Public Relations

What can I do if I study Psychology or Sociology in the University?

Counselor’s Response

“Psychology is the scientific study of human or other animal mental functions and behaviors. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist. Psychologists are classified as social or behavioral scientists. Psychological research can be considered either basic or applied. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring underlying physiological and neurological processes. (Wikipedia.org/wiki/psychology)

Psychology offers an excellent insight into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of behaviour, mind and brain. By studying Psychology, you will widen your knowledge, acquire many skills of value in a wide range of jobs and study many different subjects from the most scientific aspects of psychology through to Sociology in a very broad and varied programme of study.

Carrer Prospects: Psychology opens the door to many careers, from public to inter-personal relations, teaching, advertising, social work, finance and international relations.

Sociology: are you concerned about issues such as poverty, crime, social exclusion, social defiance and want to do something about them? Do you wish to enter a profession that works to promote social change and enhanced well-being? Sociology is the lively but critical study of society. If you are thinking of a career in the social services or public administration then, this programme is tailor-made for you.

Sociology will allow you to concentrate more in studying the way in which governments seek to provide services and change conditios in field such as health, education and income support.

Career Prospects: Graduates enjoy great success in a wide range of challenging careers including social work, probation, criminology, public administration, public relations, media, community development, teaching, research and a wide range of jobs in central and local government.

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Public Relations or PR broadly implies maintaining an organization’s public image and relations with the public. In other words, it is a practice of managing communication between a company and its audience. Public relations has gained a high importance in India today as companies realize the need and necessity of maintaining public relations apart from devising good advertising and marketing strategies.

With the growing realization of the importance of PR, all companies, big or small are now adopting services of PR experts. PR professionals are required to shape the communication, manage crisis, government affairs, mediation and publicity as well as look after relations with employees, communities, customers, industry, investors, media and visitors. With so many responsibilities at hand, there definitely is a need for ‘public relations’ for an organization of a stature. This is what creates large number of Jobs in PR across all sectors and industries-national or international.

Public relations are important to build rapport of an organization with its clients, customers, investors, audience and general public. It spells a change for the impage of a company as everything is well thought out and managed by PR agencies. Public relations are new to Indian market as compared to marketing and advertising but are gaining instant popularity among industries of all statures. PR expresses so many meanings and definitions that it does not seem to have a fixed identity. It ahs been evolving from anyone’s job of communication to a professional job of drafting strategies. It involves presenting the company in right light to the audience fashioning the trend of specialization in PR.

Public relations may be broadly categorized into the following three categories-Financial public relations, Product public relations and Crisis public relations. Jobs in PR across all these divisions are widely available with all kinds of companies in all sectors. Today, there are not only in house PR officers but various specialized agencies offering expert PR services. The ‘specialists’ or ‘strategists’ handle the relations and image of an organization to be presented in the outside world. PR departments would grow in size with responsibilities of managing websites, annual reports, employee newsletters, etc. moving to them in a short span of time.

The impact of technology in the field of public relations has been huge as communication becomes easier and quicker. The advent of company wide intranets, e-mail, live web conferences, web chats and corporate websites have revolutionized the way of communicating professionally. Information now spreads in few nanoseconds across thousands of employees, investors and customers. Integration with global markets and understanding of its culture is also crucial for maintaining public relations. A company that pays attention to environmental and social concerns or other sensitive issues is looked upon positively by the audience. Also, increasing transparency in company’s operations goes down will with everyone especially investors and IT industry has already created benchmarks. To be working effectively in PR jobs, these are some of the things you should be capable of handling well.

Jobs in PR in India have been growing in number and the demand for PR professionals is also increasing. Various courses have also been launched to impart professional knowledge of the functioning of this role of PR in the industry. Students undertake internships with companies that provide them with exposure and a real picture to the importance and relevance of Public Relations.

PR jobs have become a new favorite among the youth as it associates one with media and helps in networking with the bigwigs of the industry. A quotient of glamour is also associated with the profession of PROs as they meet the honchos of the world industries.

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People choose different types of career for different types of reasons. Some choose a career because they have a special talent for that career field. Some on the other hand choose a career in which they have interest and they would like to train and develop themselves to be successful in that career. Some garner the knowledge required for a specific career field and then start out from the entry level to make it actually big in that chosen field. What remains common in all these cases is the fact that people get selective about their careers and they have different aspects on which they base their choice.

• With the advancement and development of the world in general there are many new fields that have emerged in which people can start out which are pretty demanding. However, there are some fields which are common to almost every business, ownership or enterprise and therefore these options are extremely popular and they have extreme number of opportunities in them for people. Public relations jobs are one such category in which people can really try their mettle when they want to make it big as a career professional.

• One of the greatest things about working in the PR department is that it incorporates the knowledge of many departments and a person who starts out in the public relations department would not find it difficult at all to migrate into any other department of their choice.

• Public relations incorporate jobs in advertising because the public relations department has to look about the promotion of the company to the target customer group. This is why they have to make sure that they are working constantly in regards with the media and the target customer group.

• This also helps them to understand about jobs in media So that they can tactfully dealing with any occasion that demands them to be in sync with the media professionals.

• Public relations also incorporate jobs in communications. This is absolutely clear because a person who has to work in tandem with the media has to know all the skills of communications. It would be very easy for people like them to migrate into jobs in communications.

• Public relations entails that the person has to be aware of the skills related to marketing. This is why jobs in marketing are a very popular option for people who have experience in public relations and are looking to develop into higher positions in marketing. Many of the educational qualifications that are required in public relations are quite similar to those that are required in marketing department.

• It is evident that a person who starts out with public relations internships would be able to understand the skills regarding all these fields and therefore it is also a very demanding field.

The professional has to be aware that they have to work in extremely challenging conditions. However, as all the public relations professionals would agree it is the challenge that makes the field all the more interesting.

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The demand for marketing public relations jobs is stipulated to rise by a whopping 20% by the end of the current financial year. If you have a good command over English and/or any other foreign language, a good sense of communication and are smart, then you should go for marketing PR work.

There are many ways to get jobs in the world of public relations. Virtually 90% of the corporate industry is surviving on a strong PR network. The sooner you get to work in this field, the better will it be for you.

If for instance, you are a newbie, then the best way to start in the business will be through an internship. Internships are great. They allow you to gain on-the-job experience and are very beneficial for later jobs. You can get hold of an internship through your college placement cell or alumni.

But what if you are already in this career and are looking for something new? Well, in that case, our article is here to help.

Mid Career

Once you get into a job in the field, it becomes difficult to get a new job. This is why you need to have a smashing resume to bowl out your future employers. What you need in addition to this is a conscious assessment of who you are, what your goals are and how far you are from them.

Success will kiss your feet if you:

• Stick to your niche. Marketing Public relations work is different from PR in health care. In the current economic situation, change of field is not advised.

• In Marketing PR jobs, it is the best that you inform your employers about your career goals, specifically if there is a vacancy in a higher post and you are interested in that. Do not expect them to know everything by magic. This is the world of PR and if you are late, somebody else might grab the offer.

• The more you participate in public relations with your industry peers, professional counterparts and professional associations, the better you have. This is called networking. Go to after hour’s dinner parties and professional gatherings. A well known face gets an upper hand in marketing PR employment.

• It always helps to know more about your field. Go for membership in other professional associations of marketing even if you have a PRSA membership.

• In case of marketing public relations jobs, desperation will be of no avail. So it is no use applying for positions if you are overqualified for them.

Senior Level

If you are looking for a change in your current job, a change in your resume is also essential. It does not help to define yourself with respect to the previous job title. Resume of this kind should reflect your management expertise.

Remove entry level non-essential jobs; concentrate on presenting the “senior level skills” that have been instrumental in your learning since the last few designations. For senior professionals, it should be mentioned that due to the current status of post recession, they might have to face a change of field. Well, change is good. You can try your hands in new fields at this time.

Marketing public relations have a sparkling growth estimate once the recession is fully over, so watch out.

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As soon as the young and vibrant students graduate from their colleges, the next thing they look forward to, is making a living all by themselves. They look for jobs which can give them the scope to apply their knowledge which they have acquired sincerely for these years by studying at their institutions and respective universities. But many face with hard reality as soon as they land upon a job. It becomes a little difficult for them to assimilate this fact, that the maximum knowledge that they attained all this while will not be put into direct use. Most of the knowledge will come as a part of what they learn as a new employee.

In case of public relations jobs, the new graduates have to face something of this sort. There is lot to learn and imbibe but then at the same time one should not apply for the job with this idea that there will be a huge platform where their knowledge shall be put to use. Every day will be a new experience in terms of learning if there are no pre formed notions about such public relations work. There are certain things and qualities that are expected to be displayed by such professionals in public relations jobs.

Work without arrogance but with confidence

Some youth are full of right and effective ideas but they are very low in confidence for which they hesitate before putting them forward. This is one of the reasons why their enthusiasms and talents are questioned by their colleagues and employers. Communication public relations jobs expect one to voice their opinions. Again on the other hand some of them do it with so much of confidence that they appear arrogant in front of their clients and colleagues. It is best to strike a balance and work accordingly.

A mentor should be identified

In the early phase of one’s career in public relations one must identify a mentor. There should be a person in their workplace to which they may look up to for advice and guidance all the while. He should give the new employee an edge above the others and help him stay ahead in this game.

Mistakes are inevitable, but avoid them in future

If the new employee does his part by treating his first mistake professionally and sincerely then he is sure to learn from it and at the same time will raise his value in front of his peers and employers.

Stay committed in order to be a student of PR industry

One must always update himself by reading magazines and journals in the field of public relations to give his or her best.

Public relations employment procedures always try to analyze these qualities in a person when recruiting some one new.