As a uni student still in the middle of her Media and Communications degree, seeing public relations in practice has taught me so much more about the industry than I can ever learn in the classroom.
1. PR is a lot of hard work.
For an industry that commonly gets stereotyped as PR practitioners rubbing shoulders with big names at cocktail events and fancy parties, it’s not surprising that most people don’t tend to think of PR as a stressful profession.
But what so many people constantly underestimate is what lies behind an effortless façade – hard work.
This is something no textbook will ever mention. A media degree will train you to deliver your client’s objectives, but nothing will prepare you for the unexpected crises, the sudden shortfalls, the hair-grabbing moments where everyone’s demands are impossible. It’s moments like these that have made me aware of the challenges PR practitioners face – as well as appreciate the dedication that comes before every successful media campaign.
2. Communication takes more than just skill
To write well has been a skill that’s naturally required of every PR practitioner. But to simply be a good writer isn’t enough to distinguish you in an industry where competition is based on more than the quality of your writing.
A PR practitioner doesn’t write for a uni lecturer who’s looking to tick all the boxes in a standard news release. Their audience is going to consist of people and publications, each with a different set of requirements in mind, and each thinking of what they can get out of what they receive.
What this requires is for practitioners to be smart about the way they communicate. Sometimes, that’s going to mean taking chunks out of your news release, even if they were the most well researched component of your entire story. It might mean forcing yourself to put on a bubblier tone to fit the publication you’re writing for.
Every instant of your communication boils down to the strength of its appeal to your audience, not just the level of skill you can demonstrate.
3. Learning never stops
Still in the early stages of my career, I’ve been keeping a diary where I write down everything that has happened in the office each day, and all that I was taught or picked up.
There hasn’t been a single week where I couldn’t think of something to write about.
I’m constantly noting down something new I’ve been taught about writing news releases from someone in the office, about the major beauty bloggers in Australia, or about the practical skills you pick up from organising an event.
A few weeks ago, I told our Account Manager that I felt like there was still so, so much for me to learn – and her reply was that there will always be things to learn, even after spending decades working in the industry.
This is what I’ve realised to be the most rewarding thing about PR: Learning never stops. Every day brings with it grueling challenges you learn to walk away from with your head held high. Knowing that my experiences have redefined how I see the industry and its people, that every day I’m being pushed to produce things I never thought I’d get to do when I first began as an intern, has helped me to develop so much both personally and professionally as a PR practitioner.
To know that this growth will never stop makes me excited about what more skills there are to develop, what bigger problems need to be tackled, and what newer, more innovative solutions are out there for us to put on the table.
