In the UK, PR degrees are becoming more and more common as agencies realise the potential of a student who knows the ins and outs of the industry from just studying it. After looking at UCAS (the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service), there are 37 institutions (including London Met, Leeds Met, and University of Central Lancashire) with the degree title Public Relations offering 274 different PR courses (including Sports PR; Business, Innovation and Public Relations; Public Relations with Dance). This wide range of service at a wide range of established universities means that students are taking up this relatively young course.
I'm perhaps not the most relevant speaker on this topic but Public Relations degrees will equip the student with the skills that a typical practitioner will need for their job in the working world. After reading various blogs of students who study PR (prgirl, prblogger and From PR to eternity some of the most useful)and various course prospectus', their course typically entails campaign planning, effective writing for the media and pitching. They develop a portfolio and some courses even require creating and maintaining a blog.
However, does a PR degree really appeal to a PR agency? If a top 20 consultancy picked up two CVs with similar experience, grades and interests with one having a PR degree from University of Teeside and the other a English Literature degree from Cambridge which candidate is the company likely to choose? I'm not trying to look down upon the degree or the institutes which offer this degree, I just think that an MD is almost always more likely to see the more established University over the actual degree and employ the latter candidate than the PR degree student.
If the skills of the PR course are setting up the student for a life in PR, why would the latter student always get the job then? Well, as well as the PR course equipping the student with relevant skills, other degrees give other students different but equally important skills. A language degree is likely to favour a student wanting to get into an agency with international clients, a politics degree likely to favour a student wanting to get into a agency which specialises in political pr, and a English literature student will give the student writing skills which will rival the 'effective media writing' skills that a PR student might learn.
Of course, this is very assuming of me, as I'm not a MD looking to employ a graduate but a student looking to get into PR after I graduate. I'm a language and linguistics student so obviously have that slight biased approach but I believe that a traditional subject from a top 20 university is a better course for a student looking to get into PR after they graduate. Although the PR degree will give students skills that will be directly relevant to their future career, an agency isn't only looking to the course skills that the student has learnt. Instead it is those skills and other factors which will make agency employ a student.
And of course, that's Steven Gerrard receiving his degree from LJMU in the picture, not me receiving mine. Steven wishes...
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4 comments:
Is it the best way to get into PR?
All things being equal, the fact that someone has a PR degree would make no difference either way to me. It's the usual factors of the person, experience, fit and so on.
We do take people from PR degrees, and actually have just done so. But it's someone who spent her third year of Uni with us and we knew we wanted her back.
I guess that's the single biggest advantage a PR degree can bring - that year out you have, working in a PR department or consultancy, which can sometimes lead to a job back in the same place post graduation.
My opinion: It doesn't matter.
I studied a PR degree at the University of Sunderland (hardly a top university) and still managed to get a job with a top global consultancy. And, yes, some of the people who started with me came from the likes of the University of St Andrews.
Thing is, PR is very much a 'doing' profession and PR employers tend to look for initiative and self-motivation above how much it cost their parents in tuition fees. And if they don't they should.
What has the candidate done outside of university? Have they even held down a job before? Have they done any voluntary PR work to A. Get good first-hand experience and B. Make sure that PR is what they really want to do?
Like in any competitive and creative profession you have to differentiate yourself from your competitors (other gratuates) and owning a piece of paper which has a top university's name printed on it isn't the only option.
Thanks for the posts. I had a number of American students comment on my PROpenMic post that it's not the same in America where, all things being equal, a PR major will get the job over a English lit major. http://www.propenmic.org/profiles/blog/show?id=2048023%3ABlogPost%3A33526
I agree with the other comments in that there are numerous factors which make someone a good candidate for a role in PR, though a degree in the discipline can only help rather than hinder someone aiming for a PR career.
As dirkthecow mentions, the majority of courses in public relations allow for a placement year which enables PR students to graduate with an incredibly valuable year of experience and even more valuable contacts. A PR grad myself, I was lucky enough to do my placement abroad where I worked hard to develop a language: another feather in my PR hat when it came to looking for a job.
Your post asks whether PR agencies will prize PR grads over those from other disciplines. The answer is no. I'm now working in a top London agency where I am constantly impressed by the media skills of those who have graduated in other disciplines. Media relations is, however, one small element of public relations and that is where the difference in understanding shows between PR grads and those from other areas.
PR degrees develop an in-depth understanding of investor relations, internal comms, CSR and public affairs. The focus goes beyond media relations to the development of the strategic objectives behind PR campaigns. For that reason I believe the worth of a PR grad will only truly be shown at a strategic, rather than a tactical level.
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