[Staker]

Any ideas how to get into PR or PA?

[blair2410]

(Original post by Staker)
Any ideas how to get into PR or PA?

There are many PR courses in UK, especially in London. The best uni is Bournemouth, but the chances for getting an internship/ a job are a lot higher in London. Westminster University which is in London, has a good PR course because it has lots of PR practitioners who can help you get into the industry. They have the knowledge, but also the connections.

you can check this as well if you're interested in other unis as well

http://www.independent.co.uk/student...ns-756208.html

[PRDude]

The fact that the opening sentence on that page read: Because PR is glamorous says alot.

It isn't. It's hard work and not for everybody.

A degree helps, but my best advice would be to slog it out gaining as much experience as possible. It's a highly competitive industry, pay is low to begin with and it often involves long hours. Anyone looking to do PR without a passion for it should avoid it imo.

[blair2410]

Everything needs a lot of work and I don't think PR needs more work than other careers. If you want to succeed you need to try hard in all domains. I have friends who are studying business, computer science, photography, fashion... this is a various range of domains and they are all complaining for doing too much work, paying attention to details and stuff like that.

And I don't deny the fact that PR has its glamorous side; it depends on what kind of PR if we refer only to its glamorous side, but it is entertaining in many cases.

[11:11]

Would it be best to do a degree in PR or in another subject with the intent to go into PR after? I'm wondering whether I'd be better off studying politics or something.

[timelordess2]

(Original post by 11:11)
Would it be best to do a degree in PR or in another subject with the intent to go into PR after? I'm wondering whether I'd be better off studying politics or something.

Hey there!

I came to the idea of working in PR pretty late, so I’m not studying PR or communications. However, I badly needed work experience, so I applied for internships at most of the bigger agencies and managed to get one for six months.

PR is very open, and you’ll find that a lot of people working in the industry, especially in the UK, didn’t study PR or communications. The most important things agencies are looking for are excellent written and oral communication skills and an interest in social and digital media, and you don’t have to be studying PR to offer this. I’ve found that lots of people have studied journalism or English, but others have business degrees! For public affairs, more people have politics degrees than PR degrees.

The best way to try and get your foot in the door, regardless of degree, is to get agency experience. Most agencies don’t advertise internships very openly so you just have to keep writing covering letters and CVs. I browsed PR Week to get the names of some agencies, looked on the website for people to email, and emailed 5 agencies, highlighting how my extra-curriculars were linked to the skills they were looking for. PR isn’t all glamorous- I was told that for my internship, I’d have to give up some of my lunchtimes to make phone calls- but then the same is true of any job.

[11:11]

(Original post by timelordess2)
Hey there!

I came to the idea of working in PR pretty late, so I’m not studying PR or communications. However, I badly needed work experience, so I applied for internships at most of the bigger agencies and managed to get one for six months.

PR is very open, and you’ll find that a lot of people working in the industry, especially in the UK, didn’t study PR or communications. The most important things agencies are looking for are excellent written and oral communication skills and an interest in social and digital media, and you don’t have to be studying PR to offer this. I’ve found that lots of people have studied journalism or English, but others have business degrees! For public affairs, more people have politics degrees than PR degrees.

The best way to try and get your foot in the door, regardless of degree, is to get agency experience. Most agencies don’t advertise internships very openly so you just have to keep writing covering letters and CVs. I browsed PR Week to get the names of some agencies, looked on the website for people to email, and emailed 5 agencies, highlighting how my extra-curriculars were linked to the skills they were looking for. PR isn’t all glamorous- I was told that for my internship, I’d have to give up some of my lunchtimes to make phone calls- but then the same is true of any job.

Thanks for the informative reply!
I've had my heart set on studying law for years but I've decided that I need something with less than A*AA-AAA requirements as I'm unsure of whether I'll get this. I've only recently started looking into PR and I'm not totally sure of what it involves, could you give me an idea? I think I'd like to work in the Media? What different areas can you go into in PR? and is it likely that people 'move up' into other jobs? Feel free to ignore this post if you don't want to answer!

[timelordess2]

(Original post by 11:11)
Thanks for the informative reply!
I've had my heart set on studying law for years but I've decided that I need something with less than A*AA-AAA requirements as I'm unsure of whether I'll get this. I've only recently started looking into PR and I'm not totally sure of what it involves, could you give me an idea? I think I'd like to work in the Media? What different areas can you go into in PR? and is it likely that people 'move up' into other jobs? Feel free to ignore this post if you don't want to answer!

No problem! I’m going to try and answer your questions, but as I am only an intern and not an expert, you should probably look at agency websites/ blogs/ PR Week for better info!

Public relations basically involves managing the public reputation of your client- that client could be a business, a brand, a product, a government or a person. A typical entry-level position in PR is that of account executive. Account executives are responsible for their particular clients, and their day-to-day job involves trying to get as much positive media coverage for their client as possible. This typically entails research into media trends, coming up with strategies to get that media exposure, writing press releases, calling up journalists to persuade them to write about your client, and going to events. Interns typically do the ringing up journalists/ filing press releases bit.

If you’re interested in the media, PR is a great area to go into because you’re always expected to keep up with media trends and current affairs. Social networking is very big in PR and a lot of professionals have their own blogs too (good ones include http://claresiobhan.com/ and http://socialwebthing.com/).

The work progression is similar to advertising and marketing. I'd advise you to check out advertising and marketing too if you're interested in PR, to make sure you wouldn't rather be an advertising or marketing person instead, as they are very similar! People start as account executives, then become managers, and then account directors. The progression is quite fast. The kinds of people I have met in PR are very sociable, as you would expect, but also generally on the young side. PR is an industry that favours everything new and trendy and technological, so it’s not necessarily a career for life. I talked to someone who, after working in Corporate PR, became a solicitor!

There are so many different areas of PR you could go into. It helps if you think of the industry as ‘communications’ rather than PR. SO many businesses rely on effective communications to get ahead of their competitors. Because agencies deal with multiple different areas of PR, agency internships are a good idea if you have no idea what you want to specialise in. Where I work, there are financial, consumer, healthcare, public affairs and digital teams. Even within teams, you could be working on anything. In consumer, I’m working with hotels!

Hope that wasn’t too long for you. Good luck!

[Dee Leigh]

(Original post by timelordess2)
No problem! I’m going to try and answer your questions, but as I am only an intern and not an expert, you should probably look at agency websites/ blogs/ PR Week for better info!

Public relations basically involves managing the public reputation of your client- that client could be a business, a brand, a product, a government or a person. A typical entry-level position in PR is that of account executive. Account executives are responsible for their particular clients, and their day-to-day job involves trying to get as much positive media coverage for their client as possible. This typically entails research into media trends, coming up with strategies to get that media exposure, writing press releases, calling up journalists to persuade them to write about your client, and going to events. Interns typically do the ringing up journalists/ filing press releases bit.

If you’re interested in the media, PR is a great area to go into because you’re always expected to keep up with media trends and current affairs. Social networking is very big in PR and a lot of professionals have their own blogs too (good ones include http://claresiobhan.com/ and http://socialwebthing.com/).

The work progression is similar to advertising and marketing. I'd advise you to check out advertising and marketing too if you're interested in PR, to make sure you wouldn't rather be an advertising or marketing person instead, as they are very similar! People start as account executives, then become managers, and then account directors. The progression is quite fast. The kinds of people I have met in PR are very sociable, as you would expect, but also generally on the young side. PR is an industry that favours everything new and trendy and technological, so it’s not necessarily a career for life. I talked to someone who, after working in Corporate PR, became a solicitor!

There are so many different areas of PR you could go into. It helps if you think of the industry as ‘communications’ rather than PR. SO many businesses rely on effective communications to get ahead of their competitors. Because agencies deal with multiple different areas of PR, agency internships are a good idea if you have no idea what you want to specialise in. Where I work, there are financial, consumer, healthcare, public affairs and digital teams. Even within teams, you could be working on anything. In consumer, I’m working with hotels!

Hope that wasn’t too long for you. Good luck!

Wow this is my kind of job

Now I need the experience...

[amgamez]

I am doing an International Politics degree and am interested in Public Affairs or Public Relations.

My question is: Is it too late to find an internship for the summer? I don't mind it being unpaid, and I live in London.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

[ScottishChris]

I am glad somebody cleared that up.

We offer placements over Summer and Christmas for Public Relations in our Media and PR teams.

If you lived in Scotland I could said we have 3 internship available for Media Team

[Little Jules]

(Original post by amgamez)
I am doing an International Politics degree and am interested in Public Affairs or Public Relations.

My question is: Is it too late to find an internship for the summer? I don't mind it being unpaid, and I live in London.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

It may be, but some places may still take you. The best thing you can do is contact companies who you are interested in working for and asking.

[TheCurlyHairedDude]

OP asked how to get into PR, not anything about PR courses :s

[amgamez]

ScottishChris
Re: Public Relations/Affairs
I am glad somebody cleared that up.

We offer placements over Summer and Christmas for Public Relations in our Media and PR teams.

If you lived in Scotland I could said we have 3 internship available for Media Team

- It's a shame your company is not in London, but it is good to hear some companies still have internships available.

[amgamez]

(Original post by Little Jules)
It may be, but some places may still take you. The best thing you can do is contact companies who you are interested in working for and asking.

I had been phoning companies previously after I decided to approach smaller PR companies. Do you think I should keep approaching smaller companies or would the bigger ones still have internships available?

Thanks!

[EGjeff]

Most of the longer, summer internships at the big companies will have gone but you might do well to apply for work experience which is usually 2 weeks or so, companies are generally a little more flexible with this.

Don't be put off by the duration, as believe me you can learn a hell of a lot in a week

Living in London you are at a HUGE advantage in that you can work for free / expenses

[Little Jules]

(Original post by amgamez)
I had been phoning companies previously after I decided to approach smaller PR companies. Do you think I should keep approaching smaller companies or would the bigger ones still have internships available?

Thanks!

Ultimately, you have nothing to lose by approaching both. Bigger companies are likely to have filled their internship programmes now, but it's always worth asking.

[amgamez]

(Original post by EGjeff)
Most of the longer, summer internships at the big companies will have gone but you might do well to apply for work experience which is usually 2 weeks or so, companies are generally a little more flexible with this.

Don't be put off by the duration, as believe me you can learn a hell of a lot in a week

Living in London you are at a HUGE advantage in that you can work for free / expenses

I am very keen on learning, even if it is for 2 weeks, because so far I have generall work experience (clothes store, cinema, restaurant) and I worked last year at a bank, and thus, some PR experience would be very valueable.

As I said before, I dont mind it being unpaid, but I do hope travel expenses are covered

[amgamez]

(Original post by Little Jules)
Ultimately, you have nothing to lose by approaching both. Bigger companies are likely to have filled their internship programmes now, but it's always worth asking.

Yeah, I realise I am a bit late with applying. I was also thinking of approaching charities to help in their communications/PR department. Maybe that's also worth looking into?

I speak 3 languages fluenty (Spanish, Dutch and English) and have basic level of German and French, think that is also worth mentioning in my cv or when phoning companies?

[Little Jules]

(Original post by amgamez)
Yeah, I realise I am a bit late with applying. I was also thinking of approaching charities to help in their communications/PR department. Maybe that's also worth looking into?

I speak 3 languages fluenty (Spanish, Dutch and English) and have basic level of German and French, think that is also worth mentioning in my cv or when phoning companies?

YOu should definitely put languages on your cv.

When you phone, you will mostly likely be asked to send a cv, so you wouldn't need to mention it then.