I have read with interest over the past few days about how the recession is hitting the 16-24 age group hardest of all, with the number of young people out of work in Britain at its highest level for 15 years.
Specifically relating to the PR industry, I cant help but feel sorry for all of this years graduates, many of whom are set to face a disheartening few months searching for a job.
At the same time however, I read today’s Drum magazine and have to agree 100% with Uncle Carl’s agony column. It is forever littered with companies asking, “what’s best to look for in new recruits” and “what interview techniques will get the very best staff members”. But for the first time in I don’t know how long, a graduate has written in to the magazine asking how best to approach interviews and how they can make themselves more attractive to potential employers. This person’s efforts should be commended.
The sad fact is that, through a lack of guidance at university level, the premium that is placed on a degree by universities and an element of naivety from new graduates, they are leaving expecting to walk into a job because they have got a few letters in front of their names.
Don’t get me wrong I am no angel here either, for a few weeks when I first said goodbye to day time drinking, getting freaked out after seeing a former conquest on Trisha and happily eating anything where I could wipe the mold off before eating, I was exactly the same and I thought I would not need to try. Compared with now, back then the economy was in a fit state and public relations positions were aplenty so obviously I can sit here now and preach. With experience comes an understanding of how it all works, but at the same time when I finished university, I proactively got myself out there, using underhand tactics if I had to, in order to get a job in the career I had trained for.
New graduates are reliant too much on email and recruitment consultants. By all means utilise these tools, but a call, or doing what I did and physically going to the agency and not leave until the MD has your CV in hand are much more likely to make you stand out. I even went one step further, speaking to a recruitment consultancy and turning down all offers they gave me, then approaching the agency direct, knowing this would save them a hefty commission.
In an industry that thrives on creativity, graduates should be creative. If you are a graduate reading this; do something different to get noticed, go to offices, pester people (in a good way), show you’re your personality, because in all honesty, you have the same qualifications as the other 150 people who have just graduated. Be brave and don’t get disheartened. Ignore the arse holes and remember we have all been in the same boat as you so we do have sympathy. Just.
Hi James,
Some sage advice there. Although I expect this years graduates will be noticeably less complacent due to apocalyptic headlines regarding unemployment and falling grad recruitment. I guess the climate will motivate some to go that extra mile but deflate others to the point of giving up.
I must admit when I graduated first time round (I’m now doing an MA) in 2004, I did exactly what you warn against: I sent CVs and used recruitment consultants, without success. So I decided to go travelling instead.
My advice to other graduates after going through it once before is that recruitment consultancies should be the last place you look for your first job, especially in public relations. Generally, a decent employer will want to know that you have searched them out and really want to work for them.
My aim now is to work for free, get my face about and make some contacts, but I’ll definately consider some more cheeky tactics after reading this.
Thanks Tom. Sneaky is the way forward in my eyes! Keep in touch and let me know how your MA goes.
Obviously your online presence is a really healthy position, and this is something that agencies are crying out for staff to have. Employee’s networks and profile’s are equally as important, if not more so, as the agency they work for.
I’m sure you will be snapped up when you finish. If not give us a call.
Good luck.
Not just this year’s graduates unfortunately, I graduated in 2007! In spite of excellent references from a PR agency I did work experience with in the middle of last year, I’ve still not managed to break into the industry – so I’m doing SEO work.
Thing is, A-Level students are promised well-paid work as soon as soon as they finish uni just to get bums on seats and it not fair on them at all because it’s not true! It’s particularly bad when they’ve gone to a lot of effort and expense to get their qualifications they find that the only work they can get is stuff a school leaver can do and pays £12k a year!
I understand where you are coming from to a certain extent. But uni is not just about the education, it’s also about gaining a bit of life experience and meeting new people.
Anyone could state that they went to uni and have not got their ideal job. I have been in the industry for ten years and still haven’t got mine
.
Doing work experience is obviously a very good tactic, but saying you’ve got great references from work experience you did in the middle of last year sounds a little like you have given up already. PR is one of the fastest growing career choices for those going to uni, so naturally there are only a select number of jobs to go round. This puts recruiters in a very strong position as they have the pick of the bunch.
The point of my post is that, in a competitive market, you have to make yourself stand out.
And on a negative point about the industry, if your expecting to earn more than a school leaver in your first PR role then I would suggest you look at a different career.
The main thing the remember is not to get disheartened. One of the biggest selling points you have is you clearly have a very good understanding of SEO and social media. Make this a key point on your CV, agencies are crying out for people who ‘get online’ and have their own online profile, which you do with your site
Hi James,
Thanks for the advice. I’ve not given up by a long shot, just biding my time and building up skills.
I guess the thing that cheesed me off about uni was the way it was sold to us in sixth form. We were told we’d easily walk into £20k pa jobs etc and we believed it. Hopefully the next bunch of students to go to uni will be less naive and realistic about their options.