“The void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel and misrepresentation”
- C. Northcote Parkinson
Companies like Apple or Wal-Mart didn’t get to the top of their game using a weak selling proposition. Their market leadership came as a result of identifying the needs of their target market on top of clearly stating what it was they did best- providing value through operational excellence and product innovation. They looked at the old operational models and said, “We see what you’re expecting, but we can do you one better.”
When talking about a position in public relations, value most readily comes in the form of customer intimacy as a means of achieving the best overall solution for a client. Whether you think of yourself as a brand entity or not, the truth is you need to have a form of marketable value to even be considered for a position in public relations. It’s unfortunate that the typical job posting doesn’t reflect this fact. Instead, we see a one-page document that usually reads something like this:
The ideal candidate is a self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment. Must be detail-oriented, client-focused, and able to multitask…
and includes a set of four or five requirements including:
- A working knowledge of the industry
- 2-3 years of previous experience
- Excellent written, verbal and interactive communication skills
- Demonstrates organizational skills
- Ability to work well in a team environment
To most applicants, writing a resume based on these requirements alone can feel like an act of faith without any prior knowledge of the company involved. Even those who have the common sense to do their research, having written twenty or thirty resumes like this one before, may still find it difficult separating themselves from the other applicants. Not only are they losing out, but the companies themselves are missing out on some very interesting, very qualified candidates in place for hollow grade point averages and exaggerated student involvement.
Ideally, the following will give you a clear translation for what it is employers mean to convey in their job description while providing a clear set of principles for public relations professionals to use in standing out from the other candidates. In short, this would be my job posting if I were to write one.
Summary: What employers are looking for is an unmatched total solution from someone who knows their industry. Their greatest threat is to lose a client. Their goal for a new hire is to assemble, integrate and retain talented people who can stay at the forefront of new standards and techniques affecting their client.
What you offer: the ability to operate (and if needed, explain) emerging communication tools effectively, the skills and discipline to work independently, and the ability to maintain a working relationship with a variety of people- are all skills that must be demonstrated for a career in public relations.
Research: Find out which demographic, public or target market they interact with the most through the course of a day and how better to facilitate that interaction (more communication, better follow-up/feedback, fewer interruptions, etc.)
Seeing the forest through the trees – For custom intimacy, it’s often necessary to find the larger issue behind the employer’s immediate needs. For instance, they may be looking to hire someone for administrative support, which could indicate the broader issue of ineffective internal communication. Or perhaps they’re looking for new blood to add to an account team, which may be a sign they are looking for new solutions to offer an increasingly sophisticated market.
Things to Address: A position in public relations is tricky because if requires you to demonstrate two things: 1. knowledge of the industry you’ll be working in, and 2. knowledge of the discipline itself. It’s also wise to come prepared with specific examples of software and creative applications.
Successful customer-intimate companies are those that have become experts at their customers’ business and at creating solutions. Sometimes, this will require a flexible and multitalented individual to jump in even if what’s needed isn’t exactly their job.
Customer-intimate companies are usually composed of people from different backgrounds with different skills, brought together for a single customer-driven purpose. Companies invest a great deal of time and money in recruiting the best and the brightest. It’s important to show signs of company loyalty to alleviate any discomfort an employer might have with training and maintaining a new hire.
Deliverable: More detailed customer data, better analytics, quicker work productivity, breadth of services offered, and more visually-interesting presentations can all be tangible benefits to present to an employer.
