The Art and Science of Linguistics!

I want to be a PR professional and I am a business graduate. I also want to be a successful business woman and complete my MBA. That being said, I sometimes have moments where my mind wanders back to the days of university when I did a second major in a little known subject called linguistics.
 

During my time at university I was both fortunate and unfortunate enough to do a double major. Learning in two different fields is amazing because it challenges you, it increases your perspective and it gives you knowledge and skills that are broad and in depth. The downsides include an awkward class schedule, huge amounts of stress and conflicting assignment deadlines. Nonetheless, I made it through and met my graduation requirements and have proved that I am capable of many things.

Every now and then I have moments where I sigh and reminisce about linguistics. You may be asking, what is linguistics? Well I won’t give too complicated an explanation, but linguistics is basically the study of language (structure, history, practice) and language use (interactions, societal norms and language learning). Sadly no, we don’t all speak dozens of languages. This is because linguistics is not just about learning languages all day. I wish! That may be a part of it. Rather, linguistics is like any social science, it is heavily research-based and focuses on advancing our knowledge of human language.

I loved my business major, but I would not have done a second major if I didn’t also love linguistics. If you love languages, interactions, communications, research and social sciences I recommend you look into linguistics. Western had a great program. And I can say linguistics has given me some great advantages for PR, including a thorough understanding of syntax, communication strategies, the flow of messages, the role of pragmatics, the social influences on language and the process of researching  information that is hard to find.

I sometimes think it would be great to go back to linguistics. But then I remember that I can actually apply some of my linguistics background in PR and I am thankful for that. And then I also remember that I am still doing something that I love - Public Relations.

P.S. [ai lɑv lIngwistIks]

Step 6: How to Gain Practice in PR as a Student

Practice Like a Professional

The next step may be one of the most difficult. This is because knowing the skills you need to succeed in PR is not enough. The old adage of ‘practice makes perfect’ is something we should all remind ourselves of, because this is how you improve and learn skills. Have you ever wondered how someone can be so good at something and make it look effortless? It is safe to say that those people practice their skills everyday so that they can be the best they can be. The individuals who are most successful in the field no doubt have a stellar set of skills that they work hard to develop. As a beginner, knowing and listing the skills that you have isn’t going to get you very far. It is essential to practice. Backing your skills with hands-on success stories is something that can help you convince employers that you are more than an average PR grad.

It is pretty obvious that practicing skills ties in to education. Take the skill of writing for instance. In order to improve your writing skills, you need to challenge yourself and go outside your comfort zone. For most of us university can be the perfect opportunity to practice your writing skills. I don’t know how many written projects I wrote that seemed so daunting at first, but once done were masterpieces (as small and insignificant as they may seem). And employers acknowledge that university graduates in general demonstrate a better quality of writing. So education is practice.

The problem is you may not be able to practice all the skills that you need for PR at school, even in a PR program. The solution is to seek experience that is readily available. Past work experience is a huge asset. With every job that I have had I have gained some skills that are applicable to PR (even if the job position itself wasn’t). The other great thing is that no matter what jobs you had (even if it’s in retail or something completely non-PR) you demonstrated that you are a hard worker by maintaining a job. This is good news for people like me, since I didn’t know that I wanted to do PR until most of my way through university and my summer jobs. Fortunately the PR program at Mohawk includes an internship where I will be able to practice PR skills (I will fill you in on this part later).

In the meantime, I have decided that the best way to practice my new skills is to volunteer. Not only do employers look favourably on volunteer work, there are a great number of opportunities because of the growing need for volunteers. In particular, not-for-profits are even willing to take the time to train volunteers in new skills! Lastly, with so many different kinds of organizations seeking volunteers, there is a wide variety of opportunities to suit different people’s personalities and skill needs.

As of right now I am volunteering with the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and I think that these have been excellent choices for me in honing my PR skills. While volunteering for the CPRS I am a student representative on the Hamilton board of directors in a student liaison committee and we are organizing and running a student networking event. Talk about great event planning, teamwork and organization practice. While volunteering at the CNIB I will be part of a community engagement team in promoting and increasing awareness of volunteerism at the CNIB Hamilton. 

Despite practicing my skills, it is still daunting to think of what I need to accomplish before I land my first PR job. I feel like my biggest critic is me. I feel like if I can produce something that my future self will remain impressed with, then I can say I am good at something, or that I have a certain skill. But at the end of the day, sometimes my fear of not being good at something is what makes me try. And I can say right now I am trying with every fiber of my being. 

Chances are as my skills do actually develop I will come back to this topic again and fill you in on how my never-ending practice is going.

Step 5: Gaining PR Skills

Become Skillful, Become Successful

Wow I can’t believe that I have already reached step 5 in this blog and I have to say that I am really enjoying it. Maybe now is a good time to note that these steps are part of my experience and are not part of a one size fits all for building a career in PR. Maybe some of these steps resonate with you, maybe they don’t help at all or maybe it’s opened your eyes to something new. Either way, with each step I find myself progressing and it would be great if you could follow along and provide some feedback. So don’t be shy, feel free to comment below.

I have decided to make step 5 all about building up PR skills. Ever since I entered my program in PR, I realized this was game-time; it’s the last leg before I enter into the job hunt world alongside my fellow PR grads and PR professionals out there. That is why for months now I have been reflecting on required skills for PR and this blog will somewhat scratch the surface of what I have uncovered.

First, I wanted to know what skills I had that worked well in PR. Well, I knew that the reason I went into PR was because I love to write and would consider it a strength. I also love communicating and being creative (check out this link for an interesting study done on creativity in PR). These skills are more natural abilities or talents; not that they can’t be worked on and improved. Yet, there is something to be said for being adept or intrinsically moved when applying a certain skill. And it is my belief that this natural inclination toward these skills is something a PR pro can bring to the table that no one else can. (It is essentially why the PR profession exists, in my mind.)

Second, I enjoy researching, working on projects, multitasking, doing computer design, giving presentations and running events. These are typical PR activities and require a certain skill level which can range from beginner to expert. These are the skills that you can grow and perfect as a PR student, something I have been trying to do.

Third, there are the hidden skills or the skills developed on the job. It’s the "je ne sais quoi" that those PR veterans have; skills that are so honed they are second nature. Sometimes they are among the skills needed for PR that are simply unknown to PR students. That being said, today very little is truly hidden with Google at our finger tips, and so I did some research to uncover the skills needed to have to start a career in PR.

I found some interesting articles, like this one from the IABC discussing social media skills. Are they truly necessary for a career in PR? I think that the answer is yes and this article really covers this topic well. Another article I found discussed more of the future skills needed in PR, like video editing and programming skills. This just goes to show that there will always be room for more and more skills in the PR profession and that you may need to expand beyond what you already know. Lastly, I found an article that discusses skills needed to respond to PR needs. For instance, advanced spreadsheet skills are needed to respond to the need to quantify communication outcomes. This link was really great and I definitely recommend it.

Respond to PR Needs

So you have to reap from the skills you have and you have to sow the skills that you will need by seeking, learning and doing. This step may be crucial, because without the ever-important work experience, you will need an awesome skill-set to get the dream PR job. Here’s hoping.

The second part of this step is practicing your skills – which I will do my best to cover in Step 6.

P.S. I love learning and PR is learning for life.

Step 4: The Complex Career Path of PR

Know your Career Choices

I want to take this time to go back to something I said in my first blog. My first blog talked about choosing a career, but what I did not know at the time was that often in PR you have to choose a career that is specialized and specific. This brings me to the moment on my first day of class in my PR program. Our teacher had us introduce ourselves, our background and what area of PR we wanted to go into. I had to pause on the third part. What did he mean by area of PR that I wanted to go into?

Obviously before choosing my career I did some research and I was well aware that there were different areas such as government relations, investor relations, internal relations, and every other kind of communication you can think of and that doesn’t include technology, events, social media. It really seems never ending. But this is a good thing; it is essentially why I want to work in PR. I want to try all these things; I want to dabble in a bit of everything, use different skills and face different challenges every day. That was why when we were asked to choose a path from among these I was confused and maybe even disappointed, it was like rolling a horrible hand and having to take 3 steps back in a crazy career board game that you just can't win.

Love this quote from Harry Potter

It is like being on Let’s Make a Deal and being told that you have to choose from 3 doors with different prizes behind each, some are nice, but one is the best. Choose a door, any door. But how do I know which one I will like, what if I don’t choose the best one? This was the fear that I had when I learned I had to choose a career yet again.

After speaking with people who work in PR, learning from my program, talking to my classmates and visiting some agencies, I have discovered that maybe it was OK for me to be confused, but not disappointed. Here is my reasoning. First, it would be virtually impossible for someone to be good at all the things that PR professionals can do. Rarely do they hire someone to do everything, unless they have limited resources like some not-for-profits, in which case you may be a jack of all trades. But in PR agencies, where I hope to someday work, each individual usually has a niche or a specialty. This specialty is essential because it makes you an expert, employable, needed. You will become the go-to consultant for that area.

This discovery really opened my eyes, and has me thinking about what it is that I can excel at. But I am still on the fence about it. Is it still not possible for me to dabble in a bit of everything? I think the answer is yes. A lot of the times, there is room for growth and a lot of horizontal movement in agencies. That is you may move from one service to another, so that maybe after a year of working in government relations there is a need for someone in corporation communications and you decide to give it a try. Also, again as I have said so many times PR is dynamic. This means that even if you work within your speciality you will be able to draw on the different tools of PR.

The reason why I put this as a step in my career process is because realizing all the opportunities and potential things that can confuse you or amaze you in your career is something that helps you progress along your journey. If I hadn’t been asked that question on the first day of class in my PR program, someone else would have eventually asked the same question. At least now I am aware and I can start figuring which direction I want to go in and I can approach that question head-on. So please bear with me as I continue as an inexperienced student in trying to work my compass and find my direction in PR.

P.S.Even though I am a little confused I still love PR.