Advice for PR Job Candidates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tom Hagley Sr., an outstanding educator, author and public relations expert, reached out to me this week with helpful advice for job seekers. His guest blog post appears below.

There will be an increasing number of job opportunities in what looks like a very dismal market. Out of the current chaos, we already see the need for a fresh resurgence of helpful public relations. For some, the pandemic recovery is depressing, confusing, beyond definition and dangerous. For you, it should be seen as an opportunity for public relations to facilitate change and to be of help to the way people under duress think, speak and behave.  To take advantage of this situation, you need to keep your spirits up, think positively and act creatively. I am going to offer some observations and suggestions for sharpening your tools for a job search.

 The pandemic recovery is creating a new landscape of work and social behaviors. It is raising awareness of:

• public health and the need for support industries;
• home-based offices and the need for new telework technologies;
• stay-at-home life styles and the need for new products for reprioritizing;
• remote learning and the need for programs for certificates, diplomas, degrees;
• changes in human behavior and the need for retraining;
• departure from traditional thinking and pathways to redefined livelihoods;
• rebuilding and restructuring social interacting;
• reimagining how to live better based on lessons learned. 

Now is the time to think creatively about ways in which the new landscape will develop public relations jobs, what the jobs will entail, how they will be promoted. Clearly there is a need for professional communication:

• honest, truthful, complete, accurate, trustworthy discourse;
• expressions of empathy, compassion, hope;
• data in understandable terms;
• guidance and direction in powerful persuasive, creative forms; and
• solutions for dealing with misinformation, cyber influence and crime.

To take part in a resurgence of PR, you must first pay attention to the confidence you have in yourself, your abilities and your education. You need to shed the image of your predecessors who ventured into interviews with timid expressions, plastic smiles, jittery nerves, and hopeful for any chance of getting attention. You have spent four years working for a degree that sets you far above others in strategic thinking, professional communication and advanced levels of public relations. When you walk through the door of a major company or organization, you will be working side by side with other professionals with various levels of experience in law, human resources, accounting, marketing, senior management and others. Know that you have earned the right to hold the view that your level of advanced training in and knowledge of the use of strategic communication and public relations is greater than that of anyone in any other discipline.

I want to tell you something else about your ability. You have a depth of knowledge that commands respect. It is something seldom talked about and is always taken completely for granted. You are learning the technical aspects of your college degree against an impressive background of knowledge. You have a liberal arts education touching history, psychology, sociology, geography, language, ethics, philosophy, science and math. You may not think about the fact that your technical skills in strategic communication together with your broad range of studies in the arts has increased the depth of your ability to analyze situations, the cultures involved, the mind sets of opposing factions, and other areas critical for problem solving, accommodation and compromise. Your exposure to the liberal arts has taught you how to think, read critically, collect and organize facts, analyze them and form ideas. Further, your background in liberal arts has made you a more interesting person and a candidate for  visionary leadership. You should take great pride in your total education knowing that your liberal arts background sets you apart from many of those obtaining degrees in most other disciplines.

Your search efforts need to be personal, direct, integrated and most importantly, employer oriented. I will call your attention to specific ways to enhance the effectiveness of your job search.

Networking
Establish an online network. Reach out to family, extended family, friends, co-workers, guests you have met in class, friends and associates of family members, people you have met through summer jobs. Ask them for names of people who can help you with your job search. Make a list of these influencers or rainmakers—people who can help you meet potential employers. Start to work the list, not with one-shot messages but with two-way dialogue to develop online relationships. Prepare an approach. Reach out like you are making friends. Greet your new friends with genuine feelings. Converse back and forth for acceptance and help. Most people don’t know what public relations is. So make a special effort to help your network of influencers understand precisely what you are seeking. Attach a sample public relations job description and job posting, both strongly oriented to employer needs. Convince your influencers that they can help you and also help their associates learn about PR and get in touch with an outstanding job candidate who can make it work for them.

Cover Letter
An important element for a job search is the cover letter. For many candidates it’s a missed opportunity. In a cover letter, you need to present yourself, but more importantly show recipients that you understand employer interests and needs, and believe that you are a good candidate for a job. The question is, do you really understand the interests and needs of prospective employers? Following is a quick review. You can’t possibly refer to all of these traits in a cover letter, but they can help influence the manner in which you write the letter. Think about what an employer wants:

1. a person who is technologically savvy
2. fits right into the organization
3. won’t require remedial training
4. has the skills to jump in a share the work
5. is familiar with the organization’s work
6. is energetic, enthusiastic
7. in touch with the real world
8. relates well to others
9. requires minimal supervision
10. eager and quick to learn
11. takes initiative
12. good work ethic
13. good long-term investment; will be on board for while
14. driven by positive kinds of motivation
15. gathers information thoroughly and accurately and makes thoughtful decisions
16. works well alone, as well as with others
17. has skills for managing others, including outside services
18. has positive behavioral traits
19. self-confident
20. able to travel on business and manage expenses

Resume
You want to make hiring you irresistible to prospective employers and to do that you must know and have an appreciation for the process of hiring. Someone doesn’t jump up from a desk and announce: “I’ve decided to hire a coordinator!” Before a job can be offered, hiring must be authorized within an organization. A need must be justified. The job must be described in detail. It must be ranked by criteria with all others. Ranking sets a salary range plus 30 percent or more for medical, vacation and other benefits. Only then can a job be announced by word-of-mouth, advertising and various electronic means. The best way to make yourself irresistible is to show a prospective employer that you know and respect the hiring process and want to fill employer needs.

Too often candidates focus on themselves writing, for example, a me-oriented objective:

• Candidate: My objective is to obtain a position in the field of public relations that enables me to apply my academic training and experience and further my career.
• Better: My objective is to be hired as a public relations staff assistant by XYZ Inc. so that I can learn while I assist in the organization’s public relations effort by sharing the workload, contributing ideas and applying my skills and training.

Too often, candidates ignore the most important PR skill, writing:

• Candidate: Skills—I understand and have sound knowledge of Microsoft Word, Publics, First Choice Web Design, In-Design, PowerPoint, PhotoShop, social media.
• Better: Skills—research, writing and editing, AP journalistic style, grammar, proofreading, strategic use of social media, interpersonal communication and proficiency in all major software programs.

Portfolio
You must be the presenter of your portfolio. Take charge. You are in the spotlight. An interviewer will welcome your taking the lead in presenting your portfolio. Too often, job candidates hand over their portfolio and simply wait for the interviewer to thumb through it. Politely hold on to your stuff! It’s your show. Turn pages and point to items you have selected in advance to talk about. Mark places with stickies so you remember where to tout your skills. Tell why items should be of interest to the interviewer. Emphasize research, writing, editing, proofreading—skills highly prized by employers. Engage the interviewer. Encourage discussion. Show that you know how to listen. But stay in charge. Have at least one item in your portfolio that enables you to tell a story and explain how you helped with a project. Explain the results. Be able to point to another item demonstrating your problem-solving ability. Show that you know the problem-solving process. Show how you alone, or with others, seized opportunities, met challenges and achieved results. One final word, if you want the job, tell the interviewer. Be frank about it: “This place feels right to me. I like the people. I like the work you do. I would love to work here!”

Interview
Important advice: Think before you speak. Interviewers have reasons for asking certain questions. Interviewers want reasons to hire you, as well as reasons not to hire you. Here are some suggestions for your interview:

1. Give short, but complete answers
2. Do not apologize, minimize, or qualify anything about yourself, your actions, your work
3. Turn on your energy field; be passionate
4. Show that you can feel and show emotion
5. Physically lean forward with your responses to questions
6. Give the best performance of being yourself
7. If you want the job, say so, enthusiastically
8. Show a desire to want to be helpful, a most appreciated gesture in the workplace
9. When asked about weaknesses, provide a positive response, for example, “I love to learn; sometimes I think I ask too many questions.”
10. Be prepared to identify weaknesses in the profession
11. Don’t ask for favors, for example, “Before I start, I’d like to go to Europe.”
12. Present yourself as a good investment. Don not say, for example, “Eventually I’d like to learn culinary arts.”
13. Show that you appreciate the employer’s need to fill a job.
14. Be prepared to ask questions: What do you like most about working here? How is the PR function organized? Is there room for a person to advance? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the PR function here? How can I be of most help?
15. How does senior management regard public relations? Are you satisfied with the budget authorized for PR?

 Prospective Employer
Turn the tables. Interview the employer. An employer can make your professional and personal life miserable. An employer with integrity can make your quality of life totally enjoyable. Prospective employers want to know all about your character traits. But what do employers expect of themselves? You have worked hard to earn your degree. You deserve to work for someone who will treat you with total respect, genuine appreciation for what you have to offer, and pay for the true value of your work. So when you interview for a job, wait for the proverbial question that comes up in every job interview: “What questions do you have?” That is your cue to take over the interview and dig into the heart and soul of the organization’s leader. Ask about the chief executive officer’s or director’s traits of integrity. Use the interviewer to help you evaluate the organization’s leader. Ask some of these probing questions:

1. Shows total respect for everyone, regardless of pay grade?
2. Surrounds self with honest , competent people?
3. Respects the value of science?
4. Regarded as an honest person?
5. Known for keeping commitments to employees, customers, clients, investors, everyone?
6. Trusted to tell the truth in every situation?
7. Shows compassion for others in need?
8. Gives people the benefit of the doubt?
9. Knows what it means to be humble?
10. Chooses to do the right thing in difficult situations?
11. Cares about the environment?
12. Makes thoughtful, not snap judgements?
13. Cares more about facts than optics?
14. Takes an interest in other people’s opinions?
15. Trusts and works well with staff?
16. Knows the difference between confidence and arrogance?
17. Can admit when wrong and apologize?
18. Truthful when saying, “You can count on it.”?
19. Shows kindness that is always genuine?
20. Considered moral and ethical?

Keep your spirits up, think positively, act creatively. Best wishes for success!

Tom Hagley Sr.
Veteran Public Relations Practitioner, Educator, Author

Public Relations Student Playbook, Co-author Writing Winning Proposals: Public Relations Cases