Warren Johnson of the Unsolicited Marketing Advice blog has written a great post that I wanted to pass along to our Forward readers. If you already graduated and could use some help settling into (or kicking off) your PR career, his tips are key. Even if you don’t graduate for another couple months (or years) — now is definitely the time to take the initiative to prepare yourself. I suggest using this as a checklist to help make sure you’re properly prepared.

Warren was gracious enough to allow me to include the post here in its entirety for your perusal. (The post can be found in its original location here.)

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Here are a few tips for finding your first job in public relations.

1. Know how to get your foot in the door
John January and Tug McTighe had a fairly long riff on job seeking tips for creative types (including copywriters, of course) in their August 7, 2006 edition of the American Copywriter podcast. Some key points:

• Have a disposable book of your work that you can send out or otherwise provide to art directors.
• Know who you’re trying to contact at the agency – by name
• Leave a voice mail. Try back. Being persistent is even better than having skill
• Be ready to pay your dues for two or three years. If you’re good, people may well make a job for you
• The jury is out on CD resumes. Some don’t like the hassle and the possibility that they won’t work; others don’t mind popping one in to check it out. PDFs are always safe, however.

2. Get involved with PRSSA while still in school
Most U.S. universities with a Public Relations program will also sponsor a student chapter of Public Relations Society of America. The dues are reasonable and you’ll likely have an opportunity to meet senior professionals and attend some of their meetings as well. In addition they have career resources including internships posted online. PRSSA can be one way to develop your writing experience while still a student. Other ways include positions with college newspaper or paid or volunteer summer internships. Having writing experience on your resume and a set of clippings in your portfolio will put you ahead of the pack of other job seekers.

3. Seek out career advice

• What Color is Your Parachute is the classic job seeking manual which explains why reading want ads is silly and why networking makes sense. The companion Web site is Dick Bolles’ jobhuntersbible.com.
• The Forward-Moving PR blog edited by Erin Caldwell has a section devoted to career advice for PR students and young professionals
• Check out the Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal.com site. The site has a variety of tools, discussion boards and podcasts available.

4. Learn how to prepare a decent resume
When a job opening is posted, the Human Resources or PR department may have hundreds of resumes to screen. Their primary goal in looking at your resume is to find a legitimate reason to throw it out. Even if you try to circumvent this problem by networking to find a job, you’ll still need an outstanding one-page summary of your experience and qualifications. Learn why Your Resume Stinks! as well as reviewing some tips specifically for Public Relations resumes. In addition, author Yana Parker (The Damn Good Resume Guide and others) offers a couple dozen good resume tips for you to consider.

5. Know how to conduct yourself in an interview
There are many good resources available to help prepare for job interviews. Find some lists of popular interview questions. Work out your answers in advance and rehearse them. Manager Tools has a podcast with some of the basics of interviewing (free registration required). While you’re at it, you’ll want to brush up on your meal etiquette too, since so many interview situations involve meals, as well as how to have a great handshake.

6. Position yourself for future career development
If you’re moving from an entry-level position into a managerial position, or from a management position to a higher level of management, then you’ll need to understand that a different set of skills – and different leadership skills – are required at these different levels during your career. The American Management Association has a nice article on this topic entitled “What You Don’t Know about Rising to ‘the Next Level.’” You’ll want to concentrate on skills needed for your first job now, but make life-long learning a goal so you’re always developing skills that you’ll need in the future (see also, “Podcasts as a career development tool”).

If you’re seeking your first PR job, you won’t have much involvement with executive recruiters, but this may be down the road for you. Manager Tools has a set of podcasts that will help you be prepared when a recruiter calls, or when you’re ready to call a recruiter (downloadable cheat sheet) (PDF, 13 KB).

Technorati Tags: career development, career advice, public relations, Warren Johnson

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