One of the most fundamental points of my life came when I was applying to be the creative producer for my college’s student-led award show. I created a pitch deck, explained my background in production, and shared my experience as a leader. The woman interviewing me, while impressed with the work I had done to prepare, asked me a question I would never forget: “As a public relations major, what are you doing here?”
Going to film school as a public relations major felt like living a double life. During the day, I was handling case studies, managing simulated crises, and understanding international politics. On the weekends, I was leading teams of classmates to create short films and commercials. Growing up, I had always taken to different forms of writing: creative, poetry, journalism, and speeches. So tapping into different pools had always come naturally to me. It wasn’t until that conversation that I realized that not everyone saw public relations as multifaceted as I did. Now working at an agency as an associate, I find that every day I have to be more than a publicist.
Ironically, it only made me want to work hard to prove that communicators can jump into any field. The following tips will be helpful for public relations professionals seeking to not box themselves in as well as learn how to utilize the entire communications umbrella:
While writing a press release looks different from writing a pitch or even a script, the fundamentals are still the same. Generally, all writing takes on the same grammar and structure rules with a few variations. Being able to understand that journalism is another form of storytelling made it easier to get into writing short stories. The research skills I had then transferred over to writing persuasive speeches. Writing persuasively makes my pitches more interesting for my clients. My background in storytelling helps me relate to my clients better because I work with authors. It all circles back into each other.
If you’re feeling stuck with an unfamiliar assignment or job, think about how to make it fit your already established skill-set. Never written social media captions before? Try thinking about them like a creative subject line instead.
After I graduated, I connected with a lot of PR professionals, and it was reassuring to hear their stories. They would talk about stumbling upon PR after working in journalism, marketing, law, or something entirely unrelated altogether. I would ask them how they felt assured in themselves enough to take the leap of faith, and they all had the same consensus: that it wasn’t much of a leap!
What I love most about the communications field is how transferable all of the skills are. Speaking with women who had asked themselves the same questions I was asking them made me feel a lot better about knowing that at any point I could start over and try something new. I highly recommend messaging people (professionally, of course) on LinkedIn and attending networking events that feel authentic.
Working as a new grad, there is still so much that I am learning, and oftentimes, I find that even though I’ve worked on numerous case studies, projects, and teams, nothing is ever the same as working with actual clients. When I don’t feel super confident, I tap into my journalism skills. When I don’t feel confident in those, I tap into my creative writing skills. Whenever I feel like I am putting myself in a box, I remind myself of the conversation with the hiring manager.
Being multifaceted in the communications world has led me to be able to talk to anyone about anything and opened the door for so many opportunities. One of the big factors in securing my job offer was my background in creative writing and my aspirations to become an author one day. For me, combating imposter syndrome starts with reminding myself that even if the environment is new, I have a base set of skills that I can work off. I also highly encourage practicing self-grace and taking time to enjoy the learning experience.
While I wouldn’t say I’m a master at every style of communication, I feel confident in my ability to explore all of them. I work in public relations now, but I would love to take the skills I’ve learned in coming up with different pitch angles and transfer them to creating full campaigns as a creative director. I work with clients in the book world, but I know that because I’ve worked with clients in other sectors in the past, someday I can explore other interesting industries, such as political communications.
The questions shouldn’t be “What are you doing here?” but instead “What do you bring?”
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Meet Stephanie
Stephanie Wallace holds a Bachelors Degree in public relations with a focus in politics and government. She has done communications for entertainment, law, health, technology, non profit, and fashion. Currently she works with numerous authors as a publicist at FINN Partners. In her free time, she is exploring screenwriting and working on her directorial debut for a TV pilot.
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