Can you impress all and sundry by your sweet talk? Can you manage to weasel out of the toughest situations by the gift of gab? Then a career in public relations is just right for you.
If you possess these soft skills you are here to stay. A liking for meeting people from different walks of life, an extrovert nature, the ability to absorb information about various topics and good organizing skills are an asset in this profession.
What’s really important in a PR professional is a thirst for knowledge. Everyday, you are learning something different. This skill, combined with strong command over languages, adds to the skill set of an ideal candidate. A PR professional is generally required to be present at conferences, parties, interviews and events organised by his or her company.
This could stretch to late evenings and sometimes even nights. But if you are lazy bones and need to hit the bed at 10.30 every night, PR is not for you; you should opt for a 9 to 5 job!
Willingness to travel is another characteristic required of the PR professional because a large-scale event might drag you to different places in and outside India.
Physical attributes do matter to a certain extent as does good grooming; remember, this is a people-related job. So scruffy hair, bohemian attire and sneakers are NOT acceptable at the workplace at all.
The ability to get in touch and stay in touch is probably the greatest skill required of a PR associate. If you are bad at remembering names, saving telephone numbers and writing e-mails, look elsewhere.
Celebrity PR is the one who manages the media and public image of high profile actors, sportsperson, musician. They are the one who handles all the media controversies of the celebrity.
Flexibility is an absolute prerequisite. You should be able to adapt to anything. Fresh graduates from any discipline can make a career as PR associates. PR is a mass media field and is best learnt on the job. There are many courses available that impart formal training and prepare you for a career in PR. However, there’s only so much that a PR course can teach you. Like journalism, most of the tricks of this trade are learnt on the job and through interactions with people.
The recent mass media boom has resulted in several colleges introducing courses in public relations under the collective Bachelor in Mass Media umbrella. This three year degree, recognised by major universities in India, is offered by many graduate colleges. If you missed the bus earlier, you needn’t fret just because you opted to graduate in another discipline. Various diploma courses are available to teach you the basics of a public relations job.
Most colleges offering PR courses put their students on an internship with PR companies or consultancies for anything between two months to six months. The cost involved for a course? It varies between Rs 8,000 per year for a three-year BMM degree to around Rs 12,000 to 15,000 for a year-long diploma.
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