I’ll be honest, PR isn’t what Bridget Jones or Samantha Jones portrayed it to be. However, it’s still a pretty rewarding career to have.
Luckily for me, I love working in PR and made the right career choice. However, I appreciate finding a career you love isn’t as easy for everyone else.
So, if you’re contemplating a career in PR, but you’re unsure if it’s the right move for you, I’ve shared some things to consider to hopefully help you make that all-important decision.
Are you a communicator?
Communication is key in PR. In short, you need to be a people person. You need to enjoy speaking with people, whether that’s on the phone, face-to-face, or via email. You also need to be approachable, after all, a journalist isn’t going to contact you about a story if you come across as distant, and a client isn’t going to enjoy working with you if you’re stand-offish.
Would you say you’re organised?
Now I’m not going to beat around the bush, PR can be very hectic at times. One day you might have multiple client campaigns kicking off, and the next you might be in and out of the office attending meetings. No day is ever the same, therefore you need to have strong organisational skills. You need to be able to manage your time effectively and know how to prioritise tasks to ensure everything on your to-do list gets done and nothing gets missed.
Happy to work as part of a team?
When things get busy the secret to success is teamwork. You need to be supportive and not afraid to get stuck in and share the workload if a team member is struggling.
Not afraid to go above and beyond?
Whilst it’s important to meet the initial needs of the business and its clients, surpassing their expectations is much more important. You need to be able to think outside of the box. For example, when set a task, is there something else you can do that hasn’t been asked to make it more of a success? You also can’t be shy of putting the hours in, whether that’s by starting early or finishing late – after all, hard works does pay off.
Write well?
Working in PR you will be expected to put your writing skills to good use, whether that’s for a press release, blog copy, or a social media post. Being able to capture people’s attention with your writing and tell a story effectively is a great trait to have in PR.
Lastly, can you handle rejection?
Rejection is never nice, but I’m afraid in PR you will experience it from time to time. For example, a client might not like an idea you have presented, or a campaign you have pitched to a journalist (which was your idea) may receive negative feedback. However, you need to be able to take rejection on the chin, learn from it and move forward.
Hopefully, the above pointers help with your decision. However, you’ll never really know if PR is or isn’t for you until you try it.
Interested in joining our team? Head to our careers page, or to find out more about what we’ve been up check out our twitter or contact us directly.
