Photo by 91 Magazine on Unsplash

By Amanda Drum

May means college graduation season; congratulations grads! After the bliss of walking the stage and emancipation from final exams–and, for some, a few last months of summer break—grads realize they need a “real world” job now. 

For communications grads, you may already be aware of the more buzzy PR roles at major companies, or industries like technology PR, entertainment PR and crisis PR. But if public relations posts all lived within just those three categories, many brands would be left without representation! 

Don’t panic about the job pool; there are lots of positions that fall into the PR bucket, either directly or indirectly. Company sectors and industries you may not have considered can deserve exploration. Here’s how to land on your feet in your first full-time role out of school:

1. Define “PR”

That’s not a joke–although the inner workings of PR can be a guessing game for the uninitiated. List the job roles that fall under PR and start your search with those keywords. You might find jobs that fit your experience and are not explicitly called “communications” or “public relations”.. Many PR openings are inadvertently labeled “marketing” jobs, or called by synonyms like “community relations specialists”. Some companies are looking for social media marketers more than traditional communications staff–something to consider.

2. Know Your Options

Did you take an internship with, or learn under a professor from, a PR agency? Or an in-house publicist within a brand? How big was their company? If you were only exposed to one sector of PR, you may not know many types of roles and companies that fall under PR, with very different work styles:

1. Boutique Agencies: Agencies no larger than 10 individuals–and sometimes as few as 1 or 2–that typically service multiple clients
2. Mid-Size Agencies: Larger than boutiques but smaller than massive corporations, these agencies might be independent or owned by a parent company, and service many clients
3. Large Agencies: Agencies with hundreds of internal personnel who represent some of the largest brands in the world and are often (though not always) owned by a holding company 
4. “In-House”: A communications department inside a company that performs PR only for that brand. If you notice that a company’s PR contact has a company email address, their department is probably in-house.
5. Freelance/Contract: A publicist who sells their services to potential clients on a freelance or contract basis. Freelance can be an option once you’ve built up some experience if you would rather go it solo!

It’s important for grads to think ahead. Do you want to move up the ladder quickly? Smaller companies can be conducive to quick promotions..but also can require more responsibility. Do you want stability long-term? Maybe a larger agency is more your style. Then, name your industry. Silicon Valley, Major Cities, and Hollywood aren’t the only destinations for publicists; law, aviation, dentistry, literature, even agriculture companies need PR. I just named a few random sectors, but you’d be hard-pressed to find an industry that doesn’t need communications services. The world is your oyster!

3. Now PR Yourself

The first test of your pitching prowess gets to be…you! I’ve sat on both the applicant and employer sides of the table and learned what stuck out most to me in resumés and cover letters:

Don’t:

1. Leave typos. While we’re all human and mistakes can happen, we want to hire meticulous proofreaders, too.
2. List unrelated jobs–without explanation. If your work experience is on the thin side, see my above note on internships. Otherwise, tie your learnings from your roles to what might help in a PR scenario. Maybe you worked a job that required juggling many requests at once. Maybe you learned to manage multiple deadlines. If the job isn’t related to PR, make the soft skills you learned in those roles related to PR.
3. Skip instructions. I often ask my applicants for writing samples…and don’t get writing samples. We need those. Moreover, that tells us you may not read that closely, which is a crucial publicist skill. 

Do:

1. Get specific. Hopefully, you secured an internship in college or engaged in some in-class PR project. If so, outline your job role and responsibilities. Did you write releases? Did you make press lists? Did you send pitches? I’m much more interested in what skills you already know. (And if you didn’t line up an internship during school…you may want to start there to make your resumé really shine.)
2. Include a cover letter. These aren’t time-wasters; we’re testing your writing skills. Treat a cover letter like you’re writing a compelling pitch for yourself. Use all the techniques you know up to now!
3. Include references. These shouldn’t just be coworkers or class peers. Professors and former supervisors hold more “weight” because they see another side of your output that a peer may not.

Finally, we know the job market can be ultra-competitive in this field. PR is still about building connections; you’ll have to do it before you land the job, and you’ll have to continue to do it after you start your career. If you find it challenging to find work, lean on who you know for guidance: past professors, past internship supervisors, or even fellow applicants can lend an ear or piece of advice. It takes a village; we wish you the best of luck!