my post-graduate certificate program in Public Relations. It's nice to be able to go back and look at what myself and my classmates have been able to engage with for four months, and understand what I can take out of it. What follows are just a couple of the thoughts I have put together following reflection.
As future young people we are constantly being told the importance of "networking," that vague skill that will gain us access to the illusive hidden job market, the thing that gets us a career and our dream job. In some ways it seems that the world around us has become less about what you know and more about who you know. While in some ways this new found cliche may be true, I would argue that what you know is as much a part of networking as anything else. A job seeker can meet all of the PR professionals they want, but without the skills and knowledge to back it up, meeting people is useless. The combination of effective networking and established skills makes for a potent combination in any industry, not just public relations.
Often as students we create an internal pressure to do one of those two things really well. We either put all of our eggs in the networking category, meeting the people working in the industry, or we focus entirely on the classroom. The key here, as in many other aspects of life, is to find balance between the two. Meeting people is so important, getting the chance to have face to face interaction with the people in the industry is an irreplaceable experience. There is no way to replicate that. It gives the professional a chance to see what you are about as a person, what is your attitude like? how comfortable are you talking to people? But included in that meeting is a chance to showcase your skills. People want to hire a capable worker, not necessarily a revolutionary thinker, but someone who has creativity, a hardworking attitude, and can get the job done. I say this to hopefully bring the two spheres together. Focusing in the classroom here at Mohawk gives us the skills to be expert PR practitioners, meeting other industry professionals gives us the opportunity to put those skills into practice.
I will take this opportunity to also note a concern that I often find myself dealing with when it comes to networking. Sometimes it does feel like a duplicitous process where the job seeker is simply trying to use people to get employment. While I have not encountered this at all in the Public Relations industry, I have seen examples of people working a room, spending two minutes with each industry professional, then moving on to the next person that will potentially hire them. This feels a bit wrong to me, I would prefer to make an honest connection with somebody, getting to know them as a person before forcing my skills and experience upon them in an effort to get a job. It is a tough act to balance, but from what I can see, Public Relations Practitioners are the best at it. They are after all, communicators, and each connect with each other in an effort to better the industry. The amount of PR professionals willing to share professional advice is incredible, and while it may still be a tough market out there for jobs, I am encouraged by the public relations community and the way that they network. Yes, there is the benefit of the hidden job market being exposed, but more importantly there is the chance to learn from the people who have successfully gone before us.
Simply through the guest lectures in our classes, we have already been exposed to so much in terms of advice. Being told about things such as informational interviews, networking events, and volunteerism are huge. They are things that people had not told me about outside of the PR community, and to hear people share that advice with us gives us an incredible advantage when it comes time to go out and search for a job.
Networking, gaining skills and an impressive professional community...I don't think it gets much better than Public Relations.
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| Don't ever forget to focus on your education! |
Often as students we create an internal pressure to do one of those two things really well. We either put all of our eggs in the networking category, meeting the people working in the industry, or we focus entirely on the classroom. The key here, as in many other aspects of life, is to find balance between the two. Meeting people is so important, getting the chance to have face to face interaction with the people in the industry is an irreplaceable experience. There is no way to replicate that. It gives the professional a chance to see what you are about as a person, what is your attitude like? how comfortable are you talking to people? But included in that meeting is a chance to showcase your skills. People want to hire a capable worker, not necessarily a revolutionary thinker, but someone who has creativity, a hardworking attitude, and can get the job done. I say this to hopefully bring the two spheres together. Focusing in the classroom here at Mohawk gives us the skills to be expert PR practitioners, meeting other industry professionals gives us the opportunity to put those skills into practice.
 |
| Networking = getting to know other people |
Simply through the guest lectures in our classes, we have already been exposed to so much in terms of advice. Being told about things such as informational interviews, networking events, and volunteerism are huge. They are things that people had not told me about outside of the PR community, and to hear people share that advice with us gives us an incredible advantage when it comes time to go out and search for a job.
Networking, gaining skills and an impressive professional community...I don't think it gets much better than Public Relations.
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