Tips for getting your foot in the door in the public relations field, where you are employed to maintain a company's, organization's, or individual's image (anyone heard of Charlie Sheen?).

1. Careers in PR
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
some hire public relations officers.“
Daniel J. Boorstin quotes (American social historian and educator, 1914)
Presented By:
Heather R. Huhman

2. My Professional Journey

3. What PR Environment Fits?
 Agency
– Jack (or Jill) of all trades, master of none
• At an agency, you will be expected to work on a
variety of different client accounts and be able to shift
gears very quickly from one topic to another
• People who work at agencies often refer to
themselves as the “jack of all trades” because they
juggle many different projects with many different
needs
• Fast-paced, long hours, pay depends on the size

4. What PR Environment Fits?
 Corporate
– Cheerleader
• You will act as a company’s mouthpiece and
oftentimes their biggest fan. You will focus all of your
efforts on all public relations initiatives for a single
“client.”
• You will have to know the organization front and back
and be able to find creative avenues for the
organization to get involved in.
• Fast-paced, long hours, highest pay

5. What PR Environment Fits?
 Nonprofit
– Bake sale chair
• In the nonprofit sector, PR pros are relied upon to
generate media attention in order to raise awareness
of the organization and in turn aid in fundraising
• It is expected that you not only be adept at
“traditional” public relations tactics, but you also can
take on a lot of different roles outside of strictly PR
• Relaxed environment, lowest pay, mission-based

6. What PR Environment Fits?
 Education / Academia
– Know it all
• Most educational institutions are nonprofits, so there
is a lot of similarity between the two environments
• The office of PR knows what is going on throughout
campus and feeds information to media outlets,
alumni, donors, students and parents
• Relaxed environment, second lowest pay, LOTS of
bureaucracy

7. What PR Environment Fits?
 Government
– Gatekeeper
• A PR pro in the government sector must be able to
separate the wheat from the chaff and create interest
about pertinent, noteworthy topics rather than
minutia (or secret information)
• If working with political figures, you will also be
charged with a lot of personal branding tasks in order
to ensure they are portrayed in a good light
• Fairly relaxed environment, mid-range pay, LOTS of
bureaucracy

8. Does the Organization Fit?
 Reflect on yourself
– Think about what you like to do and are good at,
and whether those things you like to do you
could do every day
• For instance, do you find you are a very good writer,
but not so good at keeping clients straight? An
agency wouldn’t be the best fit, but a job in corporate
or nonprofit PR may fit your skill set a little better.
– How do you like to work?

9. Does the Organization Fit?
 Reflect on the organization
– Job shadowing
• This is a great opportunity to see past the job
description and truly understand what goes on
throughout the day at an organization
– Informational interview
• Ask to set up an informational interview with an
organization. Make sure to be clear as to what you are
interested in, what you can offer and what your goals
are.

10. Training
 Bachelor’s degree
 Internships!!!!

11. Typical Day

12. Current Issues
 Tools & Techniques
 Business Case for PR (Measurement)
 Specialist vs. Generalist
 Ethics
 Unpaid Internships

13. Advice

14. Professional Associations
 American Marketing Association
 Association for Women in Communications
 International Association of Business
Communicators
 Public Relations Society of America

15. Questions?
Heather R. Huhman
Founder & President
Come Recommended
www.comerecommended.com
heather@comerecommended.com
Twitter: @heatherhuhman