Two of My Life Priorities:
If you’re like me, college is a place for growing up and investing time into a future career. Never have I truly taken the time to think about the mix between my professional and my personal life. I have always known that I like children and I want children but, I also know that I love my independence as well. Part of that independence comes from being an only child and being very self-motivated in all that I do. I was raised in a home that had low-expectations for achieving greatness but instead, living a mediocre life. This is a large part of why I am so motivated to achieve greatness now. I want to provide a better life for my children than I perhaps had for myself. Therefore, I would want weekdays to be career focused and weekends to be for entertainment for myself and my future family. That’s why the most important thing to me is security; not only financial security but also, job security. The way I would insure job security would be excelling in my career by learning and growing every day to increase my competency.
I’ve learned from Aristotle that with material goods, one will never be satisfied. So, I’d like to make it clear that the money I make from my career would not so much be for material goods but, rather experiential memories like traveling the world or vacations with my family. That is why the second most important thing to me is entertainment. I have always been one to save my money for priceless experiences rather than material goods because I believe that living a happy life is about making memories. I cannot have as much of an entertaining life without the security that I mentioned above. I think the point Aristotle is trying to make when he preaches about "the good life," is to slow down and not become too absorbed into a job, and especially don't do a job just for the money. Rather, humans should focus on contemplation and learning which I feel comes with traveling and gaining new experiences. I would want a job that would allow vacation time so that I can create memories for my family even as a working woman.
Two of My Most Important Character Traits:
For me it's loyalty and transparency because I exercise those two traits the most in my life. I have always been overly loyal to friends who maybe wouldn’t do the same for me as I would do for them. I am constantly thinking how my actions would affect others which is important in PR when you must consider a variety of publics and how they will be impacted from your message. Loyalty is not only necessary in friendships but also relationships. In PR, relationship building is the main goal. Being loyal to clients is one thing I would excel at in my future profession. For example, if I am working for Pepsi, and Coca-Cola wants to hire me, I would have to decline because it would be unethical to take on two competing clients. Loyalty is mentioned in the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) code of ethics as being “…faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest.” I am always transparent because I am an outgoing, outspoken individual who couldn’t lie if I tried. Part of the reason a PRSA code of ethics was created was to hold PR practitioners to a high level of ethical responsibility to tell the truth. Transparency is a common word tossed around in the industry as a means of accomplishing the ethical truth. I believe that loyalty and transparency are beneficial character traits to have when working in PR.
Three Most Important Things to Have Working in PR:
On the topic of PR, some of the most common priorities a PR professional has are brand representation, media relations, and crisis management. Values and personal qualities needed for success in that profession include honesty, good communication skills, and strategic thinking skills. Honesty is important in all professions but especially PR; so important that it is included in the PRSA code of ethics. In order to prove the negative stereotype about public relations wrong, honesty is the best policy. PR used to be viewed and still can be viewed as spin, a publicity stunt, or the ones who clean up the mess. It is important to reiterate and defend that public relations, when practiced ethically, if a very honest profession. Transparency is one of the key successes of PR which ties back into my character traits. Being transparent to the public about what the company is doing is a way PR professionals avoid conflict.
The second personal quality needed for success in PR is being a good communicator. PR professionals need to communicate in a variety of different ways. Public relations professionals are the only people within a business, organization, or company that communicates to both the boss, other internal employees, and the public.
Lastly, strategic thinking is necessary to becoming a PR practitioner. A PR professional does not just come up with numerous tactics for clients without strategic reasoning. Every move a PR person makes should be strategic to benefiting the client, the client’s public, and the greater good of society. There needs to be an evaluation process to any tactics a PR professional creates to make sure the strategic message was received and the intended audience was impacted by the message. There is a lot of different hats a PR person must wear therefore, there is a lot more values that are important to succeeding in the career besides the three I’ve mentioned.
