6 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN PR

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If you know a bit about how public relations works in the field, you’llknow that (contrary to popular belief) a job in PR isn’t all about glitzand glamour, socialising, and organising fancy events or parties. Acareer in this field requires a lot of discipline, long hours, andexcellent multitasking skills.

If you think this job might be for you (or if you’ve already stepped intoa Public Relations career), these tips are sure to set you up for asuccessful career in this exciting field.

1) STAY UP TO DATE WITH CURRENT EVENTS

As with any career in marketing, trends in public relations can rise (and fall) in theblink of an eye. Keep up to date with the latest news, industry trends andtechnological developments by following online news sites on social mediachannels such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These platforms will send younotifications (if you set up your account to do so) the moment anythingnewsworthy happens, and this will help you to stay on top of things as they happenand will give you a head start to implement changes in your PR strategy should thedevelopment of any current events have a direct influence on your campaign.

2) IMPROVE ON YOUR COMMUNICATION AND/OR WRITING SKILLS

A big part of your responsibilities as a PR professional will be to create content tobe used across a variety of platforms to promote the projects that you are workingon. In order to create good content, it is important that your communication skillsare top notch, and one way of ensuring that this is the case is to constantlyimprove on your writing skills.

Start your own blog to experiment with different writing styles, ask a colleague orfriend to have a look at your work and to make suggestions on where you canimprove, or even take a short course focusing on writing for PR.

3) KEEP YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE UPDATED & RISK FREE

When working in public relations you are almost guaranteed to meet new peopleevery single day. Make it easy for these people to find you on channels such asLinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or G+ by keeping your personal profile updated withyour contact details and current projects that you are working on.In today’s social media age it is important to remember that what you put on theinternet can make or break the impressions others formulate of you – so be sure tothink twice before posting the weekend’s wild party photos on Facebook…

4) FORMULATE YOUR OWN COPING MECHANISMS

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, you can be sure to work long hoursthat will inevitably lead to many sleepless nights. The good news is that it’s notthat difficult to remove the sleepless nights from the equation by instilling copingmechanisms into your daily tasks.

Step away from your work at a few intervals during the day, take a deep breath,and take note of what you’ve accomplished so far and what else needs to befinalised during the rest of the day. Get in the habit to set up weekly schedules foryour tasks with clear due dates and goals that need to be met. This way, you canprevent yourself from being surrounded by absolute chaos when it comes to yourto-do list, and rather tackle each day in a well-organised and structured manner.

5) DON’T PUNISH YOURSELF WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE

Everyone can make a mistake, but not everyone can recover from it. Slip-ups willoccur one time or another, but it is important that you remind yourself that you’renot the first person to get something wrong. Use this as an opportunity to learnsomething. Have a discussion with your mentor or a colleague and ask for theiradvice on how you could have prevented the glitch, make a mental note and use itto improve your future decision making processes.

6) BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN

As the PR scope is always changing, it would be beneficial for you to keep up withthe changes in order for your work to stay relevant and up-to-date. Drink up theknowledge of others when working with them, expand your work networks andnever miss an opportunity to broaden your skill set. The more you know, the betteryou will be able to execute your job!