When people ask me, why I chose to study Public Relations and what I want to do with my degree, I tend to respond: “I don’t know yet, because I could virtually do anything.” And that’s the beauty of PR. In reality, I am pretty sure I want to pursue a path in either political/governmental communications or corporate, in-house PR. What I had to learn, however, is that many PR programs at universities focus only on a few options when it comes to showcasing different PR jobs.
Nowadays, most students feel like all they are presented with is the choice to either go into agency PR or explore the emerging digital and social media branch. The impression I received personally is that there is an imaginary list of about ten to 20 agency names, the Edelmans, Fleishman Hillards and Ketchums of this world along with a group of smaller, ‘hip’ boutique agencies in the big cities, to which students hope to make it one day, while completely ignoring the other 90% of the PR iceberg that lies beneath the surface.
Now I don’t believe schools or academic programs maliciously try to avert students from paths outside of agency or digital PR, but I certainly get the feeling that there is a very strong focus, which might mislead some students to the conclusion that there is nothing else out there. However, there are valid reasons why programs might choose to focus on introducing those jobs over others:
- They are emerging job markets. The World PR Report 2015 revealed that digital/online communications as well as social media management are the two fastest growing sectors at the moment. New, creative skill sets, along with tech-saviness are on top of recruiters’ lists when it comes to hiring young PR professionals. In 2015 alone, the agency industry grew by 7.8%, accounting for over $ 13.5bn and having created more than 85k jobs. Unfortunately, this trend leaves people behind who might not consider themselves super creative or who simply aren’t into digital, agency PR.
2. They are easy to “train” for in educational settings. Many universities with strategic communications degrees offer hands-on learning experiences for their students in the form of student-run agencies, like OU’s very own Lindsey+Asp, to give them a head start in the post-graduation job market. Agency setting are easy to imitate and students get the chance to work on different accounts as well as to try out different positions within the agency. A first sense of professionalism, working in teams and with real clients makes students feel like they are already part of the industry – and that’s great! But again, having a strong focus on agency PR without introducing other job profiles next to it, gives students the impression that agency PR is the only way to go. For others, internships and individual efforts to explore those other fields are often the only chance to gain experience.
3. They are straight-forward to contact/apply to. Agencies usually have websites which outline the application process, vacant positions and through which applications can be submitted. They are a simple and straight-forward destination for everyone who wants to present themselves as possible applicant. However, open positions in corporate in-house or political communications are much harder to track down and apply to as the paths to those jobs are usually a little more complex and often lead via other stations. For example, most people interested in political campaign management often start out working as unpaid interns or volunteers before working their way up to their desired position. It is much harder for academic advisors to outline a path to prepare students for such jobs, as well as find people who could function as resources and can tell you “that’s how you do it.” Nonetheless, I think those jobs should be stronger represented in career fairs and conferences, such as OU’s Top Jobs, which this year brought in almost exclusively PR and Advertising agencies from our imaginary list. For people wanting to apply to those agencies, which probably make the majority due to above-mentioned reasons, that is a great opportunity, but I want to advocate for those who do not feel represented. I want ask academic advisors and faculty to provide a medium for those students, too.
I’m not in any way trying to discredit present and past work done by organizers and faculties, as it has provided many students with incredible experience and opportunity. However, I simply want to remind that there are some PR students who feel ‘invisible’ or discouraged from choosing a non-traditional path, and those who found their passions elsewhere and are not supported in the same ways.
Victor Reyes, PR and Political Science senior, already knows that he wants to work as a political consultant, but he feels like he is in constant pressure of explaining his choice. “After agency work, political PR is probably the second biggest field. It’s all about messaging and communicating with your publics, in this case voters and constituents. So much that’s going on in politics right now is PR.” Yet, he says, he doesn’t feel like his field is presented much to fellow students and so he has to get most of his hands-on experience outside of class, working on campaigns for Rubio and Trump.
Why don’t we make it simpler for students, who want to pursue those careers? We need copywriters, media liaisons, directors of development, external and internal communications managers, corporate spokespeople and lobbyist. Public Relations is a beautiful and rich industry that gives people the chance to ‘build’ their dream job. The trend to focus on what’s big and current right now takes away from the colorful and diverse job spectrum that PR is all about.
