Starting a career in PR can be daunting. It’s an extremely fast-paced industry, but it’s also very exciting! It can be very easy to get swept away with all of the new information, workload and relationships. 

Whilst working at Wild PR, I am also working towards completing a Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship through the PRCA. My apprenticeship allows me to have a full-time job in a sector I love whilst learning and gaining a qualification. 

After ten months of learning, developing and growing as a Junior PR Executive, here are my five top tips for an apprentice or individual looking to start a new career in PR:

  • Build your personal brand

A key aspect of PR is your personal brand, which includes working on yourself and your image to build your reputation with others. One key to this is your social media, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn. These are two social media platforms that I wasn’t active on before my apprenticeship, however, I began to use the platform in my first week and instantly saw the benefits. 

LinkedIn has 760 million+ members, and 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates, this makes the platform a must for your professional growth. After creating your profile and mentioning PR in your bio, keeping your profile updated, using a professional headshot and updating your status are three steps to boost your networking ability online. In addition to this, Twitter has 187 monetisable daily users and is predicted to grow by 2.8% throughout the year¹. Therefore, I recommend being active on this platform throughout your PR journey. I use Twitter daily to discover recent trends, industry news and look for journalist requests. 

  • Stay positive!

Learning is a complex process and can often bring you down if you are not in the right mindset, however, it’s important to accept that you will make mistakes, and that’s okay! This is especially true in the world of PR when everything moves at such a high speed. It’s crucial to plan your time to control this and stay on top of your learning. I use a time planner every day to plan my daily tasks, I assign an amount of time next to each task and then fill in how long it actually took. This helps me to prepare for future work. 

I would also suggest writing everything down. When receiving constant new information, it can be easy to forget things and let them go to the back of your mind. However, if you write down the information you are being told, it will always be there to revisit. 

Another way to remain positive and organised is to start with the basics and stick to these tasks and routines until you are confident. Whilst it is easy to get caught up in the rush of PR, remember that you are still learning, and it is crucial to practice each new skill before moving on to the next. 

Finally, reward yourself! Each time you achieve something new, take time to praise yourself before approaching the next goal. 

  • Monitor the media landscape

The media landscape has a significant impact on the work of PR professionals. Getting press coverage can be difficult if the news agenda is extremely busy with a particular topic, such as COVID-19. Therefore, it’s vital to keep up with the news daily. This is also important to keep on top of newsjacking, as monitoring clients’ industry news can enable us to be reactive and respond to journalists with expert commentary. 

I allocate time every day to go over the news and note any relevant storylines thoroughly. As well as this, I look over response sources and utilise the hashtag #journorequest on Twitter, staying on top of potential opportunities for clients to feature in any desired publications, interviews or podcasts and increasing their public reach. 

  • Build relationships

Building relationships and networking are very important in the PR industry and can be crucial for project success. As a Junior PR Executive, relationships with colleagues, contacts in the press and others in both the industry and apprenticeship scheme are crucial. With colleagues, it is necessary to build strong relationships and understand your team members’ roles in each job and task, this will help with efficiency and time management.

To build bonds with others in the industry and the press, Twitter and LinkedIn are beneficial platforms. Connecting with people and seeing the type of content they post and interact with enables you to find similarities with yourself, your business or your content. They may also post requests for journalists, allowing you to find opportunities for your clients. The more you interact with others in the industry, you will start to be seen as a leading expert in your field. 

  • Balancing your apprenticeship and client work

In my apprenticeship, 20% of my time is spent on learning and development, and it’s referred to as ‘off the job’. Different employers and apprentices have alternative times for this 20% to be completed, however, I set one day aside per week to complete apprenticeship work. This allows me to complete my tasks and completely focus for one day and have the other four days for client work. 

You can often get swept up in PR, and there is always work to be done. I find that having an apprenticeship day helps separate the types of work to avoid confusion and stress. Client work is exciting, however, it’s essential to remember to learn and develop your understanding in order to receive your qualification. 

Follow my journey as a PR apprentice over on Twitter at @abigosling_ and learn more about me in our ‘Meet the team’ blog. 

Sources

  1. All insight gathered from a PRCA workshop. 

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