Please join me in welcoming a new contributor to Forward, Luke Armour! Luke has already kicked things off with a post about networking. We’re delighted and proud to have Luke join us at Forward! I’ve included his bio below …

Luke Armour is graduate student at The University of Akron, Ohio, earning his Masters in Communication with a Public Relations focus. Luke authors the Graduate Observations of Public Relations blog with his fellow graduate student and PR sounding board Elizabeth Farrell.

Luke received his BA in Speech Communications from Edinboro University of PA in 2002 with a 4.0 GPA. He moved to Alaska and did some other crazy things like get married before deciding to go back to school. He will receive his MA in May 2006, also with a 4.0. He is creating a handbook entitled Online Public Relations: Using the Internet to build and sustain relationships for his graduate project. In addition to his schoolwork, Luke also teaches an Interviewing class for the university and engages in freelance PR work.

In May 2005, Luke led a group of students to London for a two-week tour of international public relations and journalism visiting organizations like Edelman London, CNBC, Time, Newsweek, NBC London, and The Guardian to see how things are done on the other side of the pond. An experience he’ll never forget.

He’s thrilled to be able to contribute and learn as we all move Forward. Contact Luke anytime at Luke.Armour (at) gmail.com.

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Last fall I went to a student development program from the Cleveland Chapter of the PRSA entitled “Find your Fit: PRSA Student Day.” It was a day long event filled with break out sessions, expert panels, networking with PRSA members, keynote speaker Tom Katzenmeyer (Senior Vice President of Investor, Media, and Community Relations) from Limited Brands, Inc., a resume and portfolio building and review workshop, and first job hunting tips. It was, without question, an educational and exciting day.

Interestingly, the most important thing I took away from that day was how important networking is in the PR world.

Some of you may already have figured that out, I mean, I thought I knew it was important – but it’s REALLY important. Everyday I’m finding out – in this large multi-national world of business – how small the PR world really is.

What Student Day really taught me is that PR jobs are often not posted. If someone is looking for a PR person, they ask around, they ask their friends, they ask clients, they ask colleagues. If all else fails, they post a job ad. This is the reality we face in NE Ohio, and I imagine that’s how it is elsewhere. Hidden jobs in a competitive market. In that light, networking isn’t just a convenient step towards getting a job: it’s a necessity.

And that’s what we’re facing, hidden jobs in an industry which is hard to define (PR, you know, it’s…uh, PR), which is hard to explain to people (no, Aunt Esther, communications does not mean I’m going to be a DJ), which is hard to break into (hello, my name is…hello?). There are so many titles, so many ways to communicate. Are you aiming to be a flack, PR director, account executive, director of communications, marketing manager, publicity chair, king of media relations, employee communication expert, Priscilla: Queen of the desert? With so many options it’s difficult to know what we’re looking for. To complicate things, the job you might not be properly looking for could be hidden in the first place. Yikes! Networking and learning from professionals could be the book in the bookcase that opens the secret passageway to Public Relations Opportunity.

Fortunately, the social community offered by the PR blogosphere is your first step to networking. It takes geography out of the equation, which can be both good and bad. Learning from those professionals is easy, regardless of where they are - getting them to hire you from 3000 miles away is difficult. But that shouldn’t be the main point. Getting to know what they do, how they think, who they are, where they are, and how they got there. Internships and attending IABC and PRSA functions will help with the local stuff. Get to know these people who do what you want to do. I’ve learned so much from this community (and most of them don’t even know what they’ve done for me) and it has only made me a better future PR pro. After all, what good is networking if you’ve got nothing new to offer?

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