Being a successful public
relations student is not easy. Success is measured by how much knowledge and
opportunity you get out of something. The following steps will guide you in
being a successful public relations student.
Research your choices. Choosing a major can be stressful but if
public relations is something that you are interested in than communication
studies is where you want to start off at. Some colleges and universities will
not have a major titled “public relations.”
For example: Buffalo State
College has a undergraduate program that is titled “Public Communication” The
following is a description of the program given on the Buffalo State College
website, “This major allows students flexibility to tailor a program based on
strategic communication through the disciplines of p
ublic relations,
advertising, and related fields. It meets the needs of students preparing for a
career in which research, strategic planning, implementation of creative
tactics, and evaluation are central, whether to advance an organization,
promote a product, or advocate a cause. Compare this major with communication
studies, journalism, and media production.” Buffalo State College: Public
Communications Major
Apply & get accepted into a college/university with a PR major.
When applying to colleges/university you want to look for a school that will
help you get the most out of being a public relations student. The schools
program should give you hands on experience and open doors for you.good way to
determine if a school’s public relation major is strong is by seeing if they
are accredited. The following quote is a definition of what accredited is off
of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications
website, “Accreditation is a system of voluntary self-assessment and external
review of educational institutions and of professional programs offered by
those institutions.
Accreditation provides an assurance of
quality to students, parents, and the public.
In the
accrediting process, the performance of educational units is measured against
national standards.”
To accredit is to assure basic
standards of excellence
Another good way to determine the
strength of a school’s public relations department is by examining the
professors in the department. You want to look for professors work experience
and the contributions they have made to public relations as a whole.
Get acquainted with your campus library. Get acquainted with the
ins and outs of your campus library – Public relation students spend a great
deal of their time in the library. Public relations require a fair amount of
reading, writing and speaking. The library is a place to do 2 out of 3 of those
things. Speaking in the library will annoy your peers around you.
Become a better writer. There is a misconception that public
relations only consist of giving speeches. If you are not ready to write then
being a public relations student is not for you. Public relations students are
no strangers to research papers. A strategic campaign will be no less than 30
pages and it should be grammatically correct, follow AP style of writing and
detailed. If you write a strategic campaign correctly 30 pages is not enough.
Invest in the latest AP style- writing guide. There is a certain
way to write when writing various pieces. An AP style-writing guide can teach
you the correct way to write for different pieces. You may have to write a
newsletter and if you do not know how to write a news piece this will be your
best friend. This book will give you a step-by-step guide in writing anything
journalism, public relations or media production related.
Get comfortable with public speaking. You will have classes that
are devoted to public speaking. Giving speeches as an individual or in a group
will be the basis of the entire class. (Refer to step 4, although speech
classes requires speaking you will spend a lot of time writing the speeches as
oppose to the time you will spend delivering the speech.)
Stay up with current events. Stay up with current events – Knowing
what is happening in the world is important. You cannot be a successful public
relations student if you don’t keep up with current events. Public relations
deals with news and media knowing what is going on will give you a leg up.
Diversify your studies. Diversity in your education is fundamental.
As much as we would like to eat breathe and sleep public relations we cannot
because we will not be successful. Why will you not be successful? A lot of
public relation students know how to communicate well but the problem is that
they don’t have anything to communicate about. Picking a minor or double
majoring will contribute to your success as a public relations student and as a
future public relations professional.
Intern as much as possible. Internships can be done for credit and
is a great way to gain experience in your future career in public relations.
Network. The Importance of Networking “It has been said that the
best jobs come from word of mouth… Experts agree that networking is worth your
time and effort and can help you get ahead in the professional world.” Your
professors, peers and supervisors may have access to resources that you will
never know about unless you network.
Adviser's and professors play a
major role in your college career. A lot of PR professors either have years of
experience in the field of public relations or in other closely related fields.
When looking for classes to take or just needing to talk about a career path
your professors can help you. When you are not doing well in a class your
professor may be able to help you and give you some useful tips on how to keep
up with the class.
Seeing your academic advisor is
the second most important thing to do besides talking to your professors. Your
academic advisor has the degree that you are pursuing and higher degrees than
that. They once sat in courses similar to yours. They can help with close to
anything academic related. Building a good rapport with these people can help
get into grad school or get your dream job. If they know you well they can
write a stellar recommendation on your behalf that will go a long way.
With Thanks To:
Edited by Kiasia D Truluck, Genius_knight, Teresa
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Successful-Public-Relations-Student
Creator Public Relations Pvt. Ltd. North India’s leading PR firm
has completed another successful year on Jan 17, 2014. Standing on the two core
principles “commitment and delivery”, Creator PR holds a strong network in
Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh.
