PR Interviews – What to Do and What not to Do
Posted on | January 29, 2010 | brett turner
I was reminded recently when one of my colleagues decided to leave Jackson Marketing Group and move back to her home state, how few people actually prepare for a job interview. It never ceases to amaze me those that will enter an interview not knowing one thing about what we do specifically, who our clients are and/or how their skills can help us. In fairness, the ones that do research and come prepared almost always knock my socks off.
So I decided to write a quick blog post on job interviews from the PR perspective. Some of these rules can be applied when interviewing for any job. Some are specifically for public relations applicants.
- Research the agency and your interviewer. Know who our clients are, know the person that you will be talking to (almost every company has bios online) and know the focus of our business.
- Briefly research an agency’s clients. You don’t need to know anything in depth about them, but it’s an interview killer when someone asks, “So, who are your biggest clients?”
- Be specific on how you can help a company. We are a specialized industry. The public relations discipline consists of numerous specialties in and of itself, from media relations to crisis communications to media training to speech writing. How can your skills best be utilized?
- There is one thing that all public relations professionals should be: master communicators, specifically master written and verbal communicators. If you can’t write well, if you don’t have a grasp of proper grammar and punctuation and you don’t like to speak in front of people, this isn’t the business for you.
- Follow the news and know what is going on in the world and in your community. How can you help a company communicate and position a company positively, if you don’t have your pulse on what is taking place in the world or in your community?
- Understand that PR is not a 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. job.
- Dress appropriately and conservatively. For heaven’s sake, you’re being interviewed to be the spokesperson for a company and agency and/or a brand. Don’t you think they want you to represent them in a positive light?
- Follow up. I will never hire someone who doesn’t follow up with me following an interview in writing. Period. First, it’s rude. Second, it’s arrogant. Third, it’s a great way to show someone you really aren’t interested in the job. Finally, on the positive side, it’s a great way to showcase your writing skills. If you really want to get in on my good side, follow-up with a phone call, too.
- Communicate your pertinent extracurricular activities. Do you love social media? Are you writing a novel? I don’t care if you were a member of the sailing club, unless we have a sailing-related client. I do care if you are fluent in another language. I don’t care if you were your fraternity or sorority photo chairperson. I do care if you were photo editor of your school newspaper.
If you follow these tips, then you are sure to make a positive impression, stand out amongst most other candidates and give yourself a much better chance of getting hired.
Did you like this post? Here are a few more:
- Does PR Accreditation Matter?
- Why PR Matters in a Down Economy
- Freedom of Tweet
- Book Review – The New Rules of Marketing and PR
- Stop Selling and Just Answer the Question
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