5 Tips for Any Girl Getting Started in PR
In all honesty, I’m still a beginner myself since I still am in college and only just started taking PR classes. Although, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know so many different great professors, network with so many of my friends, and form great relationships and learn from so many people! I wanted to give seven significant tips that I’ve found helpful so far when trying to find in where I can fit in as a young college girl looking to get into Public Relations.
1.) Don’t be afraid to apply for something when you feel intimidated; things are always changing!
When looking through job after job or company postings about possible internships, I always get extremely disappointed when it says “College Graduate” or Must be “____…”. In all honesty, try and go for it anyways! Don’t be intimidated by the application. I’ve come to find that employers like people that are go getters. For example, I was sent an internship by a professor that thought I could be a great fit for the job. I was pretty perplexed to review the requirements, only to find that they were looking someone a year or two older than I was. I decided to apply anyways, because it never hurts to try right? To my surprise, I got an interview and got it! With that being said, if you think you would be a good fit, then it can never hurt to apply for it.
2.) Get Curious & Creative
When I was a kid and even throughout High School, I was never the kid who was getting awards for oil canvas painting at the local art show or had any creative or even noticeable talent as a liberal arts prodigy. In this case, as I got older, I became more curious about the complex world of fashion, writing, music, etc, and it opened my eyes to a lot more than what I was just taught in school or what might have been expected of me. I got more curious about what “art” can be considered as. Art isn’t just a painting, but rather, it’s the sum of a unique perspective and what we the people consider interpretation in art. That may sound confusing, but hear me out. I’ve always been interested in photography, but not necessarily the technicalities of camera angles, usage, and the history of its development. Rather, I enjoying the uniqueness of it all, how people can create collages and use different filters to make something unique, especially with color. This led me to learning about Canva and LightRoom, where both are super simple sights that you can use to create a sort of digital poster, announcement, or summarization of messages, while LightRoom is best when needing to use a Preset. I hope one day I can learn a lot more about Graphic Design and Photo Shop, but I would definitely explore those apps first when getting curious about simple and complex photographs.
3.) Ask for help from your friends, TA’s, and Professors
Once showing my TA my Resume this past semester, I never even realized how disorganized it actually was. Credit to him, he had so much experience in his field, he was a Resume-Pro. He really helped me get my resume down to the cold hard facts about my skillset, experience, and my professional background. Without asking him for help, I definitely would have been in rough shape to say the least. I was always nervous to ask other people for help growing up, in fear of just waisting their time or bothering them. People are more willing to help you than you think! They were there once too! So don’t be afraid to ask for help whether it be on your Resume, Cover Letter, even Class Schedule…help goes both ways!
4.) Network! Network! Network!
Networking is one of the most important things I’ve found when trying to get involved in the first steps of your professional career. Thankfully, during my Freshman year of college over winter break, my mom thought it would be a good idea to take a LinkedIn class to not only get a credit or two, but learn how the platform works and set up a professional account. I’ve been able to connect with so many different people all while it is easy to navigate. Along with this, reaching out to potential people that are friends of friends or even a complete stranger that is in your field of profession, it helps build your professional network and get insight in the industry.
5.) Starting anywhere is starting somewhere
I know that may sound extremely corny, but hear me out. In Public Relations, it essential to know how to communicate across all forms, which is why even having a job in high school is the best place to start. Throughout high school I was a babysitter, a lifeguard, and even a restaurant hostess, and it really helped me get comfortable communicating and talking to people. I am already such an outgoing person, but by starting to work anywhere as soon as possible helps in more ways than you might think.
These tips above are definitely some of the most helpful things that I’ve learned during my time in college along with the consideration of my professional experiences thus far. From high school or college until after, getting as many skills and growing them as much as you can really prepares you for the business world as a young adult. I hope this helped!
- Shannon
