Interview with PR Practitioner

Leeds Metropolitan graduate Laura Miller has landed herself a top job after studying a four year course in Public Relations.

After graduating in July 2010, Laura is working in her first PR job, where she is the Communications Officer for South Yorkshire Police. In this role, Laura works to undergo all communications, both proactive and reactive, within Barnsley. She plans and implements campaigns, as well as working with South Yorkshire Police partners. Working within the police calls for a lot of crisis and internal communications, allowing Laura to put into practise the skills she learnt at University.

To date, Laura is particularly proud of the Christmas alcohol campaign in which she led across all public sectors within Barnsley. The campaign, that is making the public aware of the problems alcohol can bring, is continuing to be a success.

Laura enjoys that fact that not one day is the same within her job, especially in the police, there is no way you can predict what jobs will you have day in and day out. However, Public Relations isn’t for everyone. It was only until Laura researched the course after visiting open days that she decided it was what she wanted to do. She claims the placement opportunities she gained, particularly her year out in the NHS, were what cemented in her mind that this was the career for her.

Working in in-house Public Relations, her clients are mainly her work colleagues which can be from different areas of the organisation. People such as SNT staff, CID and response officers are members of the Police in which are useful to Laura’s work. The public sector is much different from the private. Laura stated that her placement within University, where she worked for the NHS, decided that this is the area in which she could see herself working. However, Laura does have experience in other fields which she gained at University.

Laura doesn’t believe she was lucky in obtaining her position so soon after gaining. She believes with the right experience, along with a good degree, a recent graduate stands a good chance of getting a future job. She does firmly believe however that it is a combination of both experience and knowledge, and argues that without experience working in the PR industry people will struggle.

According to Laura, it is not the case that you get paid more if you live in London when working within PR. Salaries can vary from £16,000 to £25,000 for graduates, a good sum for those who have the experience and knowledge to work well within the roles.

It is debated today by practitioners in the PR world that Public Relations has overtaken Journalism. Laura believes they are two separate industries, but without one and other they would not succeed. She believes journalism is changing as it is now easier to publish anything. However, she believes PR has shifted from concentrating on traditional media to more blogs and social media sites. It is this shift that keeps the industry more exciting than others.

In the future Laura hopes to become a recognised and successful PR practitioner. Her advice to anyone studying Public Relations is to get as much experience as possible.

Why I chose to study Public Relations.

When I began researching Public Relations I slowly began to realise the career wasn’t as glamorous as Samantha’s job from Sex and the City. So what made me still think this was the right career for me? 

Once I started looking for my University course I looked at everything from American Studies to Marketing, I had no idea what career I wanted to go into. I thought about Journalism, but realised there was no money in that, and as exciting as a career in Marketing may have been, I still didn’t feel like it was right for me. I wanted a course that covered all areas, something that was exciting and different.

I think that is the one thing that made Public Relations stand out. It is a growing industry with a fast paced environment, something you can really get your teeth into. It’s not your typical 9 to 5 office job, it’s different, it’s challenging, it’s hard work, and it’s worth it.

I won’t deny it, choosing Public Relations at University was a risk for me, as I didn’t fully understand what the course had to offer, I just knew the outlines and talks were much more interesting then the History open days I went to. Therefore I know trying to sell Public Relations to someone who knows nothing about it is difficult. Many think you are living in a fairytale world hoping to be the next big thing on The Spin Crowd. To others it’s a boring career option because it is under the “Faculty of Business and Law”.  I believe Public Relations is whatever you want it to be.

So why did I choose it over everything else? The course is more hands on, rather than academic. We are not writing essays all the time and sitting a hundred exams every month. We present, create and work outside University to create and build our Portfolio ready for after University. That to me is very appealing. Being able to build something to show future employees, to show you are different, rather than just having a degree.

Public Relations is everywhere, therefore there are so many sectors you can go into. This is another reason why I chose PR as you are not just having a career and sticking to it, you are getting taught the fundamental’s so you can venture into all areas of the field if you wish to do so.  It is the skills that you learn from this course that can not only benefit you within Public Relations but in everyday life. You are able to build up confidence very quickly as well as being able to promote, sell and negotiate ideas.

The opportunities that are available within Public Relations were probably the main reason as to why I chose this course. Things such as planning events, volunteering and creating campaigns come often within this course. It is sort of a fun way of starting at the bottom of the chain. It pulls you right in at the deep end, and challenges you from the very start.

There is no easy ride at University, no more so with this course, however, Public Relations allows the imagination, creativity and opportunities no other course does.