LinkedIn now has more than over 60 million members, and Twitter is growing every day. However, which one is more useful for graduates in PR?

David Russell, a University of Nottingham graduate says: “I think LinkedIn is a good way of connecting to other professionals that you have worked with or done business with but Twitter is certainly more useful for wider PR purposes and for contacting people you do not have a prior connection with.”

Among graduates interested in working in PR, a trend has emerged on Twitter where graduates are creating accounts highlighting their desire to break into PR. Graduates who have done this include Sophie Coughlan and Alejandra Paz.

David, from Tunbridge Wells, says: “I started applying for jobs and work experience in PR in January 2009 but it is only in the last 3 months that I have been fully aware of how much I want to work in this industry. At the moment, I work as a press assistant in a music communications agency and spend a large part of my free time applying for jobs and researching potential employers.”

As graduates like David have set up Twitter accounts to promote their skills in PR, Twitter is no longer a buzz word in graduate recruiting or graduate careers. It has been integrated in how graduates look the bricks to lay down their career path.

Guest Post Written By Keri Hudson. For more see www.bohemedigital.co.uk | @keritweet

Gaining experience at PR Agencies can add a massive boost to your CV when it comes to applying for jobs. The competition for Internships can be very tough, so it’s crucial to make sure you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Developing your Online Personal Branding is a brilliant way to make sure you market yourself to the world as successfully as possible. Here’s some simple tips to help you get noticed.

Increase your spatial presence

Social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter can offer brilliant opportunities for you to connect with companies and others in the industry, and when used alongside networks like LinkedIn can offer a wide range of information outlets for people to find out more about you. If you haven’t heard of LinkedIn, I’d recommend you have a look and open an account, it really is worth the 15 minutes it will take to upload your information. LinkedIn lets you connect to professionals you know from the industry, follow companies and join professional groups. Uploading your CV to the site allows your connections to download it in PDF form, which is a handy way for them to look over your credentials. Your LinkedIn account can also be linked to your Twitter, Blog and numerous other sites, allowing those that view your profile to access other parts of your online presence. LinkedIn is used by a high level of PR Agencies to advertise potential new positions etc, so it really is an invaluable place to keep track of.

Maintaining a Blog is also a fantastic way to broadcast your opinions and generate interest in yourself. Tweeting links to posts you have written can attract a large following, who may RT/Share if they like what they read. This kind of exposure is brilliant, and can again help you connect to others in the industry. Tracing the activity on your Blog by using Google Analytics can be very handy – signing up to the service is free, and allows you to see how much traffic you receive and how they are referred to your site. Capitalising on these methods can then help to up your audience.

Contribute

Social Media was born out of the idea of conversation and content sharing. Use sites like Twitter to share information about things that interest you, add to conversations about certain topics and link to things you have created – posts like this are really valuable and will attract like-minded people. If you are a creative, maintaining a site such as Flickr, Youtube or Deviantart can allow you to draw from a bank of content. Ultimately, gaining followers on these platforms will lead you to more and more opportunities – however, if you main intention when using these sites is to gain a following, you’re going about things wrong. Focus on the quality of the content you submit – then the calibre of your posts will be rewarded by an increase in attention.

Get Connected

Social Media is the most effective place to network. Establishing connections with media professionals has never been so easy �" a well placed comment can receive a follow, a continuation of the conversation can take you anywhere. Talk to people that live in your area, work in the industry you desire to, or are attending events you plan to. Increasing the amount of people you follow is rewarding. Attending networking events arranged online can offer you valuable chances to forward your relationship with potential employers. Be open to people and don’t be afraid to get involved – they know as well as you do that everyone had to get started at some point.

Show the Best of Yourself

Keeping a close eye on the content of your sites (most importantly Facebook) is vital to a good online presence. Remain as professional as possible whilst reflecting your character and interests. It is all too easy for someone to find you on Facebook and be turned off by the type of language you use, the attitude of your updates or the nature of the photos you post. If you make yourself public, make sure you do it in the *right* way.

It’s also key to have a measure of continuity across all your accounts. I have found that using the same photo across my profile have made it much easier for people to recognise me in various spaces. Try and stick to the same username for everything – this will allow for seamless integration across your networks.

Live as if you are your Aspirations

This is a really important factor that can help you publicly move from your potential to your realisations. If my ambition is to become a quality voice in the media landscape, and a successful digital communicator, then living as that now is the best practice I can have for the future. I’ve attended quite a few conferences that have been marketed towards people in the industry, because they lift me up to everyone else’s standard. Living at the same level as someone that already has a career can only be a good thing. Aim as high as you can.

Fair Pay, Fair Play

Like journalism, PR agencies do take students and recent graduates for work experience placements. Most work placements in PR are unpaid. Keri Hudson, 20, from London has done work experience in PR before. Keri says: “I think when you do a substantial piece of work whilst on work experience, you should be paid for what you do. However if you’re just shadowing staff for a week, and getting bits of experience over a wide range of activities then you shouldn’t be paid, as you’re not really producing anything of value to the company.”

Establishing what produces revenue for a company is where the lines blur on wages in work experience. If a PR intern helps to write a proposal that lands an agency a massive retainer, but the intern remains unpaid,  can that be seen as exploitation?

Determining what is fair

Michael White, a PR student from University of Gloucestershire argues that work experience interns should be paid after a certain time threshold. Michael, who is a Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) student representative says: “I have the firm view that if a company wishes for you to work with them for a year (an internship) then you should be paid. It seems completely unethical, perhaps even illegal, that you should work a 9 to 5 job without being paid.” Keri Hudson agrees: “It’s not fair for a company to offer a year’s unpaid internship, especially because of the amount of work the intern would do, and the living costs that they would come up against.”

The law

Alex Try, co-founder of Interns Anonymous, the campaign website, says: “If you work set hours, doing set tasks and are relied upon by your colleagues then you are legally defined as a ‘worker’ and should be paid National Minimum Wage. There is no legal definition of the term ‘intern’ in employment law.” The fact there is no legal definition means that industry leaders need to take the initiative to ensure that students and graduates are compensated financially in tandem with living costs.

The property market in London is one of the most expensive in the world, eclipsing centres like New York in the United States. If a student is expected to be working 40 hours a week in a placement with no pay, how can she or he afford a shared room in London, pay Oyster fares and eat with no money without calling the bank of mum and dad? The financial stress of working for no pay has created a new movement to improve the conditions for interns.

Explaining the concept behind Interns Anonymous, Alex says: “We graduated in the middle of a recession and saw entry level jobs drying up and being replaced by unpaid work”. Unpaid work in PR does include expenses, though these are generally for travel and food.

“You’ll gain experience!”

Another element of compensation used by some companies is the argument that a student is gaining experience. Michael White says: “I have heard various arguments defending unpaid internships, the worst of which is, “You get experience”. You can still get experience and be paid at the same time! I don’t know anybody in a full time job who has had the audacity to claim that they haven’t learnt anything over the years from being in their particular sector. It is illogical to think that there is a point in life when we no longer learn. I learn something new every day.”

Students and graduates doing work placements should be paid according to their circumstances. It should not be about ‘cool perks’ or the experience, it should be about acknowledging the rights of human beings to be rewarded financially for their work. The International Labour Organisation, a United Nations agency, defends the rights of people to work under healthy labour standards. The internship debate is really about labour standards, and in an industry such as PR that generates millions of pounds, can’t more than £50 quid be spared per week for interns?

Special thanks to Alex Try, Michael White and Keri Hudson for being interviewed.

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Alex Try, co-founder of Interns Anonymous, gives his four tips to vox-popPRcareers for interns to make the most of of their unpaid placements:

1. “Think about what you want to get out of it, write a list of all the skills you want to develop and any particular tasks that you want to do.”
2. “Once you have got all you want from the experience, leave. You have no obligation to stay. Don’t become a slave.”
3. “If you are just looking for administrative experience then you are probably better off temping- your bank balance and your self esteem will suffer less.”
4. “Consider alternatives such as volunteering, which is more flexible and allows you to do paid work as well. And consider setting something up on your own: a blog, a clubnight, a temporary art gallery….be creative!”

For more on the campaign for better standards for interns, visit Interns Anonymous.

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Abigael Sullivan is the editor of Wedding Venues & Services magazine. Catering to the bridal market, the magazine takes the stress out of finding the right venue for the big day.

Abigael tells vox-popPRcareers the tips fashion PRs need when pitching to the wedding market:

1. Good images on email and quick, informative responses.

2. We often receive press releases that aren’t relevant for the bridal market.

3. Qualify, qualify: do you know the magazine you are calling, their readership etc. It saves everyone time, effort, patience and energy. No need to speak to an editor to get that info, call and quality with whoever answers the phone or an editorial assistant.

Internal communications is an area of PR that ambitious graduates can break into with the right skills. This article lets you know what qualities you need for this sector.

1) Thought

“You need practical, pragmatic thinking – the ability to quickly understand a situation or issue and respond to it, underpinned by some business know-how.”

–Rosie Fyles, Upstairs Communications

2) Liaise

“Internal communicators should be in liaison with every part of an organisation, not just HR. Some companies operate using a business partner approach, with internal communicators working alongside various departments offering advice and creating communications campaigns to support their projects.”

–Rachel Allen, Head of Communications at London Overground Rail Operations Ltd

3) Adaptability

“The ability to adapt one’s style to be relevant to the audience, and the medium.”

–Eddie Bensilum, Director at Regester Larkin

4) Be Social

“Understanding how social media works and your ability to deliver value through it is an asset.”

–Aniisu Verghese, internal communications expert

5) Pen and Paper

“Good writing skills, style and substance, will always be an advantage.”

–Rosie Fyles

6) Be a people person

“Talking with people of all ages, backgrounds and rank, to find ways of having effective conversations to allow you to write a story and devise a comms plan.”

–Rachel Allen

7) Leadership

“Leadership traits are indeed an asset especially since most leaders look to the internal communicator to own and drive a lot more than is expected of their immediate span of control.”

–Aniisu Verghese

Keep reading vox-popPRcareers next week to read the second part of this series, about the details of how to break into internal communications. If you liked this article, subscribe to the newsletter to know the behind the scenes work of this website.

7 social media tips for graduate PRs

In this article, Linda VandeVrede, a PR veteran of more than 25 years, lets graduates wanting to break into PR know the 7 tips they need to decipher social media:

1) Embrace Twitter
“Although statistics have shown that twitter is more heavily used by older. PR practitioners, recent graduates should familiarize themselves with it. It can be a very strong tool as part of their arsenal for employers or clients.”

2) Participate Now
“I have seen twitter used very successfully by restaurant and retail establishments, as well as large namebrand companies to engage in conversations with their customers and to promote specials and events. The conversation about your company or client will go on whether or not you participate in twitter, so you might as well listen in and then head off any negative conversation as soon as you can.”

3) Strike a Balance
“It’s important on twitter to keep a good ratio between connecting and promoting. A good rule of thumb might be to have only one promotional tweet for every 7-10 tweets, for example.”

4) Start Talking
“The focus really should be on initiating conversations. That is how you build followers on twitter. @dunkindonuts is an example of a good ratio. They will promote specials and contests, but they also re-tweet comments from some of their followers about favorite donuts or other donut related information.”

5) To Facebook or throw the book at FB?

“I’m a bit ambivalent about Facebook as a component for social media PR for companies. For individuals, I think it is a terrific way to connect. The problem with Facebook is that the fan pages have become so prolific that many users are tuning out. I have seen some organizations like Foodiesareus use them successfully and engage with their fans, but many of the pages are too promotional.”

“I am still in the process of working on the fan page for my book, Press Releases are not a PR Strategy, to establish it as a discussion forum rather than a static ad. In a lot of ways, I see a blog/website as being a better place for interactive discussions than Facebook. Twitter can link back to the blog/website, although no doubt some companies integrate all three successfully.”

6) Pick a few tools
“If I were a recent PR graduate, I would focus on these 3:

• LinkedIn – for professional contacts
• Facebook – for personal contacts
• Twitter – to listen in on conversations and engage conversations, and link followers back to a blog/website

7) Location, Location, Location
“I would keep a close eye on developments in the mobile social media tools, such as FourSquare or Gowalla. These applications were popular at the recent SXSW event in Austin, and there has been a lot of discussion around the pros and cons of location-based social media.”

You can follow Linda on Twitter (@LindaVandeVrede) or on the Valley PR Blog.

[Image credits: source 1 and source 2]