When college students first start out at a college or a university, they are mostly concerned with move-in day, meeting new people and trying to settle into a new place that they will call home for the next four years. Don’t be one of those students.
I’m not saying don’t settle in and meet people, do that, but make sure you keep ahold of why you are at school. College is like a competition between yourself and your peers. At the end of this you want a degree and a foot in the door for a new job or career. Get involved!
When telling people what major you plan to take up as a Public Relations concentration in Communication Journalism, people usually respond “that’s an easy major.” First, no major is easy, every major has their own difficulties. Second, you will get out of your studies and major from what work and commitment you put in.
A huge aspect of putting in a lot of work and dedication in your major is getting involved. Your college or university has a wide variety of clubs and activities that you can get involved with. It doesn’t even have to be PR related.
Some organizations you can get involved with on campus are as simple as your newspaper or yearbook. If your school has PRSSA, join! You will be able to generate samples of work to show future employers. If your school has a foundation that calls alumni and parents for gifts from the university, join the crew! You will learn how to communicate with public and strengthen your communication skills.
Other groups and organizations that are great to get into for PR majors would be your TV studio. Even your schools radio station. These will both be great to get involved with because you would learn and strengthen skills in this area such as learning how to read a prompter, how to pace yourself as you speak and how to address a large audience.
You could essentially join any club and this will help you in the long wrong. Gaining leadership roles in such activities look great to future employers. If you have a business fraternity on your campus, it would be great to rush. You don’t have to be a Business major to join, but you will learn great skills such as how to build a resume, you will perform mock interviews and learn how to be professional.
School isn’t just about joining clubs, either. This is the time to start building a reputation of yourself and sometimes between social activities in college, it is easy to make a bad reputation for yourself.
Jeremy Porter, a blogger about the journalism world, gave many key points and advice to college students on dos and don’ts in one of his recent blogs. One strong piece of advice was to “be smart about social media.”
Posting content to social media right now probably seems harmless. Except once you start looking for jobs, employers don’t want to see how drunk you got at one of your mixers for your frat or sorority. Some things just don’t need to be put out for the world to see.
Just like Warren Buffet, a skilled public relations practitioner, said in relation to the field, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
To keep yourself busy, keep out of trouble and start building a name for yourself, get involved. Joining clubs such as the yearbook, newspaper, PRSSA or even a club that isn’t directed at PR will give you experience and get you involved. Be smart about your time in college.
