Friend of Forward Peter Himler (listen to our podcast with him from last year) has just written a post that should make all our PR student readers smile - a list of US PR job databases, and this analysis of the industry:
A quick scan of the myriad job postings tells us something about the vitality of the industry: it’s booming! So with college graduations fast approaching, the entry-level crowd has few excuses for finding a niche in the PR biz.
Here is a list of US PR job databases from Peter’s post:
Peter points out that he has probably missed a few, so share any other places to search for PR jobs in the comments. I know that personally I found PR agency websites and the job search function at LinkedIn to be pretty useful.
And of course we’ve got global reach here at Forward - so let us know where to look for jobs in your neck of the woods as well!
Technorati Tags: pr jobs, entry level pr jobs, pr jobs databases, work in pr, public relations jobs
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Posted in Uncategorized April 6th, 2007 by Paull Young | 15 comments
Social Media is changing the world piece by piece with simple yet powerful communication tools - most recently I’ve noticed how the world of backpacking has been turned on its head in just 5 years due to new online tools.
In 2001 I spent a few months bouncing around Europe, and five years on I’ve returned to the backpacker scene with a vengeance. Much of the scene is the same: cramped dorm rooms packed with bunk beds, a much higher proportion of dreadlocks than you’d find in the employed population and strange people working reception (like the guy in Copenhagen who looked like a member of Kraftwerk and treated me like a celebrity because I have the same name as his favorite pop singer…)
The arrival of Web 2.0 has changed how backpackers organize and communicate, in turn the world of the backpacker has become a microcosm of the wider media environment. Five years ago backpackers only used the web for email and a little bit of research, now they use a wide variety of social media to enhance their travels.
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Posted in Technology, New Tools, New Media March 7th, 2007 by Paull Young | 8 comments
I’ve just enjoyed an enthralling afternoon at the British Museum. Amongst their Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotomian collections were some of the earliest known examples of writing, which really brought home to me the sheer power of words.The earliest known examples of writing appeared in Mesopotomia (what is now Syria and Iraq) in the fourth millenium BC. Shortly afterwards writing began to flourish in Egypt (the oldest surviving texts date to 3200 BC), as tombs were decorated with heiroglyphics. It was amazing looking at the primitive writing and seeing the very roots of a young PR’s stock-in-trade.
Writing was a rare skill in this culture. Few could decipher it, and the majority saw it as magical. Writing was the domain of the rich and powerful, and scribes were members of the upper echelon of society. One of the displays in the museum featured the following on the power of writing:
The God Thoth was believed to have invented writing. The ancient Egyptian phrase for hieroglyphs means ‘god’s words’, emphasising the associations between script and the god’s power.
The signs themselves could have a divine power and were sometimes called ‘gods’. The could also act as embelems or amulets. Stelae inscribed with magical texts had water poured over them, the water was drunk to ingest the magic of the text.
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Posted in Public Relations, Reality Check, New Media February 20th, 2007 by Paull Young | 7 comments
Social Media is about more than just conversation. It’s about connecting, and these connections are driven by conversation.
This point has become clearer to me over the past six weeks as I’ve turned myself into a case study of the power of social media for building serious relationships.
It also provides fertile ground for comparison from experience, as happened last Thursday when I attended Coffee with crayon in the morning and the D.C. gathering of the Social Media Club in the evening (with lunch with fellow blogger Andrea Weckerle sandwiched between the two).
Coffee with crayon
New marketing company crayon hosts a casual weekly gathering for new marketing types at their offices in Second Life. The meetu-p has been attracting good crowds and generated some interesting conversation in my first appearance this week.
Social Media Club D.C.
The D.C. social media club is fairly new and this meeting was in the offices of Ogilvy Public Relations. About 20-30 people were present and the crowd of online geeks had a distinct slant towards PR/Marketing folk (an almost identical make up to crayon’s crowd).
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Posted in Public Relations, Marketing, Technology, New Tools, New Media January 28th, 2007 by Paull Young | 5 comments
I know that young and old PR pros alike are intrigued by Second Life. Some love it, some hate it. Some are scared, some excited. Here you’ll read my thoughts on a great event I attended in Second Life last week - CaseCamp Second Life (an event I think exemplifies the astounding potential of Web 3.D.)
What Went Down
50-odd avatars descended on crayonville’s auditorium to interact with four short presentations in the CaseCamp format.
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Posted in Public Relations, Marketing, Technology, New Tools, New Media December 19th, 2006 by Paull Young | 5 comments
Neville Hobson points me to a blog-storm surrounding Le Web 3, the major European blog conference.
It appears that a number of participants were mightily pissed off by the ‘hi-jacking’ of the event by politicians and the apparant disdain with which they treated their audience. I’ll share some of the participants words here.
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Posted in Public Relations, Technology, New Tools, New Media December 13th, 2006 by Paull Young | 4 comments
The first steps in your career can often be the most difficult and confusing. This is part of the reason Forward was created – for young PR professionals to help each other move forward.
Luckily for us young PR pros, David Maister has just started a series of podcasts on career development. Maister is a former Harvard Business School professor and is one of the world’s leading business thinkers. In other words: Big Time!
Here’s the blurb from his latest ‘Business Masterclass’ in Career Development:
Careers, like all living things, evolve in response to opportunities and challenges. The Business Masterclass Career Development series explores the secrets of a successful and satisfying career: the willingness to adapt, respond and maintain the enthusiasm to keep trying.
And to give you a taste of the podcast, I’ll quote Maister from his most recent episode – Are you having fun yet?
Energy, ambition, drive and enthusiasm. So scarce are these qualities today that they are the dominant competitive advantage for both individual and organizations. Enthusiasm and involvement are the keys. The point of life is to be happy – all other goals: money, fame, status, responsibility, achievement are merely ways of making you happy. They’re worthless in themselves. If you’re not enjoying your work – then do something about it.
The series is three episodes in, and it’s well worth your while to have a listen to the episodes already posted and subscribe to the rest of the series. This is yet another example of social media allowing young people to learn from the best thinkers out there – for free!
Technorati Tags: career development, public relations, david maister, young professionals, social media
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Posted in Misc. Career Insight November 24th, 2006 by Paull Young | 2 comments
The initial blog storm around the anti-astroturfing campaign has died down. Many bloggers have stated their support and there’s a great collection of resources at the campaign home page, but the question is - where is the next step from here?
The campaign has attracted mainstream media attention, blogosphere buzz and the support of some PR agencies (Jackson Wells Morris, Altyris, Flatiron Communications and Voce Communications take a bow) but no professional association or large PR agency has lent any meaningful support. Maybe it’s too difficult, maybe it’s because they lack courage.
Of course it is a complex issue full of nuance. Richard Bailey, one of the most upstanding PR practitioners you’ll come across, can only offer luke-warm support. It’s not black and white, it’s not the only ethical issue facing our profession, and it’s only a small part of the overall transparency debate we must confront in order to convince the public to allow us to perform our role in the new world online.
The difficulties in definition do not alter the fact that astroturfing is one of the most deplorable practices in our industry, and at the very least there are astroturfing activities that every communicator can oppose in every instance. It is an issue that an impressive collection of communicators see fit to oppose, and while it’s a difficult topic to confront – it doesn’t deserve the too-hard basket.
The thing that has struck me with the campaign so far has been the number of PR students and new practitioners who were blatantly unaware of the tactic and uncertain about why it is so wrong (this video is an example). I’ve been regularly discussing the issue with my peers for several months now and few have had cause to consider the ethical implications of their practice.
The vast majority of the industry are intelligent, ethical operators who will always avoid these dodgy tactics … but these are not the kind of people who will fall down with astroturf.
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Posted in Public Relations, Technology, Misc. Career Insight, PR 101, New Media November 8th, 2006 by Paull Young | 14 comments
It’s a question that will cross the mind of every young PR pro: where is it best to look for work – Agency or in-house?
The latest edition of Inside PR has a look at this age old PR dilemma, sparked by a comment from Ed Lee, a great young Canadian blogger.
The Inside PR team – David Jones and Terry Fallis – look at the pros and cons of each, and appear to come down on the agency side. However, they do take pains to note that they both come from agency backgrounds and point out that the real answer is ‘it depends’ because every situation is unique.
Here’s an overview of their key points:
- Agency work gives you a wide ranging experience with varying projects for different clients
Working for a PR agency means that you’ll have several clients on the go and every day will give you a different experience. Alternatively, in-house work at times will give you a narrow focus and a less varied experience.
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Posted in Job Hunting, Public Relations, Misc. Career Insight October 7th, 2006 by Paull Young | 8 comments
“Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.” Norman Cousins
Young PR pro’s - with this quote in mind, we’d like you to step forward and tell us all why you’re proud to be in PR.
Why Now?
Tony Bradley, President of Britain’s CIPR, tells us that Harold Burson (a bona fide legend of our profession) believes that now is the time to stand up for our profession. This view was preceded by our own Richard Bailey right here at Forward, a post which has since been gleefully supported by Stuart Bruce.
The PR industry cops a lot of flak, and there are many of us who are continually pushing for a ‘better’ PR. However - a lot of the criticism is unfounded, and there is always a need for optimism. While it makes sense to work to improve our weaknesses, every now and then we should acknowledge our strengths.
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Posted in Public Relations September 25th, 2006 by Paull Young | 5 comments
