Do you thrive in people-facing, social and fast-paced environments? Public Relations might be the career path for you. This high-energy industry is booming, and is all about building personal relationships across varying platforms to maintain a favourable image for a client.
There are many ways to break into the Public Relations industry, so if this sounds like the job for you, keep reading for our tips on how to kickstart your career.
1. Be Social Media Savvy & Look for Trends
As a public relations professional, your role is to generate ongoing talking points about your client, whether it be a brand, organisation or product. Social Media is a great way to spread brand awareness and generate interest, as there is huge potential to reach large audiences.
You should be familiar with as many Social Media platforms as possible and how people interact with brands across them. It is also important to stay ahead of the curve in terms of trends, and be creative with how you can harness and capitalise on these to generate buzz for your client.
2. Develop Your Writing Skills
If you’re interested in becoming a skilled PR professional, you’ll need to have fantastic written communication skills. A large part of the PR business is working on press releases, and pitching stories to the media. In Public Relations, you must have a hook and an angle to entice an editor to generate a story with the information you have presented to them. A targeted approach, with knowledge of the journalist you are pitching to and what they feature within their pages/broadcast will ensure you are taken seriously in public relations.
Start developing your writing skills early on to ensure that you can capture the attention of the relevant organisations.
3. Have Good Communication Skills
Even though so much PR work is about maintaining an online presence, it’s also all about building great relationships with people. You want to be the first person who comes to mind when a client needs a public relations service, and you also want to have a network of connections who you can use as a resource when the time comes.
At the end of the day PR is a people business, and the best PR professionals are those who are invisible – it isn’t about you, it is about THE CLIENT, and the end result.
4. Explore Internships and Work Experience
The most promising way to kickstart your career in PR is to intern alongside your studies. Interning means you get your foot in the door and start building your network early. No matter how well-written you are, you need to make face-to-face connections in order to succeed in this business. Meeting industry professionals is also a great practice run for meeting and networking with potential clients.
TFI student @sarapopovska_ on her internship day at @modelco 🙌 All TFI students are offered unlimited internship opportunities throughout their studies!
5. Good Understanding of Business Strategies and Analytics
PR professionals are hired to elevate a business’ image and create buzz around their newly minted products. Therefore, you will need an understanding of a variety of business strategies and the analytics that they use to get ahead of their competition. The more in-depth your understanding of business is, the easier it will be to run successful campaigns that complement the growth of the client.
6. Focus On Your Career Path
Building a career might not always be a straightforward journey, but clear goals and a career plan will help you to take control of your career path. Always keep your eyes and ears peeled for new opportunities and be ready to step up for things that could lead you closer to your long-term goal.
7. Build Relationships and Network
Network, network, network. The essence of PR work comes from networking with the right people at the right time. This means that you are going to have to get out of your shell and put yourself out there at as many networking events as possible. This will help to build and maintain your contacts, and it is also a great way to keep up with what’s happening in the industry. You never know what you’ll hear or who you’ll meet that could help you succeed!
Guest speaker session with TFI students and the fantastic @reyvakili.
Public Relations Skills Take Time to Build Up
Becoming great at Public Relations takes time. You need the experience to build up the communication, writing, interpersonal, and networking skills that PR work requires. To kickstart your career, our Bachelor of Business [Specialisation in Public Relations] is the perfect place to begin!