Dear PR students,

Please accept this letter of advice from someone who was in your shoes just a few short years ago.

As I have discussed in previous blog posts, PR is not all about glamorous event planning or mingling with celebrities, PR is a lot of hard work.

It’s better to get to know the industry now, while you are a student and can still change your mind about your career goals. “Changing your major” is a lot more difficult once you are in the real world.

One thing that seems to intimidate many students and young professionals is the cold call. Picking up the phone to pitch a reporter is particularly daunting to Millenials, especially those born in the late 80s and early 90s.

This demographic of young adults 25 and younger, including myself, has grown up with the ability to communicate non-verbally using email, instant messaging programs and later texting and social networks. The idea of actually talking to a stranger on the phone is foreign to most of us. Yet many public relations programs seem to gloss over pitching, assuming that students will get practical experience at an internship or their first job.

I was glad to hear that Samra Bukins at University of North Texas is not glossing over the art of pitching. She is requiring her undergraduate students to contact actual reporters to pitch a difficult story. This experience is valuable, and I wish that I would have had a similar opportunity.

If the idea of talking to a stranger on a telephone causes you to hyperventilate, then perhaps you need to seek out more opportunities to develop your people skills. Or perhaps public relations isn’t the right field for you. More than anything else PR is about relationships, and you have to be able to build relationships through a variety of channels, not just social media.

My advice is to start getting real world experience as soon as possible. Write for the school newspaper, seek out internship opportunities or identify entry-level jobs that will help you overcome your social anxieties.

My freshman year of college I wrote for my school’s newspaper as a sports reporter. I am one of the least athletic people that you’ll ever meet, but interviewing 6’5”, 250-pound linebackers was a great learning experience. Later, I went on to work for my university’s Office of Media Relations, which led me to the contacts that helped me secure my first post-college job.

Building your portfolio and developing your skills is essential. PR is not a career choice that lends itself to shy individuals. So, get out there and be bold!

Best wishes,
Alyssa Yancey