Looking for that First PR Job? Nail the Interview.

Katie Corbut is an account coordinator with McDougall Travers Collins, and a 2011 graduate of Kent State University.

It’s a scary world out there after college. You can have the best education, recommendations and letters from the Dean – but even that might not be enough in this economy. Next week, I’ll be participating at a panel discussion at Buffalo State’s PRSSA “An Evening with the Professionals” roundtable event. Practitioners will be asked to shed light on current trends with careers in public relations, and give advice on how to get that interview.

Here is some of the advice I hope to share:

Your resume needs to be clean – Look at it so many times your eyeballs hurt, and then have five more people look at it to make sure it is grammatical and free of spelling errors. Your ability to answer questions about your internships and experience will speak louder than any unnecessary fluff you write in there. Keep your resume to one page and follow these tips:

• Name, address, phone number and professional e-mail (not babycakes@hotmail.com).
  
• Include a personal work ethic explanation – keep it simple.
  
• Compile a short list of core coursework – if one class stands out, summarize in a couple sentences what you learned and/or achieved.
  
• List your experience – internships, pro-bono work, managing a Ted’s Hot Dogs. If you worked for a semester or a couple of years, what did you accomplish? Are there any measurable achievements? Include them, and be prepared to discuss the challenges you faced.
  
• Cut the colorful borders and frilly images – keep it simple.
  
• Bring more copies than you’ll need – if you’re meeting three people for an interview, bring six copies.

Make a portfolio – What better way to show off what you’ve learned and accomplished by bringing in a clean portfolio of your work, or creating a free online portfolio to showcase your work examples and your ability to work on the web. Include your online portfolio link in your email signature, along with your social media links (Twitter and LinkedIn if you had to pick two).

Stay up on current trends – Know some of the most recent PR flubs and successes and be able to reference some of those case studies and why they resonated with you from a professional standpoint. This shows your interest in the field outside of your coursework and employment.

Get out there and meet people – Send emails asking to come in for an informational interview to see what the company does and who they’re looking for when they seek to hire someone. Do a little research – know about the person you’re pitching to, where they work and what they work on. The more people see your face out and about, the more they’ll remember you. They might not have a job opening, but they might know someone who does.

Know what you’re going to say when asked “tell me a little bit about yourself.” Be ready to give a good thirty-second snapshot of who you are, as a person and an employee. Put yourself on camera and record it, practice it – but know when it’s the right time to improvise.

Clean up your online identity – Your parents and professors are right. Take down those “blue and red cup” pictures and stop using profanity. If you’re going to work in PR, the people who are interviewing you are doing the same research on you that you’re doing on them.

I can’t speak from a hiring manager’s perspective, but these are all items I would look for when recruiting an entry-level PR practitioner with the intent to retain them. Did they have a grammar and spelling-conscious resume, filled with measurements on experience – not just their GPA and core curriculum courses? Did they attempt to complete multiple internships, or apply their coursework knowledge to a pro-bono job? Do they have examples of their work in the form of an online portfolio or physical portfolio, or both? Do they have a clean social media profile and presence? Did they do their homework – do they know about your company, clients and culture?

What do you look for as a hiring manager?

I’m excited to meet the PRSSA students next week and help in any way I can.

Excerpt 5: Balancing Corporate & Personal Brands

The following is the fifth excerpt from "Walking the Wire: Striking a Balance Between Corporate and Personal Brands" as presented by Mike McDougall, APR at the Ragan Communications / Southwest Airlines conference in October 2011. 

Tip #5: Train and Coach

Who has an employee handbook? How about a social media policy? Great. Show me where personal brands are addressed.

OK, it's unlikely that you codified personal branding in your corporate materials. You may want to, but even then it will have little effect on what happens among your associates. On the other hand, training and coaching will make an immediate impact.

Have regular discussions with individuals and groups about what’s working well, and where challenges are arising with personal brands. Set up a brown bag lunch discussion or work it into one-on-one professional development sessions. Remember that you're not attempting to cut off personal brands at their knees, but to ensure that there's a symbiotic relationship between them and the organization's brand.

Of course, don’t limit this to your backyard – look to competitors and outside your industry to see how others are succeeding or failing.

Even the world's best players need coaching -- just make judicious use of the whistle!

To read additional insights from Mike McDougall's discussion, bookmark The Schism or follow our Twitter feed (@McDougallTC). For a copy of the presentation slides, contact us at info@McDougallTC.com.

Skechers & the Greyhound Controversy

The Schism welcomes guest blogger Katie Corbut, an account coordinator with MTC.

The theme of the year for Super Bowl commercials was definitely “cuteness,” seeing as how probably half of them contained a baby or furry companion.

The Budweiser “Weego” commercial was one of my favorites, mostly because it contained the “help rescue” plug at the end – kudos to Bud Light. I also loved the new Volkswagen Bug commercial with the overweight golden retriever – it’s too bad most humans aren’t this motivated to get in shape! I of course, loved the Doritos commercial with the grandmother and grandson, whom she catapults into the air to steal the bag away from the little boy. And I can’t leave out the E-Trade commercials – I laugh every time. 

There was one commercial, however, that really threw me. As everyone in the room laughed when the French bulldog moon-danced across the screen, I was too busy wondering why greyhound racing was the base of the spot, when the sport has generated so much backlash in recent years.

Dozens of animal rights activists have jumped to the rescue of greyhounds in the weeks leading up to, and after the Super Bowl. In my personal view, greyhound racing is an industry fraught with cruelty. Greyhounds used as racers typically live their entire lives in cramped cages and are kept muzzled by their trainers at all times. These gentle dogs are extremely sensitive, yet they rarely know the comfort of a kind word or a gentle touch. When too old, injured, or tired to continue racing, the dogs are often discarded. Since 2001, more than half of American greyhound-racing tracks have closed because of the public outcry against the cruelty inflicted upon dogs. The remaining tracks have seen a decrease in ticket sales.

Greyhound rescue groups, adoption organizations and animal lovers all around the United States have been in an uproar since the commercial aired, some even began petitioning Skechers before the spot aired. One blog offered a petition to sign that would be sent to the managing parties at Skechers, in an effort to further show exactly how many people were saddened by their choice to ignore the concerned public.

For its part, Skechers has been mum on the issue, only noting that it complied with Humane Society standards in the filming of the spot.

Now Super Bowl advertising is no stranger to controversy. Remember Groupon's maligned spot from last year? So against that backdrop,was this a good move on Skechers’ part? I’d say no, but I have a personal experience with greyhounds that puts me in a difficult position to evaluate this situation. 

Do I think there are other ways in which Skechers could have communicated the same message, and had the same pug do the moon-dance in little red shoes? Yes. There are plenty of canine competitions that are not illegal in 38 states – e.g., dock jumping and agility courses. 

As unfortunate it is that Skechers did not see fit to heed the pleas of greyhound organization groups, it is undeniable that greyhound racing has now gathered more awareness nationwide. So, is it possible the cause even came out ahead because of Skechers' approach?

What are your thoughts? Was Skechers insensitive to the issue, or is the controversy surrounding the spot overblown?

When she’s not helping clients navigate the waters, you may find Katie Corbut kayaking. Or quoting lines from the Lord of the Rings films. But usually not at the same time. Katie, her fiancé John, and their cat and dog live in Buffalo.

Keep That Sand In Your Hand: Getting Ahead on a Multi-Agency Account

Excerpt from The Agency Post:

It was the late ‘70s on a warm autumn day in the far reaches of northern New York. The sun glinted off an island of speckled white sand, framed by well-worn boards coated with a fresh, glossy application of spinach green paint.

I’d arrived at the sandbox, only to hear the voice of my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Garman behind me: “Play nicely with each other, kids. I’ll know if you don’t.”

Years later, those simple words of wisdom still hold true in a different type of sandbox altogether – the multi-agency account. Think back to what you probably heard as a five-year-old, and apply them to your world today:

“There are enough toys for everyone.” Sure, you want to earn some good revenue and make a fair profit on the services you’re providing, but stop making those desperate grasps to steal budget allocations or assignments from another firm. Give your client some credit — if there wasn’t room enough for all of you to have a role, you wouldn’t have been invited to play.

“Take turns.” I know, we all love ourselves, our teammates and our work. But you can’t always be in the limelight. Let the other agencies shine when they genuinely deserve the attention, and compliment them on hard-fought wins.

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Read the full column from Mike McDougall at The Agency Post.

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