PRos in Training

Tag: portfolio

  • Expert Advice on Portfolio Reviews

    Kaitlin Stewart (who provided tips for us this week) and Stacey Myers, our PRSSA president sat down with me and provided some tips about portfolio reviews.

    p.s. Can I tell you how much I love this FLIP camera? Thank you, wonderful client, for getting it for me… I mean us to use.

  • Guest Post: Tips for a Great Portfolio Review Episode 2


    This guest post is from senior Jessica Lomelin. Winter term 2008, Jessica participated in portfolio reviews and had very positive evaluations from her reviewers. I asked her (and a few others) to share their tips. You can find Jessica’s blog, A Moment of Wonderful, here.

    • Know your stuff. Do some research on your interviewers before meeting with them. Knowing about their professional industries and their work history will help you find unique commonalities.
    • Less is more. Although you may be able to fill your portfolio with a variety of pieces, pick and choose a few to focus on. Make a list of the top 3-5 things that you believe makes you stand out and highlight upon those. Your interviewers would rather see you fully explain a few items from start to finish rather than skimming through a plethora of work.
    • Be results-oriented. Anyone can write a press release or create a media list. Your interviewers want to see strategic thinking and planning, so explain to them why you chose a particular method and the results that came of it.
    • Be confident. If you are genuinely interested in a public relations field, vocalize that. I had a fear that if I focused too much on one sector, I would lessen my chances to ever work in other practices. Regardless of the specific practice, pr practitioners want to see that you are motivated and have the real-world experience to pursue that particular career path.
    • Be appreciative. These interviewers have gone out of their way to meet you and provide mentorship services. Send a thank you card and let them know that you appreciate their time and would like to continue to build on this relationship. The more you keep in touch and seek advice, the more they’ll be willing to go out of their way to help you.

    Lastly,

    • Relax and Have Fun. It’s okay if you slip up or seem a little nervous. This is a learning experience and meant to better prepare you for the future. Just remember that they too were once in our shoes and had to start from somewhere. Remember, Just relax and be yourself, and you’ll be great.

  • Can You Tell a Great Story?

    A good deal of the type of communication that we do in public relations involves telling a story.

    You need to be able to help the editor you’re pitching understand the value and interest of a story about your client or organization.

    Or, the story you’re telling might be part of a community outreach program to help your organization’ neighbors understand its activities or initiatives.

    Finally, the focus for this post – you need to be able to tell a story to a prospective employer that explains how a project you worked on fit into the big picture for a client and help achieve results. This, my friends, is the story of your portfolio.

    Putting your senior portfolio together can be intimidating. How much do you include? Do you talk about class work and internship work? How do you organize it?

    My best advice – and I’ve given this advice a lot – is to think about your portfolio as an opportunity to tell a story. It’s the story of your academic career and that story is composed of smaller stories about particular pieces, projects and campaigns.

    Each page in your portfolio is a bookmark. Each page is a piece of the plot and helps you tell your story.

    For more tips on portfolios:
    Creating a Winning Marketing /PR Portfolio
    Creating a Portfolio (Forward Blog)
    PR Portfolios (from a Spring 07 students’ post)

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