In the blink of an eye, January has passed us by and in university, the month was filled with assignment deadlines and of course we are in our third national lockdown.
The second semester of BCU has just begun and as
I loom towards the end of one of my modules (Communication Management) an idea
came across me to form this industry reflections post. As BCU PR students, we
have been lucky enough to sit-in live video interviews with our lecturer Kelly and many
guest speakers from the PR and communications industry throughout the past semester. Some of these talks
included BCU PR graduates who have successfully secured their entry roles and
have been a beaming beacon of hope for us third-year students in particular.
I learnt a lot from the talks and felt they gave great pieces of advice that we as students could apply in our lead up to entering this dynamic industry and our professional careers. I will only share a couple of take-away quotes from each interview but if you’re a BCU PR student I recommend listening to all of them to gain a greater understanding of the industry if you haven’t already (they're saved on the PR and Media course page on Moodle).
I have left the companies Twitter
handles below, in case you want to give them a follow (which I encourage if
you’re on the prow for work experience!)
There's a lot to cover, so I will be sharing a second blog post soon. Onto part one...
Maddy McCrann-Smith and Karlie France from Spottydog Communications @spottydogcomms
“Don’t
just write a cv and a cover letter and send it out to any job that fits your
criteria. Just focus on a few and put a
lot of time into that, make it personal to the company.”
Maddy and Karlie are both previous PR
graduates at BCU, Maddy graduating in 2008 and Karlie was in the class of 2020. They kick off the video discussions with their growing
experience of the industry and gave us upcoming graduates some great pointers
when it comes to applying for roles. They advised on how to apply the research
you’ve found about the job into your CV’s and tailoring it to specifically suit
the company, against the standard ‘one-size-fits-all’.
Natalie Smith from Spottydog Communications @spottydogcomms
“I
recommend doing content writing opportunities from home.”
“Volunteer
to help out with other people's social media accounts.”
Natalie is part of the most recent BCU PR
graduates. She was always proactive in gaining industry experience during her
time at university and recommends developing your experience in content writing
as this is such a huge part of PR. Small companies and micro/macro-influencers
often need help handling their social media profiles, and Natalie suggests
assisting them to get a sense of how things work when it comes to social media
management.
Chris Brown from ColmoreBID @ColmoreBID
“Just
because you’ve not had work experience working in an agency doesn’t mean you
haven’t got communication experience."
Look deeper into how you can apply your
professional skills (although they may not have been gained in this specific
industry) when explaining your experience in job interviews. There may be an
aspect of your degree that you can draw on, a group presentation that you have
led, any societies on which you have sat or a part-time job. Apply those
perspectives and mention your transferable skills to prove that you are indeed
suitable for any role.
Melissa Lawrence from Taylor Bennett Foundation @PRstarsTB
“The
industry is woefully undiverse and sometimes when you go into an agency as a
minority you are the only one, or one of a few”
Melissa is the CEO of the Taylor Bennett
Foundation which is a charity that supports (BAME) black, Asian and minority
ethnic graduates with pursuing a career in communications. Although the ethnic
diversity within the PR and communications industry is growing it still remains
very low. When you enter the industry remember to speak up/speak out if you
feel that something is not right, or, can be done more effectively. This will
not only make your colleagues feel more comfortable in the workplace, but it
could also open the eyes of someone who may be in a position of privilege.
Bex Williams from WPR Agency @WPRAgency
“Be articulate
and professional at all times”
WPR is a very familiar agency to us BCU
students as this is where Kelly began her PR career, starting as a
graduate account executive and leaving as head of home and lifestyle! WPR
currently have two BCU graduates employed there: Nicole and Rachel (who have
been guest speakers on talks with us previously).
Once you graduate and enter the industry you
will be coming in as a graduate account executive. Around the office, you
should be able to demonstrate that you are articulate and know how to act in
professional settings. By doing this your company will feel comfortable taking
you to client meetings and begin to develop your role requirements.
I hope this summary of some of the guest speakers we had last semester is useful, and keep your eyes peeled for part two...
The post was written by Lindelani,
final year PR student at BCU School of Media.
You can follow her PR and
university journey on:
Twitter: @digital_linde & @girlsinmedia
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lindelani/
Personal Blog: lifewithlinde.com
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