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Volume 20, Issue 1
The Medium
Virginia Tech Public Relations Student Society of America
Advantages of Advanced Degrees in Public Relations
Hope Miles
Advanced degrees help prepare students to
move from public relations technicians to
public relations managers in the job
market. Graduate education allows
students to explore theories and
assumptions behind the daily public
relations practice. Students can look at the
nature of organization public relationships,
factors that shape public opinion, the
influence of communication on thoughts
or behaviors, and ethical considerations
relating to human interactions.
An advanced degree signals that students
have tried to develop a deeper
understanding of public relations as a
management function that contributes to
an organization's mission. Obtaining an
advanced degree makes a public relations
graduate more competitive when applying
for jobs. If having the up on the
competition in the job market is not
enough, salary differences in a graduate
with a bachelor‟s degree in public
relations versus a master‟s in public
relations are vastly different. A graduate
entering the job market with a bachelor‟s
in public relations averages $30,000 in an
entry level position. Contrasting a
graduate entering the job market with a
master‟s in public relations averaging
$97,000.
Individuals seeking an advanced degree in
PR should be prepared to submit GRE
scores, college transcripts, letters of
recommendation, and a personal essay to
the college of their choice. Common
classes in a public relations master‟s
program include communication ethics,
public relationships, structure working and
presentation, marketing, and the history of
communication. A master‟s in PR
typically takes two years to complete.
Below is a short list of schools offering a
Master‟s program for PR graduates. You
can find the complete list at
www.gradschools.com
In This Issue…
Advanced Degrees in PR
1
Guest Speaker
Social Networking
1
2
National Conference
2
Marketing and PR
3
Member of the Semester
4
Upcoming Events
4
Executive Council
2010-2011
Rachel Dobroth
President
Michelle Fienburg
Bond University
Regis University
La Salle University
George Washington University
The Art Institutes
Lasell College
The New School
Ellis University
University of Saint Mary
St. Cloud State University
Southern Methodist University
University of Maryland University
College
Boston University
Syracuse University
Hawaii Pacific University
Vice President
Stefanie Sempek
Special Events Coord.
Loryn Johnson
Promotions Director
Virginia Hyer,
Kevin Eike
Firm Co-Directors
Kaitlyn Redelman
Chapter Relations Chair
Bridgett Feehan
Secretary/Treasurer
Debbie Cordo
Meeting Highlight: Guest Speaker
Rachel Dobroth
This November PRSSA hosted Larry
Hincker, who is the Associate Vice
President for University Relations at
Virginia Tech. Hincker serves as the
university spokesperson and senior
communications official responsible the
latest university-wide branding campaign,
Invent the Future. In his presentation,
Hincker gave PRSSA members insight on
Webmaster
Fun Fact of PR
Virginia Tech's branding efforts
throughout the years. Hincker also took
the time to give the students tips on how to
create their own personal brand as well as
how to best represent the brand of a
potential future employer. Thanks again to
Larry Hincker for providing this
wonderful learning opportunity.
Money Magazine listed the
advertising/PR position as
one of the 50 best jobs in
America. This field has high
expected job growth and is
part of the rapidly growing
service sector.
The Medium Page 2
Social Media’s Role in Getting Hired (or Fired)
Rachel Dobroth
By this point in our lives,
we‟ve all heard at least
one horror story about
someone not getting a job
because of what a
potential employer has
found on his or her
Facebook page or worse,
someone getting fired
over a social media faux
pas. While it‟s true that
Facebook and other social
networking sites were
once a haven of sorts for
teens and young adults,
this is no longer the case.
Image from www.digeratilife.com
Now it seems that
everyone has a Facebook
page—relatives, family friends, teachers, bosses, and even
businesses have taken advantage of the social networking
giant.
More significantly, employers—especially those in the fields
of marketing and public relations—are now looking to
Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to get a better
feel for the candidates they might want to hire. These
employers, however, aren‟t always just digging for dirt by
checking out a candidate‟s social media presence. In fact,
many companies look for positive indicators in profiles such
as relevant interests, strong
grammatical skills, and
exceptional experiences.
Start thinking about how your
social media accounts make you
appear to potential employers,
and begin making positive
changes right now instead of
waiting until the application
process. On Facebook you can
update your job history to show
your experience and revise your
interests so they accurately reflect
your unique personality. Take
some time to sort through your
groups, fan pages, and most
importantly photo albums and tagged pictures to make sure
nothing exists that might give an employer the wrong
impression. Be sure to double check yourself on Twitter,
YouTube, and other sites as well. If it‟s not a post you‟d show
your grandmother or boss, you probably shouldn‟t be putting
it online for the world to see.
Just remember, nothing is preventing an employer from
making a decision about you based on what they see on your
public social media sites. This idea is pretty scary and though
it can be tempting, don‟t just try to hide your online identity.
Instead, take advantage of its potential to provide employers
with an accurate and flattering impression of who you are as a
Wear Appropriate Shoes: National Conference 2010
Virginia Hyer
The 2010 PRSSA National Conference was in Washington
D.C. The Virginia Tech chapter had eight members attend the
Friday-Tuesday events: Holly Brown, Debbie Cordo, Rachel
Dobroth, Bridgett Feehan, Kacie Nolan, Stefani Sempek,
Barbara Zendle, and I represented Virginia Tech. With over
15 guest speakers, lectures on social media, and creating
careers in: Sports PR, Corporate PR, Agency PR, Political
PR, Non-Profit PR, Entertainment PR, Green PR, Tourism/
Travel PR, Crisis PR, and Crisis PR; the number one thing I
learned at conference was to wear appropriate shoes.
Preparation)” Jeffrey D. Ory, ABC, APR, Vice President of
Deveney Communication pointed out a few shoes in the
audience that passed the test or failed miserably. My black,
one-inch, peeped toe shoes passed the test. Jeffery Ory said
that he remembers when a person came into an interview
with flip-flops on; he commented that right when the
interviewee walked in that the chances of them being apart of
his agency went out the window.
Of course the Conference was not only about what shoe you
should wear to an interview. It was about meeting people
After every lecture there was a Question and Answer section. from all over the country, networking with other students,
Someone in the audience always asked a question regarding and interacting with companies like Fleishman Hillard. Next
applying for jobs and the interview process. The answer to
year national conference will take place in Orlando, Florida
that question was always some rendition of “you are being
on October 14-18. I know I will be attending, in appropriate
judged from the moment you walk in, and the first thing the shoes of course.
interviewer will see is your shoes.” Guest speakers always
commented on the worst shoes they had seen. During the last
lecture I attended on “Targeting Your Audience (Career
Page 3
Marketing and PR: Blurring the Lines
Hope Miles
Many people see Public Relations and
Marketing as two separate entities, but this
couldn‟t be any farther from the truth. It is
essential for Marketing and Public Relations
to work together to optimize corporate
product delivery. People in Public Relations
(PR) seek to establish and maintain mutually
beneficial relationships between an
organization and the public. It bridges the gap
between an organization and external publics.
PR activities include researching to find
answers to questions that clients may have,
counseling to give clients advice, and
communicating to get the client‟s message
out to the public.
“PR is one of the effective tools in an
integrated marketing campaign that gives the
brand the „voice‟ to consumers and persona
that will develop and maintain it's position
within the marketplace. Obviously, PR that
is pro-active, rather than reactive, is the best
kind,” said Donna Wertalik, Virginia Tech
Marketing Faculty and PSE Faculty Advisor.
involves establishing where the brand will be
placed in the consumer's mind and how we
hope it will gain leverage over competing
brands. Developing a unique selling
proposition that the brand can own can do
this.
Marketing and PR go hand in hand. They are
both used to promote a person or business
and the key is to reach a target audience.
Marketing personnel work closely with PR
specialists to help a business reach the public.
“Public Relations and Marketing have
responsibilities to work collaboratively to
meet the strategic goals for an organization,”
Barbara McDonald, Vice President of PRSA
said. “In the past, there was a division
between marketing and PR. Now, with the
expansion of the digital and global
capabilities of brands, marketing and PR
work together more than ever,” Wertalik
commented.
If you are a business owner, to be successful,
the public must have knowledge of your
company, and you must have knowledge of
Marketing is all about meeting the needs and the public. “Both departments will be
wants of customers. It encompasses
constantly doing research to keep up with the
everything a company does to get its product latest information on everything. It is
or service into the hands of consumers. The
extremely important to be knowledgeable on
art of marketing is discovering and
every aspect. Know the competition, know
understanding the needs and wants of
who the target audience is, know the latest
consumers and making sure they are satisfied trends, etc.” Wertalik said.
with the product or service. The efforts have
“Modern consumers are changing, so the
an end goal in making the company a profit. roles between the two are blurring more and
Wertalik says the marketing of a brand
more. There is more of an integrated
relationship. We work
very closely together,”
McDonald said.
5 New Business
Trends for 2011
1. More requests for
Social/Digital
2. More competitive
pitches
3. Shift away from
traditional media
relations toward online
influencers
4. Integrated campaign
work
5. More project work
PR Job Resources
PRSA Job Center
www.prsa.org/jobcenter
PR Week Jobs
www.prweekus.com/jobs/
section/257/
Employment Crossing
www.prcrossing.com
PR Job Force
www.prjobforce.com
Fun Facts of PR
Public relations is directed
at the community, the
ultimate consumer of the
organization, internal
employees, stockholders,
and other organizations.
As a result every
organization must perform
public relations activities
which means public
relations jobs can be
found in virtually every
industry and organization.
Virginia Tech PRSSA
Spotlight on the Members of the Semester:
Eric Wagner
Graduation date: May 2012
Hometown:
Stafford, Virginia
Major, minor/cognate:
Communications, Public Relations
Year joined PRSSA: 2010
PRSSA committee involvement: The Firm
Career goals: Music is a passion of mine so
my goal is to have a career doing PR for a
major record label. What kind of PR do I want
to do while I'm there? I'm not certain but I am willing to work from the ground and up
reach my goal.
Why did you chose to major in PR? I chose to major in PR because it was the area
of study I saw myself pursuing. As an avid consumer of media I wanted to study
how media affects us as a society, and how to effectively communicate to an audience.
Also, I found writing to be one of my stronger skills and seeing as PR is a writing
intensive major I wanted to put them to the test. So far it's been a great fit.
The Medium
Editorial Board:
Loryn Johnson
Debbie Cordo
About VT PRSSA:
Dr. Yvonnes Chen
Faculty Advisor
Linda Burcham
Professional Advisor
Email [email protected] to be
added to the listserv to
receive internship
opportunities and meeting
information.
PRSA Chapter
Correspondence:
Local PRSA Chapter:
Blue Ridge Chapter
Interested in joining?
Upcoming Events: Spring 2011
Networking
Opportunities:
PRSA Luncheon at Hotel Roanoke, Thursday Feb. 17
PRSA Luncheon at The Inn at Virginia Tech, Thursday
April 14
Chapter Events:
Spring into Comm Connections 2011, March
National Events:
PRSSA National Assembly in Seattle, March 31-April 3
Virginia Tech
Career Fairs:
Connection Co-Op and Internship Fair, Feb 22
Alumni Association Job Fair, March 8
Directions Spring Career Fair, March 16
Meeting Schedule:
Every other Wednesday
in GBJ at 7pm
Fun Facts of PR
Look for jobs in smaller PR
firms; the best PR work is
done here. And you may find
yourself happier and in a
position of greater
responsibility if you work for
a smaller public relations
operation.