6 Career-Saving Tips for Surviving Your First Years at a PR Agency

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Working at a PR agency is tough, even if you’ve been in PR for a good while. However, if you’re just now getting tangled up in this mess, things are bound to be all the more hectic. Fortunately, you’re no pioneer in this craft. Many have come before you and, undoubtedly, many will come after. If others can do it, so can you.

Needless to say, it’s always nice to get a bit of help along the way to numb the growing pains that innately accompany initiation into PR. If a bit of a novice or looking for some help to get through a rough patch, the following points are sure to help:

1) Earnestly Seek New Learning Opportunities

In particular, from those who tower over you in the hierarchy of your agency’s leadership ladder. What’s great about PR is that it’s rarely about how many degrees or certificates you hold; moreover, it’s about what you’ve managed to do or experiences you’ve had in the past. 

When your boss or coworker needs help with something you feel might be just outside your comfort zone, choose to become involved, as opposed to sitting on the sidelines. Participate in all that the industry has to offer. Soon enough, this sort of thing may very well form your future.

2) Decide to See the Good In Failure

Yes, this is actually a decision that you must consciously make. Believe it or not, this is easier said than done. If ever there was a career path filled with repetitive facepalms, it would be PR. At least initially, if you’re not saying something incorrect, out of turn or stupid, you’re not trying hard enough. 

Journalists will refuse to open your emails, your writing will be criticized and a boss or two might rip into you every now and again. Don’t let this get you down. It’s all part of the fun. Embrace these happenings. One day, when you’re the one doing the yelling, you just might miss them. Okay, so probably not, but it was worth a shot.

3) Stay Active On Twitter Throughout the Working Day

This might seem like an unusual one, but it’s crazy how many positive, professional interactions take place on Twitter. It’s not that you need to be going crazy with this, but show your real self. There are already far too many “thought leaders” out there with strict editorial calendars and an agenda to push on Twitter. Don’t be one of them; furthermore, don’t act like one of them. They’ll do their thing and you’ll do yours.

Ultimately, what you’re looking to get out of this whole Twitter thing is a series of strategic connections. Journalists and other influential PR people already have far too many “cookie cutters” coming after them. Instead, just be yourself. The results will surprise you.

4) Beware of Too Much Social Media

While Twitter is great, moderation is good in all things—social media included. PR is one of the few careers which, in large part, is composed of things that people do for fun after their day jobs have been wrapped up: social media, news reading, blogging, etc. Because of this, it’s extremely easy to get distracted. Even worse, PR is infamous for the amount of task juggling that takes place on a daily basis. 

So as to avoid becoming slave to an endless to-do list, simply focus on one thing at a time. Once a given task is done, move onto the next. When it’s time for social media, do social media. When it’s time to respond to email, respond to email. Be disciplined. Truthfully, your efficiency alone will take you places.

5) Build a Personal Brand Through Individual Projects

There’s always going to be some PR know-it-all who thinks that building a personal brand is a grand waste of time. Usually, this person is super vocal about how stupid all of this is. Why? Well, ironically, it’s a part of his or her personal brand. 

Give everything you’ve got to your place of employment, but make sure that you’ve got a project or two that you can call your own. It might be a website, blog, podcast or e-book, but you need to have something to keep you on your toes.

6) Develop and Maintain a Passion Outside of Work

PR is an all-consuming career. Emails never cease. Coverage is always in high demand. Cell phones are never at ease. Heck, push notifications are even rumored to have been first created within the fiery depths of hell to keep PR people in line. 

Make sure you set time aside to develop or nurture relationships with people around you. If you’ve got a special hobby or talent that makes you happy, work to improve it. There’s a time for work and there’s a time to relax. The best of the best certainly spend a great deal of time working, but they also know when it’s time to give things a rest.

If you’ve made it far enough to realize how difficult this whole PR thing is, you’re doing better than most who try to make a worthwhile job out of PR. Hang tough. With the help of a few of the aforementioned tips, you’ll soon be glad you did.

Now it’s your turn—how does this list of tips rank when compared with others that you’ve read in the past? What worked for you when you first got started as a PR pro? Help all of Echelon’s younger readers by sharing your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

 

Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.

Down and Dirty: the Nitty Gritty of Entry-Level Work at a PR Agency

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Literally, if I had a nickel for every time I went out of my way to tell young, up-and-coming PR professionals about the insane stress levels associated with PR, I’d probably have just under a dollar. Figuratively, I’d be a millionaire. You see what I did there? I’m a riot. Anyway, it’s that kind of wittiness, in addition to a few well-timed puns, of course, that’ll keep your brain from turning to mush while working in PR. 

Sadly, in reality, what you’ve learned about PR from “Sex and the City” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Exchange the posh, glitz and glamour for a numb buttox that’s been sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day long. However, if you can manage to pull your head out of the proverbial clouds and set some realistic expectations, you’ll have a much better shot at making it in the hectic, but also rewarding, field of PR.

Prepare to Type Your Fingers Numb

This is by far one of the biggest stumbling blocks for new PR professionals. They honestly have no idea how much writing is involved in the daily activities of a PR person. Whether it’s a press release, email pitch, digital promotional, strategic social post or bit of web copy, writing—in one way or another—is going to occupy nearly all of your time while in the workplace. 

Basically, if you still haven’t managed to obsess over editorial perfection, you need to strongly reconsider whether or not a job in PR is something your going to enjoy.

Multitasking Is More of a Skill Than You Think

Remember that stress that I’d previously mentioned? Yeah, this is what’s responsible for a huge part of it. You’d think that a desk job wouldn’t come with too many workplace surprises and drama, but in PR, that’s certainly not the case. 

Someone gets fired, deadlines are missed, project funding gets cut—whatever it is, there’s always something that’s going to push responsibility from someone else’s plate onto yours. Think you’re already full? Too bad. Adapt and survive. Burst into tears and find yourself heading back home with your tail between your legs.

Some Clients Really Suck to Work With

If I’ve learned anything during my career, it’s that I should’ve taken the babysitting responsibilities my parents gave me when I was younger more seriously. It’s not that project managers or your points of contact at your accounts’ headquarters aren’t intelligent or that they aren’t capable of doing hard things, it’s just that they think they know more than they actually do. 

Seriously, hop on LinkedIn sometime and see how many people put “marketing,” “social media” or “public relations” on their list of hard skills. Now, of those people, how many of them have actually worked in any of the aforementioned fields? Truthfully, very few of them. Needless to say, you’ll work very closely with those who haven’t, but are painfully vocal about the fact that they still have a firm grasp on the way things should be running down at your shop. The short of it all? It sucks way hardcore.

Forgive the blunt nature of my comments, but they’re pretty spot on, if I may say so myself. The time is now yours. Am I making sense or completely casting an unnecessary shadow on my industry of choice? Let’s take this conversation to the comments section below.

 

Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.