Gina Davidson, a Public Relations (or PR) student asks Amber Greene about her PR major and her career with the City of New York.
Gina: What is involved in your current career, and how did the PR major help you get where you are today?
Amber: Well, I work for the New York City Office of Emergency Management where I run the Ready NY program which is an emergency preparedness campaign designed to help educate New Yorkers about the importance of planning for disasters. The PR major helped me to really hone my "people skills" because I am constantly interacting with various groups, organizations, companies, and governments. I always have to find new ways to influence public opinion and action about emergency preparedness because it's not the most fun subject to talk about. Taking journalism classes, PR publishing, QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop really made me more marketable because I was able to influence decisions regarding brochures, ads, etc. The PR major really gave me an understanding of all types of ways to communicate.
Gina: What careers/options are open to PR majors?
Amber: Tons. I used to work for a state Assemblyman doing public affairs work so there are a lot of opportunities in government. You could also be a lobbyist, work for a magazine, private firms, marketing, event planning, work in a development office doing fundraising work. If you can get to work for a firm, then do it. PR agencies are a great place to start and are very competitive, so having an internship is always a plus.
Gina: What classes were memorable to you and why?
Amber: Advertising - it was only one class but it really got me interested
in the creative aspects
Persuasion - Fun to know how to learn about public opinions and how they
are shaped
Philosophy - I just liked the subject
PR 1 and 2 - We got to finally practice the craft (in a school setting of
course)
Ethics (Dr. Good taught this class and it was excellent)
Journalism, Black Studies classes, there were many others but that's what
i remember most.
Gina: What advice would you give current PR majors?
Amber: Get an internship EARLY!
Work at the campus tv radio stations or write for the paper - this is where
you get the most experience.
Make a resume that sells
Learn as many computer programs as possible (Photoshop, Quark, Illustrator,
Excel, Powerpoint)
Read more about the field and ask questions of others whenever you can.