It is
always encouraging to hear the stories from successful graduates of the Mohawk
Public Relations program who are now working in the field. My friend, previous co-worker and helpful
advisor Jillian Safian graduated from the Public Relations Graduate Certificate
program in 2011 and has successfully landed a full time position working as a
publicist at PenelopePR. And yes,
PenelopePR is where Jillian completed her mandatory internship to graduate, and
was hired on as soon as she graduated.
Jillian
claims that the PR program at Mohawk had her very well prepared to transition
from being a student to building her career in public relations. She explained that, “almost all of my
day-to-day tasks involve using skills that I learned in the program… all of
those skills were built upon during my internship.” Luckily, Jillian’s boss at PenelopePR really
took the time to work with Jillian to help her develop and grow. She is extremely thankful towards her
employer! A word of advice in this
regard from Jill is to put a lot of time and effort into finding an internship
that actually interests you and seems supportive of their interns. Many organizations will jump at a free
employee, so be picky!
One of
the most important skills that Jillian gained from the PR program at Mohawk is
the ability to effectively manage her time.
“If you’re wondering, ‘is this what it’s really going to be like in the
working world?’, yes, it is very similar and to be successful in the field it
is crucial to know how to manage your time.
The work load is very similar in terms of size, and more stressful
because it isn’t the difference between a 70 or a 90 percent, but rather
whether you can keep your job!”
Jillian
has also learned that being a public relations professional does not limit you
to the already large variety of tasks that fall under the public relations
umbrella, but much, much more. She
explained that you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to reach an
organization’s goals. There is no job
that is beneath you and you should never find yourself saying “that’s not my
job.” Doing jobs like this will help you gain respect from management and
fellow employees.
As
Jillian continues to successfully maintain her career in public relations she
looks back at her time studying at Mohawk as a completely positive experience
that truly changed her life. She wishes
all of the students in the PR program the very best of luck, as we will soon be making our transition to the working world!
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