By ASHLEY SWEET
Business Manager
—
Last week a Chronicle staff writer, Nicole Baker, spoke out about how many communications students do not feel that we are truly getting what we pay for when we go to Communications classes here at Saint Rose. I’d like to contribute to that conversation.
I hold Saint Rose to a high standard, as we all should, because there are a lot of zeros on the check I write them each semester and my Accepted Student’s Day said this was going to be everything and a bag of chips. So, yes I want to leave college feeling like I am completely ready and that I got my money’s worth.
Today, you have to be prepared for anything when you walk into an interview. As someone who has gone to A LOT of interviews, they can go a number of ways. Anything can occur, from friendly conversation to tearing apart your writing samples, or quizzing you on the political figures in your area. I have literally felt like I have taken a verbal SAT test while sitting in a conference room. But I wouldn’t trade those interviews or my two internships for anything. Interning in a public relations department and now in the area of corporate relations (two very different departments!), I can say that there are days when interning makes Professor Molgard’s law tests look like cake. Yet, I am learning from something other than a textbook, I am learning about the gray areas that classrooms can’t depict. That’s why when I read Baker’s article, just after reading an article about Jerry Seinfeld in AdWeek, I was more inclined than ever to voice my opinion.
One of the first few lines of the AdWeek article was a Seinfeld quote that read, “I love advertising because I love lying.” He spoke honestly about how advertising is about tricking people into spending their hard earned money, and you know, he’s right. We have to start realizing that there is more to Communications than we are taught and it isn’t always pretty.
Seinfeld’s speech made me really admit that a textbook or powerpoint don’t warn you about the deals you will makes, the rules you will bend, and the times when your job is kind of ghastly. That the classroom doesn’t give you the whole picture. It can be messy and confusing and every day is a chance to learn how far you cannot take something.
Upon entering my first internship I was taken aback by how much I truly didn’t know. Then, upon leaving after seven months and two days, I had a whole list of stuff to give the department on what could have been done to better prepare me. Like Baker, I don’t think the department sucks and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat if they asked. However, there is always time to evaluate and suggest improvements. (Isn’t that some important step we learn?)
A few professors received an earful, or eyeful since it was an email, about my thoughts and recommendations. Let me spell it out for you though, what I think it missing.
Things such as, where in the world is the “real world writing” in all of the classes? We stress InDesign and say if you can’t use it, you won’t make it. But I’ve been through the wringer on writing press releases, newsletters, blogs, emails, monthly reports, and so on and I can tell you that practice makes average when you enter the workforce. The intensive writing class should be taken oh-so-seriously by public relations and advertising students. It’s more than two catchy lines for a commercial, and I have written more as an intern than I ever have before.
We should learn how to make phone calls, because you do not text the person on the floor above you, you call them and have to know how to speak clearly and effectively. Go ahead, try to call someone you’ve never met, be friendly, get answers, and explain pertinent information to them in less than ten minutes. NOT a piece of cake, right?
Ever written short biographies or created a media kit? Maybe a press kit? It is about to be a huge part of your weekly to-do list, so look it up if you have to.
Do you have the skills to be successfully interviewed by a reporter as the face of your entire company? Do you know how to communicate effectively with the media in general? You are the face of a company and if you can’t control the conversation and safely answer tricky questions, you are not going to get a good review.
Did you know that taking a reporter to coffee and buying a broker concert tickets is not frowned up in the real world? (It’s encouraged.) And when a reporter or broker goes along with it, they are not being “swayed” by a company. It literally happens all the time. You’d be shocked at the number of Justin Timberlake tickets purchased by businesses to give away to brokers and stockholders when he came to Albany in July. Shocked. Oh, and go down to the Starbuck’s on Western Avenue, it’s the default meeting center for local business leaders and journalists. Free coffees everywhere.
On that note, you will never be done networking. You will network to find an interview, network to find a job for yourself. Then, you will be networking for a company, or another person in your company, and you will have to do it every day. Do you know how? Have we even mentioned the word “networking” in class as it pertains to our field of study? Whoops.
Did you know that you will write thousands of pieces, yes, as many pieces written as dollars spent on your education, that you will not receive credit for? Your entry- and upper-level jobs partially entail having you write blogs, articles, newsletters, business letters, speeches, presentations, research reports, everything you can think of… for other people to slap their name on and go on their way with. It’s not stealing or plagiarism either, it’s just your job, and they receive credit. It’s commonplace.
I realize that I maybe just made the entire field of Communications sound awful, but that is also an excellent example of how we need to be more prepared. I described jobs that I was expected to do (and did) and it’s part of what my career choice entails, but are we prepared for it? Trust me, I have been having a blast in my “real world” jobs. I rush to the office every day to take part in the chaos. This is why when I sit in class and someone is stressing the importance of knowing every InDesign button, relabeling my strategies, and being able to recite the 5 or 6 or 8 step processes, I just sigh. I don’t think that it’s useless information, but there is more pressing information that is not being taught.
I am saying that we no longer live in a time where students can receive the basics and then build on them in the workforce. No. When you graduate in May and walk in to an interview, reciting the eight step process won’t work. Walking into an interview and explaining your experience in working with journalists, writing press releases, and having adequate networking skills will get you at least a second look.
Side note: I didn’t know InDesign or the eight step process until this semester, which says a lot about my PR course experience, but I landed two internships without it, so yeah… food for thought on that one.
There are many things the Communications department should be proud of. Our lobby is lined with the successful faces that came before us and will have to be expanded for all of the faces yet to come. I am just a strong believer in progress, for myself and others, in every way. So, please, take the long winded thoughts I’ve presented as constructive criticism. I’m not making a complaint, but a very boldly worded request. Let us make it a goal, as students and educators, to get what we pay for.
