Friday, December 11, 2009
Cold feet: my difficult year
This is awkward, embarrassing even. I'm often asked by students and graduates to be a referee and frequently find myself giving careers advice. Yet I'd not recommend anyone follow my path.
My decision of a year ago to leave a big course in a big university for a small course in a small university (well, 'small is beautiful' right?) has not proved to be a wise one in hindsight. Or, if wise, then circumstances have not proved auspicious. So I'm leaving (again).
My final teaching week ended on a high, with one group delivering some strong work - and then joining me afterwards for drinks (see picture). Other groups presented ideas for a 'safe, sensible, social' anti-binge drinking campaign at police headquarters, with the winners receiving concert tickets donated by pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
Meanwhile, I've been glad of some continued involvement at my old university - and distance has changed my perspective. It was a pleasure to join the team's seasonal celebration last night, and I'm impressed by the way many students are developing.
On other fronts, I've been kept busy as a specialist CIPR Diploma tutor (online and face-to-face); I'm looking forward to leading a summer school in Italy for an American university next year, and I will soon have some capacity to take on more private training and consultancy work.
I've traded security and status for uncertainty and independence - and the arrangement may suit me. But I realise it's not for everyone. 'Do as I say, not as I do'.
But there is a lesson in this for everyone. We live in a surprisingly small world and the most valuable thing we can accumulate is our reputation. The lesson is to never burn your bridges and to treat everyone with respect. I'm writing references for students now, but who knows when I might need their references and recommendations?
Posted by Richard Bailey at 10:48 AM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Friday, November 06, 2009
Georgia on my mind
I spoke remotely to a class of students at Georgia Southern University yesterday. Despite some technical difficulties, we had an interesting discussion about trends in international public relations.
In follow up, one of the class - Sarah Wilson - has asked me four good questions which I'll attempt to answer here.
1. What do you do to keep current on PR trends?
I'm a member of our professional body (the CIPR); I read books on and around the subject; I blog about PR and read PR blogs; I talk to practitioners and students; I teach practitioners who are studying for a PR qualification; I attend conferences; I'm a member of PROpenMic.
If I had to pick just one of these, books are still be best way to gain a deeper understanding of a subject.
2. How has PR changed since you entered the industry?
The principles haven't changed in 20 years - but the practice has changed a lot (though it still has some way to go). Looking back, for many years I didn't do public relations - I simply did media relations (and most of that was press relations).
PR has changed as the media landscape has evolved, most notably with the emergence of social media.
But as Sir Martin Sorrell suggested, there are other factors too: the internationalisation of business, the importance of internal communications ('change management'); the agenda around legitimacy and corporate responsibility; the rise of activism.
In summary, looking back I'd say I provided an important tactical tool to my clients. Yet public relations advisers are today in a position to provide key strategic advice.
3. Do you believe that marketing and advertising are encroaching into public relations (eg through relationship marketing)? If yes, please give an example.
This question is hugely significant to people who work in public relations and to public relations academics - since the future of the discipline is at stake. But I suspect it's of less interest to clients.
There is no question in my mind that certain promotional techniques have been losing effectiveness in our short-attention-span economy. Public relations - either through editorial endorsement or through other forms of third party recommendation - has been a beneficiary from the relative decline of advertising. Yet marketing is not standing still and relationship marketing, viral marketing, word of mouth marketing, social marketing, cause-related marketing etc are all ways in which marketing is seeking to colonise part of the space historically occupied by public relations.
I suggest you need to separate out the purpose for which PR is being used. If it's being used to promote sales, then this is a marketing function and PR needs to find its niche in the marketing mix (the traditional exclusive domain of marketing PR has been media relations, as discussed earlier).
If the purpose of PR is to ensure the organisation's social legitimacy (and thus its long-term survival and success), then I view this as the domain of public relations (or corporate communications), not of marketing. Your question asks about case studies - and clearly there's a need for these to demonstrate to others that public relations can play this more strategic role. Among academics, Charles Fombrun has done most to articulate the field of corporate reputation management and to provide tools for measuring corporate reputation.
The case study I would have talked to you about yesterday, had there been time, is a contradictory one. It's the award-winning PR campaign for Queensland Tourism ('The Best Job in the World'). It's contradictory because the winning team is a Australian advertising agency, CumminsNitro. PR may be a powerful tool, but there's nothing to stop others learning some lessons.
4. What three tips would you give to someone just starting in PR?
One. Start with your own public relations. Join networks and put energy into your chosen networks. Look to get known and take note of your Google search rankings.
Two. It's good to be open-minded and capable of learning - but you'll get hired for being passionate and expert. So look for a sector to specialise in. (As Weber Shandwick's Colin Byrne tells graduates, it's better to know everything about something than something about everything).
Three. Be curious and keep learning. Don't be afraid to ask!
Posted by Richard Bailey at 11:08 AM in Careers, Students | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
How to lose jobs and alienate bosses
Facebook's not just for friends: careless talk costs jobs.
I'm not able to verify this, but it's reportedly from the UK - and there's mention of a P45, the official document received at the end of a period of employment.
Even if it's made up, it contains enough truthiness to be a valuable lesson in the porosity of social media. And the boss (on Facebook late in the evening) gains praise for his swift, humorous and decisive response (though he's acted without recourse to HR and the usual procedure of written warnings).
Posted by Richard Bailey at 11:04 AM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Life, liberty and the pursuit of work
This is personal. While I wanted to write it ('I write therefore I think') I'm not necessarily so keen on you reading it.
Posted by Richard Bailey at 10:00 AM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Wake up call to students and graduates
Perhaps you need grey hairs to know just how bad it is out there (I have lots of grey hairs). What's a graduate to do in these circumstances?
Posted by Richard Bailey at 09:11 PM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
What works when you want work?
Universities are producing record numbers of graduates just when the economy can no longer absorb them, it appears. The credit crunch will turn into a career crunch for some.
I don't have any easy answers to offer: I suspect that we're experiencing a shift from working for large organisations towards smaller players, from secure employment to more flexible arrangements. This can be painful for some, but open doors to others. Graduates, I feel, should be better equipped to respond to change and uncertainty than non-graduates. We'll see.
But help and advice has never been so available to those seeking work. Much of this advice can be summarised in two points:
- Network. This involves connecting with and meeting people, and not just on Facebook. Explore PROpenMic, the professional social network LinkedIn and join professional bodies like the UK's CIPR. Allie Osmar tells how her Mentorship Connection initiative led directly to a job offer for one person. Sadly, her career's taking off so the Mentorship Connection is no longer being supported.
- Stand out. This has always been a competitive industry and it's not getting any easier, so you need to be an outstanding candidate. Sometimes this involves paying attention to detail and doing the basics well. In a thoughtful essay, Harold Burson argues that 'writing quality has been diminishing for half a century at least' and that 'the young job seeker who demonstrates writing skills is immediately differentiated from others'.
UPDATE: Richard Edelman offers seven tips for graduate job seekers.
Posted by Richard Bailey at 11:37 AM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Sunday, January 04, 2009
The selfless meme
In response to Adam Lewis's request at Flawless Buzz:
Posted by Richard Bailey at 06:07 PM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
She is the very model of the modern uni graduate
I've read much about Generation Y (and their sense of entitlement). Now it's time to paint a more positive picture, drawn from life.
The description below is a composite; to preserve anonymity and to respect confidentiality, it's based on more than one person. But it's all true (as far as one person's perceptions can ever be true) and describes the best of all possible students about to graduate into the worst economic circumstances in living memory. As you'll see, the gender references are deliberate; a typical university graduate is now female.
This model graduate is:
Hard working: She works hard on university assignments, but that's the least of it. She's also paying her way through university by working long hours as a waitress. She then fits in carefully-chosen unpaid work in order to build her CV and portfolio.
Ambitious: She chose a vocational degree because she's ambitious. Though she knows where she'd like to end up, she has an open mind about how best to get there, and assumes she'll need in-house and consultancy experience, and to have worked in the public and private sectors.
Experienced: She took a gap year before coming to university and chose the option of a full-year placement. Though still young, she has more work experience and a more rounded view of life than most new graduates.
Family-oriented: She may be the first in her family to gain a degree and knows that her parents have made sacrifices to help her get this far. This fuels her ambition. On the downside, though, she accepts that it will be hard to combine a career with having her own family. It may also be hard for her to remain in a long-term relatonship: as popular literature and film shows, there are more 'fabulous females' than 'marriageable men' in most adult age groups.
Fearless: She communicates well with people regardless of their age, gender or status. Though star-struck, she held it together when meeting an iconic global celebrity, so presenting to chief executives is a routine matter for her.
Next year will be a difficult one for new graduates, but my model graduate is better than - and cheaper than - many incumbents. Smart employers will be quick to snap her up.
Posted by Richard Bailey at 11:31 AM in Careers, Students | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Monday, November 24, 2008
I'm leaving
Behind the Spin has scooped my news. How did they do that (I didn't write it)?
Posted by Richard Bailey at 09:59 PM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Monday, November 17, 2008
How to get on in PR (and how not to impress)
Here's another good debate, especially in tough times. How best to get your PR career started?
Tom Watson (a practitioner turned academic) believes employers should rate those with PR degrees ahead of those with non-vocational qualifications:
"Too often, industry leaders pay lip service to PR education but choose not to recruit students who are job-ready in favour of those from non-vocational universities."
He makes a strong case, but I'm not sure which instruments can be invoked in a free market economy to privilege one set of graduates over another. I also expect that his calls for greater industry support for education have come at a bad time.
Meanwhile, Maggie Kerr-Southin, a self-proclaimed 'PR goddess from Canada's west coast' lists the qualities she seeks in new recruits. It's a good list - and she and Watson at least agree on the importance of an education.
"Being good with people or enjoying events isn’t enough."
Well said.
Posted by Richard Bailey at 06:09 PM in Careers | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack


