Struggling to get a job in PR? Let's double check to make sure you have the skills necessary for the job (today).
If you're applying for jobs in public relations today, here are the main skills and knowledge companies seek to have in a candidate:
Digital Media Skills: Do you understand how to create and manage content across various digital platforms, including social media, blogs, and multimedia formats?
In the modern age, this is the most important skill to have. If you want your business to thrive (today), you have to have some sort of media. As a consumer, before interacting with a business, we want to know a little bit more about them. We look businesses up online and see what we can find about them. What do their services look like? Where are they located? What kinds of services do they offer? What kind of reviews do they get? How popular or well-liked they are. How well known they are. How do they treat their customers? These are all questions consumers today want to know before calling up a business, and social media/having an online presence can help with providing these important answers.
Storytelling Techniques: Do you know how to craft compelling stories, including the use of narrative structure, voice, and style to engage readers and convey information effectively?
Are you telling a story the right way?
You have to be an effective storyteller. People don't want to read what they don't understand or don't relate to. You have to understand who your targeted audience is, how they communicate, what they want to know, and what compels them. A no-brainer to this skill is that you also have to have the correct grammar - that's just crucial anywhere you go. People get irked by what they can't understand, that's why we have grammar as a universal guideline in communication. Write what your audience wants to know, not just want you want them to know, what they want to know and care about. For example, if you're trying to reach the Gen Z audience, don't provide the story in a Gen X manner. You have to know your audience or else they're not going to care and skip over what you have to say. You have to fight for people's attention (as it has gotten real short now a days).
Research and Fact-Checking: Have you developed strong research skills to find credible sources and verify information, ensuring accuracy and reliability in reporting?
You can't just say anything you want to, either. Your words have to match business, your actions, and your values. It helps to actually have data or proof to back up your business claims. Are you reliable and trustworthy? Are the people you're seen with and collaborating with also in alignment with your values and actions? If you want a job in the PR field, you need to be reliable and always know your subjects in-depth before posting or adding your name to something. This is important and will either save you from a crisis or lead you to promised success.
Interviewing Skills: Have you mastered the art of conducting interviews, including how to ask effective questions and build rapport with sources?
Are you the right person for this interview? Does your tone and demeanor match the environment you want to cultivate?
Sometimes you'll need to produce content based on a personal story, and for this you will need to have interviewing skills. You'll need to ask the right questions. You'll need to know what your target audience will want to know already, before even choosing who to interview. You'll need to know what you want to know out of your person, before interviewing, that way you don't waste anyone's time. You don't want to waste the time of the interviewee nor the audience. If you ask the right questions (in the right tone and manner) you'll want to be worked with again - leading to your success. Asking the wrong questions with an inappropriate tone or timing, no one will want to work with you.
Ethics and Legal Issues: Have you gained insight into the ethical and legal considerations in journalism, such as issues related to privacy, plagiarism, and the responsibilities of journalists?
Ethics. Know what lines and boundaries you can and cannot cross. Just be a good person with values. You don't want to ruin your brand's image or even gain a lawsuit. California is especially different when it comes to other states or countries, such as posting about private conversations, so be careful overall. Be careful with publishing names, age, and private/contact information or even personal image. It all depends on context (according to the law and ethics regulations). This goes hand in hand with media-training. Be careful on what you say, especially if it affects someone personally.
Media Law and Regulation: Do you have an understanding of the legal framework governing journalism, including First Amendment rights, libel laws, and copyright issues?
Having knowledge on the laws and criminal charges in the online media field are crucial in public relations. You need to know these type of laws so you don't get hit with a copyright or slander charge that can ruin your business. You have to be knowledgeable in avoiding a crisis beforehand, so understanding the laws of the media land (such as fair-use) are important, so you don't get sued.
Audience Engagement: Have you learned how to analyze and understand audience preferences and behaviors to tailor content and reach target audiences effectively?
Before you decide on your target audience, you have to know how to engage with them, properly. You need to know your audience really, really well. You need to know where and how to find them. You also need to know what they don't like as to not lose them.There is a right way and a wrong way to engage with people. You have to meet them where they're at, it's not about having them meet you where you're at. Engaging with your audience not only includes having the right tone, but the right delivery to your message. You have to have the right resources to interact with them, too. This skill goes perfectly hand in hand with research and fact-checking skills.
Multimedia Production: Have you acquired skills in multimedia production, including video, audio, and graphic design, to create engaging and dynamic content?
Your audience of today will be online. The majority of audiences are now on some sort of digital device, whether it's through TV, a tablet, a computer, a phone, they are all on some sort of screen. So you have to know how to reach them all. Being in PR you have to be flexible. You may work with varying companies in your career life-span, which means you will be asked to work on different platforms depending on the company. One company may need you to create content for television, another for computers, and another for mobile devices. You need to be flexible, hence multi-media. You have to be creative in this field. Not only will you be needed to solve a crisis, but you will also be creating and designing. You may have to create & design announcements through email campaigns, or through social media. Campaigning is the bread and butter of public relations, and if you can't design a campaign for your life, you're out of luck in this industry. So make sure you're well educated on Adobe, Capcut, Canva, etc., because you will be needing it.
Critical Thinking: Have you developed the ability to analyze and interpret news stories and trends critically, providing context and depth to reporting?
Being flexible is part of the PR game. That also means aligning your tone and content with the state of the world. Whether political or economically. You have to be careful with what you post. Be conscious of what your targeted audience is going through; have sympathy and be sensitive of your what your customers are going through or your audience's needs. Being aware and conscious of what's going on around you is crucial to be PR (because again you're trying to avoid a crisis here)!
Industry Trends: Are you able to stay updated on current trends and innovations in the journalism industry, including the impact of technology and changes in media consumption habits?
Part of knowing your audience and engaging with them is knowing what they like. You can do this by understanding what current trends are happening on social media or with whatever industry you're with. Hopping onto popular trends help you to stay relevant and be discovered by new people (as well as staying in the good graces of your current audience). But try to make sure the trends are relevant to what you're working with. If you're in the fashion industry, make sure you're following current fashion trends. Right now, the early 2000's fashion are really in! So companies bringing back some of their iconic 2000's looks (juicy couture tracksuits) are doing really well right now. Keep in mind is where the youth is at. Where are they meeting? What technological device or digital platform are they on most? By making sure you're following along to whatever is trending, you stay relevant, and you stay successful. Following trends is like following the eye of a hurricane, so be ready to move in whatever which way to stay in the middle (where you want to be)!
There is a time and a season for a successful PR career or even a downward slope in the job market. But as long as you hone these skills and build them up along the way, you'll make a sure-fire candidate when applying for your dream PR job! Don't give up; you got this!
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