Learn New Skills to Boost Your Resume

The summer is a time to distress from a hectic school year, take a break from classes and be able to work or intern without having to balance classes, meetings and homework. It is also a great time to learn some new skills and build your resume.

Whether you are a public relations, mass communication, advertising, marketing or similar major, there are countless internship and job opportunities available. With so many young professionals applying for these positions, knowing how to use various programs and software helps diversify your portfolio and supplements your past experiences on your resume.

There is a wide variety of skills and programs such as coding, Final Cut Pro, the Adobe Creative Suite, Google Analytics and others that are helpful in future job opportunities. The job description may not ask for someone with these skills but you can introduce them into your workplace if appropriate and find new ways to complete tasks. Knowledge of some programs also can be used when you are asked to use a brand new program or system because you will be able to see some similarities and work though any issues easier.

Cision is another skill that public relations professionals frequently use. It is a website that serves as a database of journalists and their contact information. Professionals use it to build media lists when they want to send out a press release or media alert. To learn more about it, watch a tutorial here.

To find some programs that interest you, watch tutorials on websites like YouTube or Lynda. The tutorials will take you step by step and allow you to learn at your own pace. Some universities, like Temple University, offer free memberships to Lynda, so check before buying a membership.

If you would rather spend your summer days by the pool or at the beach, you can take supplemental classes during the school year to learn these skills. Last spring semester, I took a digital design class where I became proficient in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Design. I added these three programs to my resume and hope to apply my skills in an upcoming job opportunity.

Regardless of your major, never stop learning and discovering new skills to stand out and get your dream job.

What programs are you looking forward to learning? 

This blog post was written by PRowl Secretary Shaun Luberski.

The Art of Storytelling: Why It Isn't Just for Authors

“You need to be able to write.” “As a PR pro, you’ll still need math!” “Networking is essential in public relations.” These are phrases we continually hear as communications students. But one sentence I have heard much less frequently is, “you need to be able to tell a story.” When you strip away all the elements of PR like the press releases, the analytics and the networking, it is essentially about communicating someone’s story to the world. So why is it that the ability to storytell is such an essential skill to have?

“PR is all about looking for the story that will bring a brand’s message to life.” –Luke Mackay, Edelman

• Stories make people feel. Creating a positive emotion that the public links to your client or brand is key when building a reputation. Generating a story consumers identify with can also create strong brand loyalty. This is something no amount of advertising or research will gain for you.
• It enhances facts. Facts alone can be uninteresting and boring but when they’re worked into a story, your audience becomes more attentive. They are also more likely to retain information when it is woven into a plot.
• They inspire conversation.  A compelling story with a strong message gets people talking about your client or brand. Audiences can tell when it’s authentic and will respond accordingly- either with positive or negative feedback.

Storytelling requires a few elements to be truly effective in the same way as classic storytelling. There needs to be a plot with development, conflict and resolution. They also require a hero or heroine the audience can identify with on some level. And finally, great storytelling requires a compelling tale to draw audiences in.

There is one important point to keep in mind when using storytelling to communicate about your client- don’t let the story become bigger than the message itself. Use the story as a vehicle to clearly convey your message to your target audience.

Skills: ????

You've mastered your resume. All of your internships, jobs, and volunteer-work are perfectly formatted and described. You even designed a brand new header for yourself! But there's still one little section at the bottom that you just can't seem to figure out: skills. You certainly have skills, but what is best to put down when looking for a job in PR/Marketing/Communications? Check out some of the skills we think are best to put you at an advantage during your next interview:

Social Media - As young adults in today's society, it seems so mundane to actually know your way around Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But you cannot forget to mention that you do! As someone looking to work in the Communications field, it's very possible that social media will be a part of the job description. Outside of all of the social networks that you use personally, consider getting yourself familiar with a few more, like Wordpress, Pinterest, and Hootsuite.

( Source:Design Razzi )

Graphics - Though it may not be mandatory for PR Executive jobs, knowing how to use Photoshop, Adobe, or InDesign will help you stand out next to other candidates for the job. Chances are you will need to plan an initiative or promotional materials, and instead of outsourcing, you will be able to take the reigns on the project yourself. Having these graphics skills will make creating content for fliers, pamphlets, or invitations easier and just the way you imagine them for the client's needs.

Production - Just as design allows you to handle the creative side of your initiative, knowing minor production techniques will allow you work on additional types of projects. Learning about video and audio recording and editing is beneficial so that you can use these outlets to promote your client or organization. Job postings in certain industries, like entertainment, may even specify that these skills are preferred in the applicant.

Presentation - As an intern, you may be given the opportunity to sit in on business calls and client meetings, so presentation skills are always a plus. If you had to pass a public speaking course to receive your degree, make note & put down public speaking as a skill. Additionally, PowerPoint and Prezi are both presentation tools that you should be sure to mention your experience with to a future employer.

( Source: Location 180 )

What Being a Waitress Taught Me About PR

We all had those jobs in high school that funded our impromptu frozen yogurt runs with friends or paid for our car inspections and insurance.

However, along with helping us develop important soft skills that we will be using in the professional world for the rest of our lives, these jobs can often teach you things about the career field you hope to pursue.

This was the case for me.

 In high school, I waited on tables at a local pizzeria, and from that experience, I was able to learn a lot of things about public relations and marketing before I even stepped foot onto a college campus or took my first public relations class.

One of the key things that I learned about PR from my experience at the restaurant was the importance of branding. Being that there were many pizza places offering the same type of products in our area, our little food joint had to stand out from the rest.

With our homemade dough and family-friendly atmosphere, we were able to market our business towards a family-oriented community, which only led to more business and recognition.

The restaurant business also gave me an important introduction to PR campaigns and methods for enticing new customers to try a product.

From coupons on football weekends to strategically sending out menus once every three months to sub-areas of our town, we were able to pull in new business and reach areas of the community that we had not been able reach previously.

Also, working at a restaurant and taking care of customers gave me a crash course in professionalism and customer service.

It was important to keep a friendly, polite demeanor while working the counter and the dining room, and it was also important to know how to diffuse a red-hot situation when there was a mistake in an order.

The service industry taught me valuable lessons about PR, and I didn’t know it until I learned about these practices in our student-run firm and my classes!

Did you have a job in the service industry that taught you valuable lessons about your career field? If so, please tell us about it in the comments below!

Got Professionalism?

We all write emails, sometimes multiple times a day, but how much effort is put into the emails we write? Even the simplest emails should be given the utmost time and attention. It is important to always appear professional and take the time to construct every email you write. If you follow these simple tips, you will never think about writing an unprofessional email again. 

1. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point: People are normally busy and don’t have much time to spare reading a long email. 
2. Be polite: Don’t be rude when it comes to asking people for things. Remember to say, “Please” and “Thank you” throughout the email.
3. Take a breather: Never write an email while you are upset. Aggression is easy to pick up on in an email and people don’t want to feel you are yelling at them. Write your thoughts down first and then edit to make them sound pleasant. 
4. Hold the creativity: Some people like to use colorful fonts or big print. Don’t! Standard, black font is the most professional. It is classic and people find it easier to read. 
5. Proofread, proofread, proofread: Never send an email without reading it first. Do not just rely on spell check; read it yourself and read it slowly. There is nothing more embarrassing than someone reading an email and correcting a spelling or grammar mistake.

Emails are a part of our everyday communication. Careful attention must be put into every one. Mistakes in an email are the fastest way to disrupt a relationship with people. Take your time and read through every email before you hit the send button because once you hit send, it’s out there and cannot be retrieved. 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Alie Curran. 

Be More Than a GPA

Upon entering college, students are told from day one not to get distracted from the original goal: go get good grades and land a great job. It is usually assumed that the highest GPA will land the highest paying and most satisfying job. While grades will play a huge role in your academic and post graduate life, GPA is not the end all be all.

PR Daily mentions in their article that grades are a huge factor in school performance but not so much professionally.

Taking your academics seriously is an extremely important aspect of college life, but it is important to find the balance of other things that will help you professionally and socially. Here are some other things to keep in mind during college besides your GPA:

1. Know how to learn- You will find during internships and jobs that employers don't always need the expert, just someone who has a strong willingness to learn! The ability to learn beyond the classroom is essential to your life post-grad. You may be the young social media savvy student teaching older professionals at you internship the essentials of Twitter, but you must also be able to learn from them.

2. Time management- Being in the right place at the right time is key to professional development. Knowing how to complete tasks in a timely fashion is usually a non-negotiable skill in the job and internship markets.

3. Giving and receiving feedback- This means more than commenting that you 'like' something. Give constructive feedback that indicates why you like or dislike something. What makes it effective, or how could is be made better?

4. Build your network- Spending all your time in the library is not an effective tool for networking. Networking not only allows you to make connections and build contacts, it also forces you to get used to face to face interactions. This is essential for interviews and professional settings.

While your GPA may look nice on paper, not having the proper skills to back it up will never get you past that. It is most important that you have the skill sets to back up your GPA, and prove that you are more than a number!