FPRA Annual Conference: How Does This Apply to You?
The first speaker, Kirk Stewart, Executive VP and Corporate Communications Leader of PACO Worldwide, gave an amazing PowerPoint on “Responsibilities of 21st Century Organizations” this morning. He previously served as VP of Corporate Communications at NIKE and used this experience to influence his presentation.
While I listened to this lesson of 14 guidelines companies should follow, I thought to myself, these are important rules that we as students should follow when sharpening our PR tools and growing into professionals.
These are his exact bullets with my adaptation of how it applies to us. (I only used the ones I thought were relevant.)
Responsibilities of the 21st Century Student
1. Know Who You Are: Do you know what makes your different? What is your personal mission statement? Define your goals and interests.
2. Live Your Values: Are you using your values to drive your actions? In everything you do, are you putting on a display of your morals and standards? Define the principles you believe in.
3. Take Responsibility: Do you take responsibility for your actions? Have you taken it upon yourself to be committed to absorbing all the PR information and skills you can? Make a list of goals for your career development and take responsibility to fulfill them.
4. Substance First: What consists of your personality and experience? Is it something that would impress those around you and your potential managers? Describe the attributes that you consist of; work on the ones that are weak and hone the ones that are strong.
5. Be Accountable: Do your personal tactics lie upon a foundation of trustworthiness and dependableness? The PR major can be cunningly competitive; use your creativity and talent to become a step above the rest, in an ethical manor.
6. Engage and Collaborate: Are you involved in the community you are searching for a job in? Paid experience can be great, but volunteering for to do PR for a community event can be challenging, extremely rewarding and impressive to a future employee. Show some initiative; volunteer to lead a PR effort for a community organization.
7. Be Transparent: Are you honest and open? What is your credibility rating? Make sure that in interviews for potential jobs you always tell the truth. Even if your resume isn’t up to your standards, use details and creativity to describe what you have done; don’t make promises you can’t deliver by lying.
8. Define, Don’t Defend: Have you put your foot down to keep from swaying with popular opinion? Have you established your role in your workplace as a leader? Define yourself or others will do it for you.
9. Be Consistent: Your dependable, responsible, caring; would your friends describe you the same way? In everything you do, do you strive to advertise your confidence and valuable qualities? Letting go with your friends is one thing, but your core values should always stay consistent.
10. Monitor and Anticipate: Are you studying the industry and trends by reading books or networking with the PR greats? Are you ready for the real world and what it has to offer you? Make a list of topics you want to learn more about.
11. Take Nothing for Granted: Are you utilizing every opportunity out there that could make you a better PR practitioner? Are you grateful to those who have influenced you and taught you valuable PR strategies? Write thank you notes to professors, co-workers, managers, family and friends that have supported you and taught you all you know.
