An interesting discussion took place on Julie Rusciolelli’s PR Maven blog a couple of months ago regarding PR students and information interviews.

Being a public relations student, I’ve heard the term “information interview” float freely through the lobbies and lecture halls of my college since I started school back in January. From what I understand, academia has been having a love affair with the information interview for a long time. It’s a great way for students to tap into the knowledge of an experienced practitioner and make valuable connections in the PR community.

But is the information interview becoming outdated?

As pointed out in the post on PR Maven, the internet has become an excellent source of information for students looking to get into public relations. The increasing popularity of social media is making it easier for students to tap into the thoughts of industry leaders without actually having to meet with them.

Has technology transformed the information interview into nothing more than a job interview in disguise? Are students really going in for information, or are they just looking for the quickest way to get a foot in the door?

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An interesting discussion took place in one of my classes the other day with regards to the number of females in public relations. I don’t remember how the conversation started, but it is one that I have heard before.

In our class of 25 public relations students, four of them are male. As any PR student knows, this isn’t uncommon. If anything, four is a little high. Still, I always wonder why this is.

Recent statistics show that 70% of PR practitioners are female. This is up from 50.1% in 1980 and 41% in 1979. Based on those numbers, the trend is obvious. One could argue that this increase has occurred in many sectors over the past forty years and is not restricted to public relations. Still, 70% is quite high.

For forty minutes, students in my class argued over the various reasons why females make up the bulk of public relations practitioners.

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