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Interview a Public Relations Professional :: PRCA 2330

? by Oberazzi.For this 50-point assignment, you will choose and interview a public relations professional, and then write about this interview at your blog. This post will be a minimum of 250 words. (It’s likely that it will take ~500 to answer these questions fully.)

Though a face-to-face interview is preferred, a phone or webcam interview is acceptable. 

Include an introductory paragraph that introduces the PR professional, including title and company, educational background, etc.

Questions/Topics you need to include:

  • What’s a typical week like? (If no week is typical, then what was last week like?)
  • Tell me about a project you worked on that you are especially proud of.
  • How important is writing in your career?
  • What three tips would you offer someone just starting out in PR?
  • What do you do to keep current in the PR industry?
  • After interviewing this person, are you (the PRCA 2330 student) more or less likely to want to have a career in PR? Why?

Some questions you may wish to ask:

  • Did your education prepare you for working in PR? How? 
  • What has surprised you the most about working in PR?
  • What do you wish you would have known before starting your career in PR?
  • How has PR changed since you entered the field?
  • How does technology affect your daily work?
  • When your company is hiring for an entry-level PR position, what makes a candidate stand out?
  • What professional organizations are you involved in? (For example, PRSA, IABC, etc.)

Additional recommended questions, crowdsourced on Twitter:

  • Bruno Amaral: do you feel today’s students are prepared for the challenges of new PR?
  • Jessica Lawlor: what’s your most and least favorite part of your job?

Some things you may wish to do:

  • Include a photo of your interviewee. (This can be a photo he or she provides or one that you take yourself.)
  • Link to your interviewee’s LinkedIn profile and/or blog.

As we discussed in class, you can feel free to use a Q / A format.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

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The ONE job interview question

Last spring, I asked Edelman Digital’s Phil Gomes : “What’s the one question you almost always use in a job interview?” He not only shared his thoughts, he also interviewed several of his colleagues at Edelman Digital. Here’s what they had to say: 


Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

So, what’s the ONE question you almost always ask (or have been asked) in a job interview, regardless what the position is?

barbara_is_listening

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Making the Most of a Phone Interview

telephone dial by Leo Reynolds.In these days of travel budgets being slashed to bare bones, many companies are doing more phone interviews than ever. One of my PRCA 2330 students was just invited to a phone interview for an internship. She asked for some tips specific to phone interviews. Here’s some of my best advice:

  • Know the details of the interview. For example, do you call the interviewer? Or does he or she call you? Be prepared at least 15 minutes ahead of time, and be aware of time-zone differences.
  • If possible, make or take the call from a landline telephone, rather than a cell phone. You don’t want to have to worry about your call being dropped part-way through. If you must use a cell phone, be sure you’re in an area with exceptionally good coverage.
  • If the interviewer calls you on your cell phone, be sure that he or she hears a “regular” phone ringing, rather than a snippet of your favorite song. Call tones (or ring tones, depending on the lexicon of your phone provider) are sometimes confusing to callers who expect to hear just a ring.
  • Whether it’s a cell phone or a landline phone, check to see that the battery is fully charged before you begin to speak.
  • Do your best to be in a quiet place, away from chatty roommates, barking dogs, etc.
  • Prepare your interview area carefully. Be seated at a clean desk, and have a copy of your resume in front of you. Also have information about the company printed and available for you to refer to if you need it.
  • Have a cup of water with a straw nearby. It’s best to have no ice. 
  • No gum chewing. Though I love to chew gum, I know how awful it sounds to others at times.
  • Dress professionally, even though you know the interviewer cannot see you through the phone. We tend to act more professional when we appear more professional.
  • Avoid typing while talking, especially if you have long nails like I do. The sound of typing may make it sound like you’re not interested enough in the discussion to give it full attention.
  • Take notes as needed during the interview.
  • If the interview is done via Skype (or other) video chat, check your equipment with a friend ahead of time to ensure you know how to make or answer the video call. Make eye contact with the camera just as though you were talking face-to-face with the interviewer. Practice this with a friend! It feels quite awkward the first time you try it.
  • Immediately after the phone interview, send a short (yet professional) thank you e-mail to the interviewer. Then follow up that e-mail, the same day if possible, with a hand-written thank you note.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/9257237/

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Corporate PR Leaders Sought for Interviews

This fall, I’ll be teaching a Corporate PR course at Georgia Southern University. As the end of the summer nears, I’ll be looking for Corporate PR leaders to interview (via Skype, most likely) on a variety of topics for 10-15 minutes each . . . I want the students to hear from practitioners who are working in Corporate PR or Corporate Communication departments. (We offer a separate course in PR Firms.)

Potential topics will be:

  • new media
  • employee communication
  • government relations
  • community relations
  • investor relations
  • global corporate communication
  • issues management
  • crisis communication.

If you’re interested in potentially being a guest speaker, please drop me a line; let me know who you are and where you work. And it would be great if we could connect on LinkedIn. I plan to get a schedule put together in August.

Thanks!

 

Photo Credit: Vintage Telephone Earrings, originally uploaded by yourtricolor to Flickr