See...there's nothing to be scared of.

It was around two-thirds of the way through my journalism degree when I realised my future career lay in public relations.

I was on work experience for a small PR agency who were helping out a girl band. I planned school tours, co-produced a music video, researched and redesigned their website, developed their activity on facebook and typed up a couple of press releases geared towards the local media.

Although I’d enjoyed the previous work I’d done at newspapers, radio stations and magazines, for the first time I felt like this was a career that really suited me. I liked that there was still the pressure, immediacy, and level of writing involved with journalism; however there was also the added face to face contact, meeting and working with large numbers of new people, an increased opportunity to present, and the higher levels of teamwork required to bring it all together.

When I started my degree, I wanted to be a traditional truth-seeking journalist working for the community, however, for many reasons, the environments I encountered on work experience led me to believe that this wasn’t an achievable goal.

Despite this, I found that employing the tools I’d learned on my course meant that charities or businesses were able to gain third party endorsement which they couldn’t previously afford, either for financial or knowledge based reasons. It seemed to me that if PR could still benefit a community of people, it was a good alternative to journalism.

After realising this, I set about learning as much as I could about the industry (reading blogposts like this one, for example). After hearing over and over again that social media was the next big thing in PR and that a micro-blogging service called twitter was at the heart of it, I signed up and began following the thoughts of the industry leaders, stuck my CV up on LinkedIn and started to maintain my own blog.

In the classroom I took every available PR module, going as far as devising a strategy to encourage young men to start morris dancing. I even wrote my dissertation on the relationship between PR and the press. After graduating with a 2:1 and gaining events and PR experience with the BBC Blast Tour in Truro and with the Combined Universities in Cornwall at Tremough Campus, I heard via Rachel Picken of MPAD about an exciting opportunity with a Cornish media company.

After having a look at their website, I saw the exciting work Barefoot Media had done with Polo on the Beach. This, combined with the range of food and sport based clients, convinced me that I had to be involved. After one emailed CV, two interviews and a social media presentation, I was offered the job and angrily accepted. (I’d just got off the phone to a bailiff. Long story.) Five weeks in and I’m enjoying the work and learning loads, although I’ll save that for another post.

So, for any students who feel a career in public relations may be for them, here are my 5 tips on getting into the industry.

1. When applying for a job, spend time learning about exactly what they do, in which sector of PR, and re-write your CV with this in mind.

2. Get as much experience as possible in as many different realms of the media, not just PR. If you’re going to be communicating with the media, you need to understand how it works.

3. Read as much as you can, again, not just regarding PR. I like using these blogs, twitter links, RSS feeds, delicious and media guardian. All great outlets of information.

4. A social media presence is crucial. Start tweeting; upload a CV to LinkedIn; put some of your favourite photos on flickr; maintain a blog. Even if you you’re not interested in digital or online PR, with 50 people applying for every graduate PR role, if you’re not doing any of these things you’re seriously disadvantaging yourself.

5. Talk to people! Public relations is a really open industry and if you want to know anything then ask. Posting a question on facebook or twitter will usually provide you with a good selection of answers. Attending networking events, such as Cornwall Social Media Cafe will mean you’ll meet lots of like-minded people.

Let me know if this is helpful, or if you think I’ve missed anything.