How I Got Into Public Relations

I was recently asked how I got into public relations (PR). The story behind it is not the usual story of finding a career. Growing up I always loved sports. I played sports, I watched sports and I talked non-stop about sports.

When I got to a certain age and realized I was never going to play in the NBA, I decided I wanted to still be involved in sports. It didn’t take long to decide that sports broadcasting was the path I wanted to pursue.  My sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Richins thought that made sense since she could never get me to shut up.

As I graduated high school the yearbook staff passed along the typical notes asking seniors what they wanted to be and where they thought they’d be in 10 years. I boldly replied that I would be broadcasting NBA and NFL football games for NBC Sports. This was before ESPN became the powerhouse that is now.

As I entered college, I rushed as fast as I could through the pre-requisite classes so I could get to the communications and broadcast classes. During my senior year I did an internship at a local all-sports radio station. I did interviews with coaches and players and even had the chance to be on a weekend sports show covering high school basketball. I was on air and was making my first demo tape.

My goal was to hook up with an NBA team, spend the season with them and then when that ended work with an NFL team or MLB team until the next basketball season started. I was committed to that goal until I met and started dating a girl. This wasn’t any girl, she was and is amazing. As we dated and got more serious, my dream of being on the road with sports teams started fading.

When it became obvious that we were going to get married, I knew I wanted to be with her more than I wanted to be on the road and that I needed to change my career plans.  I had a couple friends that were studying PR and the way they described it sounded cool. I started looking into PR and found that I could still get my Broadcast Journalism degree and get a job in PR.

As I was finishing my degree, I got an internship with a local PR agency. During the first week on the internship, one of the guys I reported to asked me to write a press release. I said no problem. As he left my desk he added, “And don’t forget to include the boilerplate.”

Suddenly there was a problem. I had no idea what a boilerplate was. I had never heard the word before in my life. Google didn’t exist at the time so I couldn’t look it up there. I decided that this wasn’t really a problem. I could figure it out.

I wrote the press release and as I finished it, I turned to the other intern and started a conversation. Without her knowing that I didn’t know what a boilerplate was, I tricked her into explaining what one was. With this new knowledge, I found the appropriate boilerplate and quickly added it to the press release before submitting it for my boss’s review.

I was quite proud of my ingenuity and creative way of finding out what a boilerplate was.

I enjoyed the internship and learned a lot. I especially liked that ability to be creative and to write.  I finished this internship about the same time as I graduated and began applying for jobs with every local PR agency I could find.  I simply grabbed the yellow pages and began calling every PR agency to find out who I could send my resume to. I kept detailed notes, especially of the names I was given.

A few weeks after mailing my resume out to every agency, I got a call from one of them. The man on the other end of the line said the name of the agency so quickly that I wasn’t sure which one it was. I did catch his name though. We set up an interview for the next day and as I told my wife about it she asked which agency. I told her I didn’t know which agency but that I did manage to catch the guy’s name. When I got home that night I looked at my notes and was easily able to identify the agency.

I got the job and have been in PR ever since. I’ve had incredible experiences and worked with some amazing companies and individuals. People ask me about school and specific classes. I’m always honest when I tell them that I never took a PR class in my life. It wasn’t the most traditional route, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve never been a real book study guy. I’ve always done better just jumping in and learning through experience.  My PR education worked for me and played to my strength.

I’ve never been afraid to try new things and learn new things. I’ve always believed that I can learn and be successful by being curious and having a good work ethic. My parents taught m early on to be the solution and instilled in me the belief that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to. For me, PR was no different. It sounded interesting and I went for it. The rest as they say, is history.

My Most Memorable Job Interviews

Here’s my third installment of blog entries based on the current book I’m reading. This blog is supposed to focus on my worst or most embarrassing job interview I ever had. I haven’t had a lot of embarrassing job interviews but there have been some memorable ones so I’ll focus on those for this entry.

You can see my first entry on my ideal job by clicking here or my second blog entry on value I’ve added at work during my career here.

The one embarrassing interview I can recall happened when I was still in college. I’m not sure how I found out about the opportunity, but I remember getting the call to come in for an interview. When I arrived, it turned out to be a “group” interview. Without giving too much information, the guy conducting the interview gave an impassioned speech about the company and the opportunity and got the entire group fired up and excited.

He said the next phase was one-on-one interviews. He cautioned that not all of us would be selected for one of these one-on-ones, only the elite. When my name was called for an interview I was pleased. I went in and was interviewed. I was still unsure what the position and opportunity was but was excited that I was still in the running.

It wasn’t until the end of the interview that I found out it was to sale “high-end knives and cutlery.” As he explained the opportunity in further detail it was apparent what it was, a crappy sales job where you hit up friends and family to listen to your pitch for an hour. You get paid even if they don’t purchase, but since nobody could pass these knives up, sales come easy and you make a ton of money.

I lost interest real quick, but the guy was persistent and wasn’t going to just let me walk away. He had spent a good hour “interviewing” me and didn’t want to lose me. I remember finally giving in just so I could leave and go home.

Once home, I resolved to call him and tell him I had a change of heart and wasn’t going to accept the offer. He was clearly disappointed. I was relieved.

It was a quick lesson and reminder to ask better, more detailed questions about the opportunity when called for an interview. Most times I’ve known or had a pretty clear idea what the position is. In cases where it’s vague and questions are not encouraged I am now very hesitant and will immediately pass on opportunities that have even the faintest hint of this knife selling opportunity.

Several years later after I was married and had kids, a friend invited me to an “event” with some work colleagues. He was vague on the details but since he was a trusted friend I wasn’t too worried. Turns out I let my guard down because it was a friend and found myself stuck in another similar situation. I forget what this sales opportunity was, but I knew within seconds of walking in what it was. My friend had driven so I was stuck.

I had made up my mind after the first instance that I would never go through another similar experience again. While I had to wait for the meeting to end, I didn’t have to sit through the entire pitch. Much to my friends chagrin, I made it very clear right at the start that I was not interested. I wasn’t rude, but I was firm. The guy hosting the event was disappointed in my friend for bringing him such a bad lead, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to get caught up in another long, drawn out, high pressure sales pitch for something I had no interest in. I removed myself and waited in the lobby for the meeting to end.

After the meeting ended, I was polite to my friend but told him in no uncertain terms to never pull that crap again on me. We remained friends and to his credit, he never brought it up again.

I’ve also had the opportunity to participate in a number of interviews. I’ve found these instances to be highly entertaining.

As a PR professional, I do a lot of writing. Most PR people do. In one memorable interview experience, I was interviewing a recent PR graduate. We talked about what she liked and didn’t like about PR. Her dislike was one that caught me completely off guard. She said she didn’t like to write. Not only did she not like to write, she hated it.

I remember looking at her and thinking, “Did she just say that out loud?” Needless to say, she didn’t get the job.

In another instance, while interviewing another recent PR graduate, I asked if he had some writing samples. This is a very common question in the PR field. He indicated that while he didn’t have any press release samples, he did have a recent sermon he wrote and gave to his church congregation that he was proud of and was happy to share with me. Not exactly what I was hoping for or expecting, but I agreed to look at it, mainly out of curiosity.

It was a fine sermon, but didn’t provide the insight into his professional writing skills.

During another interview, I asked the candidate what his career aspirations were. Without hesitation, he looked me dead in the eye and told me he wanted my job. He felt confident that within a year he would replace me. Not advance to my level, but replace me. The interview ended pretty quickly. While I admired his confidence, it was a weird way to express it.

One of the most important things I’ve learned from interviewing for jobs and interviewing potential candidates is that both parties are interviewing each other. If I’m unimpressed with a company I’m interviewing with or don’t like their culture, I’m probably not going to accept the job if they offer it to me. The job and the candidate have to be good fits from both sides. If they’re not, it’s probably not going to work out long-term.

The other important thing I’ve learned is that most people blow an interview with the first question. Most don’t even realize or understand that the interview has started. I had a friend that was a career counselor point this out to me years ago. I was skeptical at first so demonstrated the point and I’ve been a believer ever since.

She said that more than 70 percent of candidates can’t answer the first question and are out of the running at that point. The first question is usually, “Tell me about yourself.” It doesn’t sound like a question and most people think it’s just small talk, but the majority of people can’t answer that or tell somebody about themselves.

The response usually begins something like, “Well, my name is … I’m from Utah and, and uh, I went to this college. Uh, Um, I’ve been doing PR for about XX amount of years and um …” Not a very good first impression.

What should happen is a brief description of your background, expertise, interest in the position, goals for the future and an explanation of how your experience can contribute to and solve the company’s pain points as well as contribute to the company’s ongoing success.

I’ve found that interviewing for a new job is a great opportunity. Preparation is vital and can make a huge difference. I’ve found them to be an enjoyable way to find out if an opportunity is something that I’m truly interested in and if I feel I can contribute to and add the company’s immediate and long-term success. While I’ve had a few that didn’t go as planned, I feel like I’ve learned from each one and become a stronger interviewer and more capable of expressing the value I add as a result.