When I was searching for one of my first jobs, a friend asked me how many resumes I had sent out and I proudly told her 70. She asked, “Today?” Yes, she was averaging 70 a day after she got her job search apparatus up and running. I finally landed a job, but she had received five offers in the same period.
Your job search is a full-time job unto itself, so don’t go about it half-heartedly. Don’t just rely on the Internet job posting sites. Leave no stone unturned. There were more than 30 communications-related jobs listed in today’s Chicago Tribune. Develop lists of corporations, agencies and nonprofit organizations where PR opportunities might exist. Besides a well-written resume and easy-to-modify cover letter (shorter the better), you need to build a master plan for your search and build the network of friends and acquaintances who can help with your search. Commit to spending at least four hours each day on your search homework, more as the search process kicks in. This New York Times link provides some interesting job search tips, especially for those who have been looking for quite some time.
I found this post very useful…I’ve been searching for what feels like years on internet job posting sites. Too often I find that people use the term “public relations” as a key word in door-to-door sales positions, and nothing is more frustrating.
My question to you is what kind of timeline should you allow yourself for PR job searching? It often takes time to build networks and get the word out, but at the same time, all that hard work can be useless if you, like me, aren’t graduating for another four months. Do you have any suggestions for a kick-off plan that will help me remain enthusiastic later on?
Thank you again for this. I’ve spent a good hour or so reading your past posts…they all have very good insights to them. It helps…TONS.
Thanks!