Four years ago when I stepped into the public relations major at the University of North Texas, I had no idea what I was getting in to. During my first public relations class, my professor asked us what we thought of when we entered into our major. He jokingly taunted us with our thoughts of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City as our image of what public relations professionals do. To be honest, I thought I was walking into a career filled with fabulous parties and scandal. Boy, was I wrong.
Today, I am well aware that Samantha Jones was a hysterical caricature of a public relations professional gone wrong. As public relations consultants, we deal with parties and scandal, but in a whole different light than what Samantha Jones made it out to be. When I walked into that class four years ago, I was innocent to what a press release was or what public relations even was. Now I know every aspect of a press release and then some. So here are a few tips for those of you interested in public relations because of the faulty ideas the media has put into your heads.
1) If you continuously think the media is lying to you, you’re wrong. A public relations professional takes time to research and fact check every press release or story they give to a reporter before it is ever released to the public.
2) If you are continuously grammatically incorrect, pick up an AP Stylebook and read it cover to cover until you get it right. I’ve heard it too many times from my professors about the mistake of using “their” when “they’re” or “there” was needed. Get it right the first time and you won’t get a headache from all of red lines on your papers yelling at you about the difference of each. Once you get into the real world, your client or employer might release from a project over such a mix up.
3) Learn what a communications plan is. Learn the difference between a tactic, strategy, and objective. I have recently been searching the Internet for a job and this is one of the many requirements under the job title and of great importance to future clientele.
4) If you think Facebook is a place to fool around and meet friends, you’re right on some level (but not really). Get in the habit of being professional in your statuses and profile pictures. Public relations professionals use each social media outlet for professional purposes with all of their clients. Clients do not want a status that hasn’t been premeditated with all of the correct punctuation and spelling. This goes back to the AP Stylebook. Read it and weep. The AP Stylebook will be a major part of your life as a writer in the public relations field.
5) If you don’t like people than this is the wrong field for you. As a public relations consultant, you will deal with the likes of many different personalities and characters in your day-to-day career. Relationships and networking is key when it comes to being a public relations professional. Without relationships with journalists or your clients, you are doomed to fail.
Samantha Jones is an awesome character for a television show, but don’t walk in to your first public relations class thinking you’re going to be the next her. This is not a profession that is laughable. As public relations professionals, we take serious pride in what we do for our clients. It is important that you understand that before anything else.
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