Jim Parham, PR Chronicle

I need experience to get a job…I need a job to get experience

This is the “Catch-22” of landing that first job or internship in PR.
It’s where the “rubber meets the road,” and where students get red-faced and reticent.

Frustration can boil over and apathy can set in. And, quite frankly, it’s understandable. How do you break in, get a foothold and get that first chance?

Persistence, perseverance, patience. These are the attributes that must come to the surface when trying to land the first career-related job or internship. Also, having a good portfolio of school work and some published pieces doesn’t hurt, either.

But what are some of the attributes we look for when a student lists wait staff jobs at restaurants and summer guarding at the local pool as “related experience?”

We look for enthusiasm, news hounds and intensity.
We look for adult behavior, politeness and curiosity.
We look for good writing habits, knowledge of grammar and AP style.
We rarely look at GPA or extra-curricular activities.
We look at poise, confidence and comfort levels.

And, in the end, we look to see if there’s a sense of excitement and interest and how well have they researched our company and our competitors.

Getting that very first career job or internship is hard work. It can be ego-damaging and confidence-shattering, especially in tough times. But, through patience and sheer tenacity, you can land that first job. And, after that, it gets a lot easier.

It’s hard to contain your dismay when you begin reviewing résumés of graduating college seniors. To me, most of the résumés are a train wreck caused by a lot of ill-advised, but good intentioned professors, counselors and, well, family and friends.

Over the past 30 years, the thousands of résumés I’ve seen either don’t properly tell the person’s employment, experience and education story, or even give them a fighting chance.

Here’s my list of résumé blunders that can be avoided:

1. Don’t think the résumé will get you a job. Mass mailing of the document surely spells Round File in this current economic mess. The truth be told, it’s making personal contact with someone at a potential employer who may actually care about your career, or finding an advocate who may call someone at a company for you.

2. Keep the résumé to one page if at all possible. False. The résumé needs to be representative of your education and experience. To keep a critical detail off of a résumé because of space concerns is dead wrong. The résumé should be as long as necessary to give someone your full and detailed story.

3. Leaving off critical details like, “classes taken” or “computer aptitude.”
Don’t “assume” we know what your college offered you in the way of classes. To just say that you have a degree in mass communication doesn’t do much. What classes did you take? List three or four important and relevant courses that would directly apply to the job you seek. For example at our advertising and PR firm, we would like to see classes in Adobe InDesign and copywriting courses.

4. Not providing current phone numbers and addresses to reach you. There have been several times we have decided to bring someone in for an interview only to find that their telephone number is disconnected, or they put an old address. Some people frown upon putting their parents’ address on the résumé. Quite frankly, it does not matter to me. What I want is a phone number and address to find you the day I’m looking for an employee.

5. Not providing references and e-mail addresses for them. Please put your references on the résumé. Make sure the people know they are listed as references, and by all means, give the right contact information for them. Please list an e-mail address. In the business world, e-mail has become an important contact device. Many times, people will respond to e-mail instead of taking, or returning phone calls.

While someone may think this listing is more toward minutia than meat, I would urge you to talk with people who are objective and neutral and outside your job search circle. Simply ask about their experiences in both job seeking and hiring. It will provide a treasure trove of good advice.

It’s hard to make this stuff up.

Recent public relations happenings in the real world are better than really good fiction.

For aspiring public relations professionals and students ready to jump into a practitioner role, we need look no further than former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s behavior and Olympic hero Michael Phelps’ bong hit to find some very good lessons in public relations.

First, there’s a lot to be said about allowing your handlers to handle you. Obviously, the now defunct governor of Illinois was operating on his own, without regard to what his lawyers said or his PR people prophesized. Then there’s Mike’s mistake: number two on the three-strikes-you’re-out path (the first being his underage DUI). He must be listening to his PR people. He responded to the blow up with speed, grace and heartfelt apologies.

Obviously, one strategy works better than the other. Blago is now unemployed, while Phelps may be able to keep most of his endorsements. Simply put, Phelps wins while the other one files for unemployment.

These recent media events point out a very important rule: Perception equals reality. The perception while listening to a few “select” portions of Blagojevich’s f-bomb tirades on the phone is one of disgust and outrage. He sounds guilty based upon what we hear. But his contention is that once you hear the whole tape, he will sound like a champion of Champaign, Illinois, or a victim of some plot against politicians. He’s fighting an uphill battle. Perceptions have already been formed, and the U.S. District Attorney got out of the gate fast and hard, assisting us with forming immediate perceptions.

Blago can argue the facts all he wants. That case was closed on the initial sound bites and the perceptions most of us formed.

On the other hand, Phelps has a chance to repair the collateral damage. He leveraged what he has, the good will of the American people, his youthful arrogance and innocence and, of course, his quick and decisive delivery of a concise apology to patch up the holes. The perception of Phelps making up for lost youth by getting a bit crazy now (while he’s not soaking for seven hours a day) is one the public can understand. But like Blagojevich, someone did capture his slip for posterity, and that visual is hard to overcome.