I have had more than one request from young professionals or soon-to-be graduates who do not have or will not get a PR degree and are interested in working in PR in some capacity. So do you have to have a degree in PR to do this work? Nope. In fact, I’d venture a guess that the clear majority of folks working in PR don’t have PR degrees. A career in PR is often the result of a circuitous path.
Disclaimer: I have a PR degree. My students in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon will all have PR degrees. Having a PR degree gives you the language of the industry and a unique approach to the work and our program at the UofO is very focused on real world activities and training strategic, creative thinkers. With that said…
What can you do to move into public relations or start your career there, when your degree says something like English Literature or Sociology or International Studies? Basically, get experience.
Some tips:
- Volunteer: Can you volunteer a few hours a week at a local nonprofit? Participate as a PR volunteer writing newsletter articles, or pitching the media human interest stories about your organization. Chances are, that organization would love to have some free help and you can get some great experience. If you don’t know much about PR, find an organization that has someone who can mentor you.
- Read, read, read: Many many smart PR people are blogging, tweeting and putting out info every day that you can learn from. Find a few you like and soak up all you can. If you’re not sure where to start, on the right navigation of this blog are some of my favorites.
Beyond blogs, and PR focused material, it’s also important to be an avid consumer of media, generally, and to know what’s going on in the world.
- Network: Participate in PRSA or IABC events in your local community. Get to know the PR folks. PR is a pretty small world and you’ll find your contacts will carry you far.
- Update your skills: If you feel like you’re lacking the technical skills necessary for that first internship or job, find a way to get some practice. Take a skills course at your university or community college that focuses on PR, for example. Or ask a local PR prof what book they typically use in their courses or books they’d recommend. Generally, we’re pretty nice and are happy to help someone who is enthusiastic about what we do.
- Intern: Seek out more formal internships, either in-house or with an agency. Depending on your market, you may be competing with PR grads (in Portland, Ore. for example), but if you’ve prepared yourself, you will be able to hold your own and show you deserve a chance.
If you’ve “fallen into” PR and have more tips… or if you’re working in PR and see the path that those around you have taken, please share!
Comments
9 responses to “What if You Don’t Have a PR Degree?”
Hi Kelli,
Great to see someone with a degree confirming that while it’s definitely helpful, it doesn’t mean the end of the road if you don’t have one. More openness like this needs to be shared by the PR industry in general, instead of the “clique” nature it seems to have a lot of the time.
I spoke to a class of Corporate Communications students recently who were looking to have a career in PR. As someone who doesn’t have a degree in PR myself – my background is in corporate business with an Associate of Marketing degree – one of the recommendations I made was to take a summer job in customer service.
Why that and not a PR internship? I just feel that many prospective PR professionals can be out off with the mundane life that PR often is – it’s not all photo shoots with celebrity clients, or champagne parties! 😉
Dealing with irate customers learns you patience, empathy, understanding of what can go wrong and how to handle problems – all key in succeeding in PR.
Additionally, isn’t PR just an extension of customer service? We’re here to service the client – whether that’s brand promotion, press releases, prepping for media interviews, etc.
Sadly too many agencies and professionals seem to have forgotten this and simply look for the fast buck. A reason why the industry has such a negative view from the outside.
Hopefully the new breed of PR professionals coming through can work with the current professionals that are trying to implement change. Otherwise we may get to the stage where it won’t matter if you do or don’t have a PR degree – there’ll be no recognizable industry to work in.
Thanks for a great post. 🙂
I’m a clear example of ‘falling’ into PR.
My university degrees are a Bachelor of Science specializing in Zoology and a Master of Science in Animal Behaviour. My MSc thesis was on the reproductive biology and included several years of field work. My dream was to be a prof… alas, the ‘publish or perish’ mentality that existed back then, coupled with the need to do a PhD, and a Post Doctorate before coming close to teaching dissuaded me from the ivory towers.
As I was completing my thesis I got a job at ‘The Ex Terry Foundation’… a non-profit org that had organized the first expeditions to Inner Mongolia by Western Scientist and was then going to be mounting the worlds largest traveling dinosaur museum – The Dinosaur Project. I was a sponge learning from the Dir of Comm and after restructuring and departures the Exec Dir came to me one day and said ‘You like this Media and PR stuff, don’t you?’ I replied, ‘yeah, I do.’ ‘O.k. then. You’re our PR Manager.’ At which point I had to go find out (in a pre-internet world) what PR was!
Along the way I discovered that I had gained skills that were well suited to PR and MarComm… the ability to go from complex to understandable, to de-jargonize, to speak and present logically and emphatically, and to tailor messaging to the needs of a particular audience.
And best of all? I now teach a PR module as part of an integrated Mar Comm certification course.
Who knew you could get all that from watching spiders make babies?!
Kelli, great post and I think that volunteering and networking are excellent suggestions to getting one’s foot in the door.
I didn’t get a PR degree, my degree is in Communication Studies. I fell into education PR (I’m a communications specialist for a k12 public school district in Texas) – prior to entering the PR ranks I didn’t even know school districts had (or needed) PR.
My additional thought would be to look outside the obvious organizational/business/agency PR needs for a possible fit for your skills and interest.
Hi Kelli,
I stumbled onto this post after seeing some of the tweets about one student’s reaction to this piece. I think this is a great post and definitely great advice for anyone looking to break into PR (whether they have a degree in PR or not).
I personally am another “fell into PR” person (my degree is in Political Science). I interned at a PR Firm the summer after my freshman year, enjoyed it, and was offered a job with that same firm when I graduated college.
As with all professions, there is no reason that you absolutely have to major in order to work in a certain field (my parents old accountant has a degree in biology). I’m glad to see you helping people who have an interest in PR find a way to work in a field they are truly interested in.
-Alex
Thanks Danny, PRJack, Richie & Alex. I love to hear people's stories about how they ended up in their career (PR or otherwise). People have interesting lives and you four are no exception. I love it.
Hi Kelli, Great post. Networking and interning while in college can easily make up for not having a degree in public relations. Like others above, I’m an example of that. In college I studied Human Communication, but had three internships in publicity and public relations and a part time job at a local paper. Everything I learned about PR was from my hands on experience in college. I’ve been working at my first PR position for almost the last two years. Every day I learn something new about the industry, trends, and techniques. I love it. I’m a classic example of someone who did not graduate with a 4.0 and a degree in PR, but my networking persistence and willingness to learn keeps paving the way for me to have wonderful opportunities.
One tip I would like to share is while you’re networking and getting general experience in college, find a mentor. A mentor could be a professor, a boss, or really anyone in the industry. Mentors aren’t going to do things for you, but they are going to guide you in the right direction. These are people with a wealth of experience or knowledge who know what it takes to make it. I owe everything to my mentors who have helped me out with internships and giving me career advice. These people will always be with me throughout my career.
Kelli,
Great post! My suggestion to those looking to break into PR, is to start out working for “the other side” or media. It is a great way to understand the media before you pitch them. However, this is becoming more difficult given the economic downturn.
Aspiring PRos can dive into social media from a non PR perspective. They can write a blog, set up a Facebook profile and begin tweeting away. Even experimenting with video and web design can also give them an edge. Many PR graduates tend to focus on more traditional techniques, and social media skills can set someone apart. I know this from personal experience.
Hi Kelli,
I am finishing up an integrated Marcom degree, while just starting a PR consulting practice. Right now, my business model is simple: use my company blog to drive site traffic to my company website (once that company website is complete!)
I have tried earnestly to land internships in PR, but to no avail. But the crazy thing is, now I want to switch from PR to broadcast journalism. Since PR is somewhat the “business side” of journalism, I feel ready to work from the other side of the table.
In fact, I think PR is best for people who didn’t intend to be in it. Because life is all about starting out on one path and ending up on an even better one.
– Zack
You inspired me to [finally] blog on how to use a PR degree to enter another field: http://elizabethlloydevans.blogspot.com/2008/12/where-art-and-public-relations.html