8 Things I Wish I Knew Before Working In PR
When I left college, I thought I knew everything but oh was I wrong! After I graduated, I started my career in management and I'm still in management to this day. Since I started my career a few years ago, I have definitely made my fair share of mistakes and there are so many things that I wish someone would've told me before working in management. If I knew then what I know now, I've probably would've gained more money and less stress.
Mistakes are inevitable, and we all know we can't go back in time to change the past. However, there is so much that we can learn from people that have “been there" and “done that." It doesn't matter how many internships that you have or how many classes you take, experience will always be the best teacher.
This is why I asked 3 professionals to share their experiences working in PR and the top things that they wish they would've known before starting their career. PR (Public Relations) is a very popular career choice among Millennials and is ever-growing.
If you are interested in a career in PR, I urge you to listen to what each PR professional shares below.
The Recent Grad
Jasmyne Carter is a recent graduate and a Junior Public Relations Specialist at T.D. Jakes Ministries, Inc. She works closely with senior Public Relation employees, reporters, producers, and high-level clients.
College is the best time to prepare for a PR career.
While I was in undergrad, I wish I would have taken advantage of PRSA. In college it is referred to as PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America), and it is an organization that allows you to propel your thinking while you are in the incubator (college). Being able to be apart of this organization and network is key. Also, I wish I would have attended more international events to broaden my perspective on Public Relations in general. I totally believe you can have all of the knowledge in the world, but unused knowledge combined with inexperience will place you in a steeper learning curve when you are entering your profession.
It is important to invest in your appearance.
In PR, you are what you look like so while learning to save is key, also make sure you look like how you would want to be approached. This might involve you spending money on suits, nice shoes, etc. Just look at it as an investment with a high return rate.
[Tweet "#WorkingInPR: It is important to invest in your appearance. "]
Everyday shouldn't be a “networking" lunch.
I believe that you should NEVER create the habit of working through lunch. Enjoy the break because in public relations something is always going to be happening.
The "Jill of All Trades" of PR
Tianna Robinson has a work portfolio that includes Major League Baseball, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LVMH, Food Network, Microsoft, Remy Martin Cointreau, and others. She specializes in planning strategic public relations campaigns, media relations, event management, and talent relations. She currently serves as the Director of Publicity at The Chamber Group with a client roster including Keke Palmer, Jill Scott, ESSENCE Communications, Ford/Lincoln Motor Company, Brandy, and others.
Never go to an interview empty-handed.
When you interview, be ready to name-drop! In PR interviews, you always get asked what editorial contacts you have and who you know at the publication. Be ready to answer those questions confidently. Also, have all your press clippings in a portfolio. It's always a good look when you leave something for the interviewer to review after.
Sometimes PR work can be imbalanced.
[Tweet "#WorkingInPR: Always have your press clippings in a portfolio & always leave something for the company to review afterwards."]
In PR, it is very little to no balance. The lines between work and personal life are so blurred. Between working crazy unconventional hours, traveling, and attending events, you're fully immersed in the world of PR. Colleagues and business associates become friends because you spend so much time together. I find myself at brunches and dinners questioning whether or not it's work or play (laughs). It's the biggest indication that I love what I do!
The PR Pro Living By Her Own Rules
Christina Rice is the CEO & Founder LuxeLife Media Inc., a full service PR and Marketing agency based in New York. Some of our clients include Demetria Lucas (Relationship expert, author and cast member on Blood, Sweat & Heels (on Bravo), Angela Benton (Founder & CEO of NewME Accelerator), Frederick Hudson (Tech Entrepreneur, Founder/CEO of Pigeonly), and more.
Working in PR is more than cute Snapchat videos and IG photos.
PR is not what you just see on social media. It is not all glitz and glamour and walking clients down a red carpet. There are perks, but it does not come without sacrifice. The pay isn't all that great in your early part of your career, and depending on which area of PR you're in, your life can be consumed by it.
Find balance early on.
PR work can be grueling, so self-care is important. The long hours, the endless cocktail parties where there's always an open bar, lack of sleep, and more, can take a toll on your body and can ultimately affect your productivity. So being able to say no to an event or pause on some work to catch a fitness session, or even spending a quiet evening with your love is essential to maintaining a healthy balance and separating your personal life from your work.
More than likely, your first job will not pay what you want.
An average entry level position in PR averages around $28-36k. If you live in New York (or any other state where the cost of living is high), you already know that is not a lot of money. So it's essential you figure out how to adapt your lifestyle to your income. You're going to need to work hard, smart, and deliberately to accelerate quickly. So if you have to sacrifice some nights out with friends to stay home and work on your professional development, or stay later at the office to show your commitment, then do that.
[Tweet "#WorkingInPR: You first job will not pay what you want. The avg entry level job pays around $28-36K."]
Starting a new job can be scary, especially when you don't have much experience. Listening to people that have experience working in your desired career field can help you make informed decisions and can prepare you for the job before you start working.
Do you work in Public Relations, or have you worked in this field? What can you share about your experience?
Brittani Hunter is a proud PVAMU alumni and the founder of The Mogul Millennial, a business and career platform for Black Millennials. Meet Brittani on Twitter and on the Gram at @BrittaniLHunter and @mogulmillennial.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Not Enjoying Your Career Journey? Try The Anti-Goals Method.
We've all heard, at one time or another, about the importance of goal-setting and the various methods you can use, especially when it comes to career goals. For me, some of the methods have just been ill-fitting. I'd been searching for the best goal-setting approach for someone like me who has struggled with negative self-talk—always feeling overwhelmed due to focusing on my failure to achieve certain goals within a certain time frame.
I’m also okay, at this point in my career, not knowing exactly what I want my professional life to look like in the future because, at this point, I've accomplished a lot before the age of 30. I have hit that so-called mid-level career wall that many ambitious women face when they reach a certain age and level of experience.
For sure, the last 10 years of my life have been all about speaking up and setting boundaries for what I no longer will do on the path to success. I kept thinking that there had to be a goal-setting method that works within that context—to use to my advantage, as I’m good at pinpointing what I don’t want to do, where I don’t want to be, and how I don’t want to feel in the work that I do.
Well, this is where anti-goals come in.
What Are Anti-Goals?
Anti-goals are goals that center on happiness, avoiding certain actions, decisions, or habits that will certainly deter you from making career fulfillment a reality. Leadership consultant and speaker Selena Rezvani elaborated on the essence of this concept well in a recent Fast Companyarticle.
“An anti-goal is a way to customize your work life and decision making,” the author of Quick Confidence: Be Authentic, Boost Connections, and Make Bold Bets on Yourself, told the publication. “Do that by looking at what doesn’t serve you. You can figure out pretty quickly some of the frustrating patterns you might fall into and what you want to actively avoid.”
Anti-goals allow you the space and permission to work along with (not against) what really motivates you to achieve a goal. You think about what you don't want to happen versus what you do.
For some of us, it’s the less attractive outcome that drives our decisions one way or another. (Research has proven this to be a real psychological phenomenon. You can read more about that here, and here).
I’ve found that I’ve been this way my whole life. Oftentimes, for example, if my goal was to remain on the Honor Roll at high school, I wasn’t thinking about the joy or perks of being an excellent student. I was thinking about the other outcome: My mom not being proud of me, or not getting into college in order to have a better prospect at a decent job in my adult future. As a copy editor, I didn’t set a goal of writing more in order to become a features editor.
I’d outgrown the copy editing jobs and thought about the dead-end dread of spending one more year of dotting i’s and crossing t’s for a living, so I set out to write more and took on assignments in digital publishing.
Thomas Barwick/Getty
How To Set Anti-Goals
First, you think about things backward. Where don’t you want to be? What feelings at work do you loathe? What companies do you want to avoid and why? What types of people do you want to be sure you’re not working with? What skills are you lacking that are needed to get you to where you actually want to be in your career? Write these things down. Get them out of your head on paper.
Work with a coach that’s familiar with anti-goals and won’t shame you because you’re not starting with S.M.A.R.T. or F.A.S.T goal-setting. (You might need to come back to those methods when you’ve actually set out a plan to go against what you don’t want.)
For example, after working full-time in media for more than eight years finally becoming a manager with the pay I thought I deserved, I found I didn’t really like being a manager. I wrote down my whys and a lot of it had to do with wanting to just manage the greatest asset to my career advancement: me. I didn’t want to have to deal with the attitudes, the politics, and always being the first to put out fires when someone was insubordinate, numbers didn’t add up, or key deliverables weren’t being met.
I knew I didn’t want to sit in an office all day and be the last one to leave. I wanted freedom, autonomy, and a flexible work schedule where I could manage content, projects, and one-on-one clients from anywhere in the world. I didn't want to be responsible for a massive team of full-on human beings.
I then began setting anti-goals and taking steps, motivated by those anti-goals, to create the career life I’d dreamed of. I created my exit plan and eventually resigned to go freelance full-time, but I had to set anti-goals like:
- Decline your employment contract renewal as a manager. Instead, build up a client base.
- Don’t apply for any more managerial positions or promotions. Start doing freelance work on the side.
- Don’t spend frivolously on eating out or clubbing. Save x-amount by the quit date.
- Don't overdo it with meetings and emails. Use that time to go to after-work networking events.
- Don’t continue giving time to managerial training or other related coaching. Get mentors and coaches who are living the career lifestyle you want.
All of these anti-goals not only positively aligned with my regular way of thinking but they helped me avoid being so hard on myself, sitting in negativity during the processes of transition throughout my career, and they helped me enjoy the journey. For several, I still had to write down and follow through with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) details only when applicable. I’ve found that we can think something will go a certain way, and life (well, God) has its way of taking you somewhere else exciting, and that’s okay.
Anti-goals are a great way to rethink how we maneuver through setting realistic career goals that align with purpose, allowing us to get clarity on what we don’t want in order to work toward what we do. Hey, a win is a win.
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