Useful Sites

I've been speaking to a number of PR graduates recently, many who are in the same situation as me. So, I thought I'd share some of the websites I've found useful for various different reasons.
Since the job hunt is now a very time consuming process, most people need some way of earning money while they search. One of the best resources I've found for this is student gems. They can be found at their website, as well as on Twitter. They offer freelance and part time work for students and graduates, but all on things that are related to their degree subject. For example, I've been doing some freelance writing work for an SEO Marketing company. This has included articles, press releases and advertorials. Not only has this given me some much needed income, it's also given me the chance to enhance my portfolio of work, which will stand me in good stead for finding future employment. But alongside this they have various PR opportunities, as well as many other subject areas, and all jobs listed are paid positions.
It's well worth checking out if you need some extra experience, or just some extra cash.

The value of meeting the right people

I have good reason for my lack of updates so far this week, as I've been kept busy by a new internship at an event company here in Newcastle. Although I've only just started I'm having such a good time. Working in the all-girl office is such fun, and the company have some really good clients who all have very different kinds of events coming up. The two company directors are really letting me get involved, handing all the marketing and PR efforts over to me. It's a huge amount of responsibility, but so valuable. Plus I'm being allowed enough free time to keep up with my freelance writing work. I know people who have done nothing but make tea, or hand out leaflets during work placements in marketing or PR, so I feel incredibly lucky to be working with such a great company.
If anyone in the North East is looking for a creative event company to help them with ideas generation or event management, check out Sailor Girl Ltd at www.sailorgirlltd.com

Experience

Perhaps one of the most useful things I've learnt since I began my job hunt is the value of relevant experience. With more people than ever going to university, a degree just isn't enough anymore. You need to have something extra to distinguish yourself from the crowd of graduates flooding the job market. Plus, there are very, very few employers who would be willing to take on a graduate with no experience, no matter how good their degree is.
It can be hard to complete unpaid internships, which is why it's best to do so while your studying. While you have the relative security of a student loan, it's a good idea to spend a couple of days a week gaining some practical experience, which will serve you well in the long run. The more experience you have the better chance you'll be able to find a great job when you finish. Although I have quite a lot of work experience which I completed during my degree, I have been attempting to enhance this further still while I'm looking for a job. So, I've been doing some freelance writing for an SEO marketing company. I have Twitter to thank again for this position. As I previously mentioned I've also been working at a conference this week, which has lead to an internship with the events company behind it.
My advice to any current students would be to gain as much experience as you can, from different places relating to your chosen field, while you're completing your degree. It's pretty easy to dedicate two days a week to a placement, and it will prove incredibly useful when you leave university and begin looking for a job.

Part Timers

Wow, what a busy week! I've been working for Sailor Girl Ltd, and events company here in Newcastle, at the ICADI conference at the SAGE in Gateshead. It's been a really useful few days, hard work but definitely good. 7am starts to be at the SAGE for delegates arriving. There's been a huge amount of work gone into this conference, and it's been really interesting to see it all come together for such a large event. It's also the first time this conference, about aging and disability, has been held outside of the USA. It's usually held in Florida, a little different to the climate in Gateshead, but the weather's given us a good couple of days!
I've really enjoyed gaining a little more events experience, and it just further proves the power of Twitter since that's how I got the job! Plus, it's lead to an internship with the events company, so I really can't stress enough just how useful Twitter's been in my networking and job search. Even if you can't find anything permanent, Twitter's a great place to find internships or temp work. All this experience will only make your CV better and better, which will lead to a better job in the long run.

Location, Location, Location

Looking through job sites is a very time consuming task, and even when you do find those elusive PR jobs, they're inevitably in London. The North East? Usually nothing. So where are the PR jobs in Newcastle?
I know there's PR firms because I've done the leg work. Google throws up a huge list of PR, marketing and events agencies based in Newcastle, some large some small, but they are there. So why aren't there any jobs up here, when there's hundreds in London?
I suspect the blame can still be placed at the door of that unwelcome guest, the financial recession. With companies across various industries cutting down on their PR and marketing activities to save money, PR firms are in an uncertain situation. This doesn't exactly free up funds to hire graduates.
However, an article I read online written by a recruitment specialist for the PR industry, suggested that the number of PR jobs is rising, with a 50% increase in jobs since this time last year. So this years graduates are in a better position than last years. Lets just hope the situation continues to improve across the country before next years graduates join the hunt.

Is Preparation Everything?

I've just finished a three year PR and communications degree, as most people know. Now over those three years I completed many modules on different subjects which the university thought I was likely to encounter in the work place. However, what the course didn't cover was how to get a job. It sounds really obvious, but not once did we receive any kind of instruction or coaching about how to get that initial foothold in the industry. We had classes about writing a CV, cover letter and basic interview techniques, but never anything about how and where to look for jobs, how to promote yourself, how to enhance your CV for PR, nothing. And as I've mentioned before, it is incredibly difficult to find PR vacancies on job sites or in newspapers.
Now I'm not sure if this was just my experience, or whether other universities include this in their PR courses, but I think it's definitely something which should be included in the syllabus. Just a couple of classes to help students on their way would be really useful in my opinion. Let students know what PR agencies are looking for on CV's, what you can do to improve your skills, where and how to look for jobs, and how to make yourself stand out from the huge crowd of graduates all looking for that elusive first job.

How Long Is Too Long?

I've been applying for lots of jobs recently and I've filled in a number of application forms, which has got me thinking, how long is too long for an application form? I've filled in some which were only three or four pages, and some which are as many as ten pages long. Now this is hugely time consuming, not to mention that the vast majority of the information simply involves you repeating what's on your CV. One form I've filled in had seven pages of questions, many of which required a full page of writing. This took ages to fill in.
Now I'm not saying that application forms should be scrapped, but I don't think they need to be pages and pages long. I spent hours working on my CV to get it up to scratch, so it's very annoying for employers to refuse to even look at it, to insist that I rewrite the entire thing on a different piece of paper. Alongside relevant questions about your suitablility for the role, they should also look at your CV, to get a clear picture of what people's skills are and the experience they have.

Interviews

I have been thinking alot recently about interviews and the things employers often ask candidates to do. Now, I fully appreciate that a potencial employer needs to find out about your skills, and whether or not you are capable of taking on the job in question. However, in my personal experience I think employers often take this a little too far.
I recently attended an interview, and had the usual chat about my skills and past experience. I had taken my portfolio of work with me which the interviewer looked through. I was told, at the end of the interview, that I would be informed the following week whether or not I had been successful. But the next week, I was informed that I would be required for a second interview and would have to produce a written report and a ten minute presentation. Now that's quite a lot of work, especially when it wasn't expected in the first place.
Now as I mentioned before I do appreciate that employers want to be sure they're finding the right person for their position. But I think that some take advantage of the large number of graduates looking for employment. If a candidate has taken the trouble to put together a portfolio of their work for you to look through, is it really necessary to ask them to complete multiple pieces of work in their own time, many of which will simply be new versions of work already in their portfolio?