How to make the most of your first year in PR
When people secure their first job in PR, their primary instinct is often to go all out to impress: to be the best account executive on the planet. The problem is that at this stage you simply don’t know what you don’t know. Expecting to be as skilled and proficient as seasoned professionals in the agency in the first 12 months of your career is – at best – wishful thinking.
A better strategy is to strike a careful balance between fulfilling the demands of account teams and learning by listening. A great deal of PR training is delivered ‘on the job’ rather than in the classroom, so it’s important to make the most of every opportunity to volunteer.
That means thinking ahead: what does the team need for a client meeting or call? How can we help colleagues prepare for a major media event? Start to manage upwards and take responsibility and you will soon become known as a strong team player.
Other useful guidance for building your reputation in your first PR job include:
- Read/watch/listen to everything: ensure you’re on top of the news and all of the opportunities for clients to contribute to the debate
- Make friends: seek out equivalent colleagues in the media – it’s likely you will proceed through parallel careers
- Do your own PR: it’s not showing off. If you do a great job for clients it’s important that it’s recognised
- Show (genuine) enthusiasm: sitting back and waiting for work to arrive is not an option
- Don’t try and run before you can walk: do the basics best and the rest will follow
- Identify new business opportunities: even if this is identifying a brand that you’d really love to work with and finding out who to contact
It’s also important to seek guidance from more experienced colleagues. Ask for feedback outside the formal appraisal process – where am I going wrong and what could I do differently? Volunteering and seeking out opportunities to learn new skills will set you apart from the crowd.