Champlain College’s website states that a PR professional may work for a PR consulting firm, a nonprofit organization, or a multinational company that has a dedicated PR department. So there are many potential PR employers to choose from.
Get the Right Qualifications and Credentials
If you are toying with the idea of getting a PR job, then here are a few pointers regarding preparation and training that might be useful:
According to the website Free PR Advice, the first and foremost step is ensuring that you understand what the PR field is all about and what a PR job entails. This is where some sort of qualification related to PR comes in handy. Your best bet is to look at what kinds of PR-related courses are being offered by various universities and colleges. Often courses like Journalism, Mass Communications, and Business Management cover PR as a subject. Taking one of these courses might be a good starting point if there are no specific courses on PR.
While gaining textbook knowledge matters, it’s also important to get in touch with established PR professionals to gain knowledge about the nature of their work. Hearing about their experiences will provide you with a better understanding of the industry. In fact, having a PR professional as a mentor can be very rewarding if you wish to pursue a career in PR.
Gaining Real-World Experience
The next stage is gaining real-world experience. You can do this by joining a local organization that needs some help with PR. Offer to help the organization publicize events and promote fundraising campaigns. Such tasks will give you opportunities to talk with the public and come up with strategies for convincing them to participate or contribute.
Another benefit of getting this kind of hands-on experience is the fact that it will help you create a portfolio, which will be of great interest to employers. It is worthwhile to keep a record of all the PR-related things you have done as a volunteer. In particular, keep copies of written work you have produced, such as letters and newspaper clippings that have resulted in positive publicity for the events that you helped organize.
Last but not least, the Public Relations Society of America’s website is one of the best resources available online when it comes to obtaining PR career advice.
If you like talking with people as well as writing, PR could be an exciting career option, and with the right qualifications and entry-level experience, you’ll be all set to enter a flourishing professional field.
