Professor Hemeyer validates a PR education in PR Week
How can a PR education prepare students to enter the communications field? According to Professor Terry Hemeyer, Senior Lecturer, a successful PR degree program encourages a special set of skills and provides opportunities for well-rounded, real-world experiences. He recently detailed his findings in the following article in PR Week, “PR Education: Today’s Challenge – Is It Relevant?”
A few years ago a top executive at one of the major PR agencies said they no longer had success hiring graduates from PR degree programs. They had better luck hiring liberal arts majors because these students came with broader knowledge, a worldly mindset and better analytical training. He felt these graduates offered better analytical abilities and could easily be trained in the “trade school” skills of media relations, employee and crisis communication, community relations and the latest social media fad. Horrifying, but partially true.
The good news is that this isn’t true across the board, and the way we teach PR is changing. The most important thing to understand is that a news release or pitch is just a tool, and should be considered “PR 101”. Employers, and clients, are going to be looking for someone who understands the role those tools play as part of a communications program, and at a larger view, in achieving the organization’s broader business goals.
Successful PR education programs teach the following basic skills and encourage the ability to:
- Network and succeed in face-to-face business and social relationships beyond the internet.
- Write well and concisely, including editing and spelling.
- Successfully work in teams recognizing different personal abilities and roles appropriate for each team member.
- Be analytical and solve problems. See around corners.
- Be knowledgeable of the surrounding world. Read and immerse in relevant timely information and competing opinions relating to clients’ business and issues.
- Wade through the crap: Be aware of all sides of an issue and decipher how to balance actions and advice to clients.
- Fail fast: Communication today is warp speed and situations change quickly. PR people need to abandon a project and change directions quickly if it is not working.
The key is also providing as much real world experience as possible from the classroom. Good curriculums cover current issues and crisis situations, and campaign classes solve real companies’ issues and needs.
The best PR programs today offer or require:
- Interdisciplinary curriculums
- Basic business courses
- Integrated classes with advertising, journalism and marketing students
- Multiple interning opportunities
At the end of the academic pipeline, the skills and attitudes that teachers must emphasize are the curiosity to research and solve problems, hard work, a positive attitude and a well rounded life of diverse personal and professional activities.