{"id":4811,"date":"2014-02-12T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=4811"},"modified":"2018-08-09T16:40:41","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T20:40:41","slug":"how-to-make-the-best-of-pursuing-a-pr-related-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2014\/02\/12\/how-to-make-the-best-of-pursuing-a-pr-related-major\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make The Best of Pursuing a PR-Related Major"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"LaRia<\/a>
LaRia Rogers (right) serves as communication assistant for ImPRint Communications, LSU’s student-run firm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When researching for a volunteer opportunity, internship, or entry-level job you are more than likely to scroll to the qualifications section first. Often, one of the bullet points will state a requirement such as \u201cworking towards undergraduate degree in a related field of public relations.\u201d However, in the past I have been denied an opportunity to be considered an ideal candidate due to my major, communications studies.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips you can use to make the best of majoring in a field related to public relations and ensure you are a qualified candidate beyond the degree you\u2019re pursuing.<\/p>\n

Join student organizations. <\/b>Plenty of real-world public relations opportunities arise from being involved in extracurricular activities and student organizations. Consider getting involved in student media by writing for your student newspaper or coming up with a campaign plan for your friend that is running for student government president. Also look to join organizations both inside and outside of your major. OCS<\/a> is a communications studies organization that creates networking opportunities for classmates and faculty who share the same interest in communication. Of course, being active in PRSSA should be a given.<\/p>\n

Learn on your own. <\/b>One \u201cmajor\u201d downside to majoring in another field outside of public relations is not hearing public relations-geared lectures and obtaining traditional public relations writing skills. Unfortunately you will not have access to a professor\u2019s expertise on how to construct a press release or set up a public relations campaign, but that shouldn\u2019t stop you from learning on your own. Start by buying public relations-related books, taking online seminars, and signing up for an independent study course that focuses on public relations. To strengthen writing skills, try starting a blog.<\/p>\n

<\/b>Go above and beyond when job searching. <\/b>At Louisiana State University, the Manship School of Mass Communication gives its students access to their online internship database. To my surprise, I was unable to view the database due to having a major outside of the college. It can be frustrating to be denied certain resources only made available to public relations majors, but know there are other ways that you can find internships and jobs. Attend your university\u2019s or college\u2019s career fair and tap into its alumni network. Utilize the PRSSA Internship Center<\/a>. Follow accounts on Twitter such as @MarketJobsUSA<\/a>, @prwork<\/a> or @prnewsjobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What steps will you take to secure your dream job with your current major?<\/b><\/p>\n

LaRia Rogers is the communications assistant for <\/i>ImPRint<\/i><\/a>, LSU\u2019s student-run public relations firm. She is also the public relations assistant for <\/i>Dance Marathon<\/i><\/a>, a year-long philanthropy benefiting Our Lady of the Lake Children\u2019s Hospital and Children\u2019s Miracle Network. You can connect with her on <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When researching for a volunteer opportunity, internship, or entry-level job you are more than likely to scroll to the qualifications section first. Often, one of the bullet points will state a requirement such as \u201cworking towards undergraduate degree in a related field of public relations.\u201d However, in the past I have been denied an opportunity to be considered an ideal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":4812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2892,2894],"tags":[104,594,1662,24,1661,2217,15,40,762,730,422],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4811"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4830,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4811\/revisions\/4830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}