Checkmate! Five Important Moves in College to Capture the King of PR JobsBy: Katherine Smith

Is your college experience as productive as it should be in order to land you that dream PR job after graduation?

Focus on these five tasks and you will be well on your way:

1. Work on your writing skills!This is point number one for a reason; public relations professionals are writers at heart. If you want to be a successful candidate for any PR job, you must have the ability to write well. Take writing courses that have an emphasis on AP style and jump at any opportunity to create written content such as joining the school news paper or writing blog posts. These experiences will also help you build a strong portfolio to showcase your writing abilities to potential employers.

2. Network your way to victory. Your network is your lifeline in Public Relations. Networking can have a tremendous impact on your career and future job opportunities. It’s much easier to get an interview at a company where you already know someone than to approach the pursuit blindly. When asked, many public relations professionals are willing to meet with students for informational interviews. Take advantage of this and start to build your network one cup of coffee at a time.

3. Yes, you need an internship. Employers need to know you have the skills to pay the bills. Internships give an employer the ability to see how you have applied your education to real-world situations. While school does teach you a lot, there is nothing that compares to the knowledge you gain from on-the-job experience. This will also give you an opportunity to “test drive” the career and see if public relations is truly a good fit for you.

4. Find a PR mentor.The benefits and possibilities from a mentor are endless. They can give you confidence and professional guidance in areas that you may not know how to tackle. For instance, a mentor can give you writing assignments and feedback in order to build a writing portfolio or present you with a mock interview panel to help you better refine your interviewing skills. The PR community is a pretty tight knit one and PR mentors know people, opening up many potential networking opportunities.

5. Join Public Relations Student Society of America.If your school has a PRSSA chapter, joining presents opportunities to help you build on all of the above skills. Chapters normally host writing work shops, give you access to local and national networking events, inform you about public relations internship opportunities, and have a very effective mentorship program. With all of these experiences, membership gives the opportunity to strengthen your resume and makes you that much more attractive to potential employers.

If you find that your school doesn’t have a PRSSA chapter, look into founding one! This can give you the opportunity to really enhance your professional development while also giving you some top notch leadership experience. Find out how to start your school chapter at https://prssa.prsa.org/chapters/start/