PR grads, who are now flooding the job market, need current info on what jobs are where. Many jobs will be in PR firms. Some grads can set up in their own homes.

There's lots of good advice in the archives of odwyerpr.com

Jim WeissJim Weiss, CEO of W2O Group

Jim Weiss, CEO of W2O Group, which had $122.7 million in revenues in healthcare, tech and consumer product accounts in 2016, told 200 students at San Jose State University Nov. 5, 2013 that his firm is looking for grads that have passion, computer and social skills and who “play to win vs. playing not to lose.”

He wants recruits “who are ready to step on some toes, tick some people off.” Ability to work fast is a requisite at his firm.

Successful applicants will have developed a “positive personal brand.” A “service-oriented” personality is much desired, he said.

“Real world experience” is preferred and especially experience as an entrepreneur.

Traditional skills such as writing ability are still at the top of the list of desired qualities, he said.

Weiss, who gave the keynote address that was followed by a panel discussion conducted by four counselor executives, said rapidly developing new ways of getting and transferring information are stealing the thunder of traditional media.

Most of what we now learn comes through friends and our own expanding networks rather than mainstream media, he said, such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook and video.

Survey show that 65% of people say they are visual learners, he said. “Visual trumps copy” was one of the lines in a slide show that Weiss presented.

“Knock on Doors,” says Genova

Jane Genova, veteran writer, PR pro and host of a website, says fledgling PR careerists should “knock on doors” of local businesses, offering help with publicity and doing some small tasks as a way of earning their trust, she says. She has done this herself at times when there is a slowdown in PR.

Ben Sonnenberg, a New York PR pro whose success in PR allowed him to fill a 12-story townhouse with art treasures, tried to find out what was in the “heart of hearts” of clients and then he would work on that. Sometimes it was not a business problem but a personal one such as enrolling a child in a desirable college.

PR employers tell us that what they look for in PR grads is how many PR internships they have served. This is even more important than what the grad majored in, they say.

CPRF Seeks Top Students

Also speaking on the San Jose program was Kathy Cripps, then president of the Council of PR Firms, which was staging a series of career forums at colleges.

She conceded that snaring a job right out of college can be tough but said those who are good writers and understand how to help clients solve problems will have the best chances.

Phil RyanPrize-winning student Ashley Mason, who took Phil Ryan's Introduction to PR course at City College of New York, with Rich Chernela, PR pro who judged the contest.

Serving in internships is “incredibly important” as well as “making as many connections as you can,” she said. “Keep in touch with people. This is a shortfall of many students. They’ll meet someone but they won’t keep in touch with them.”

The career series got its start when a CPRF survey found that “young people really don’t know what PR was or what it was like to work at a PR firm.”

“You have to be clever and have an entrepreneurial spirit and take control of your career. Talk to a lot of people. Each agency has a different culture and speakers love to talk about their agencies,” said Cripps.

Tools Needed Include O’Dwyer Products

Newcomers to the PR job market need all the source tools they can get their hands on including the databases compiled by the PR trade press.

Veteran PR pro Phil Ryan, who teaches an introduction to PR course at City College of New York, raffles off copies of the May ranking issue of O’Dwyer’s magazine as first prize in a student contest. He says the students regard the issue, which has the main, geographical and specialty practices indexes to the 120+ PR firms in the rankings, as “like gold for the undergrads.” It also has profiles of many PR practices.

Winner of the award in 2016 was CCNY PR student Ashley Mason.

Executives and staffers of many local PR firms and corporations have addressed the Ryan class.