Discussions, doodles, diatribes

(This is a rewrite of a post that I wrote yesterday and lost after a crash. I feel the first one was much better, but the ideas are the same.)

In a recent job interview I was told that even though I have an undergraduate degree in public relations and a master’s degree in public relations I “don’t know what public relations is.” Look back at that, I wasn’t told that I didn’t have experience in public relations, nor was I told that I didn’t know how to do public relations, I was told “I don’t know what public relations is.” This interviewer went on to discuss a few points that I will be elaborating on:

• Just learning things in school doesn’t mean you know how to do it.
• Public relations is about the press and sending out press releases. You don’t know what public relations is.
• You don’t know the specifics about the industry, so you fail this interview.

Again, I feel like I need to stress, the list above is not my opinion but statements made by an interviewer in an upper level marketing and communications position.

Interviewer statement: “Just learning things in school doesn’t mean you know how to do it.”

Although this statement has some truth to it, making such a blanket comment in an interview seems harmful to me. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I think “theories” are phooey but not all school is theory based. At the institutions I have taught college-level courses, most of the classes are based on teaching very practical skills that any professional in communications careers must have a good grasp. Having a certificate in college and university teaching plus quite a few years in the workplace, I understand that college students must be exposed to a mix of academia and professional. Luckily every program I’ve been a part of has that mix.

As for the truth to this statement, college does not teach some of the necessary skills that everyone in the workplace learns — management leadership, true experienced feedback and consequences on work quality. I unfortunately don’t know if someone saying the blanket statement above would be the best one to teach those skills to a new graduate. On the other hand, both my undergraduate and graduate schools had student run public relations agencies, newspapers, magazines and advertising programs focused on teaching some of the necessary practical skills before students enter the workforce. In addition, every school I’ve taught at has had strong internship programs.

College cannot teach everything, but does teach the skills, ideas and elements necessary for an entry-level professional.

Interviewer statement: “Public relations is about the press and sending out press releases, you don’t know what public relations is.”

Public relations is changing, as it has been since its inception. Simply working to get a story published or send press releases has never been a standard definition of public relations. Even in its infancy, Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee used events, image building and press to change different publics’ ideas from their clients. Public relations continues to change very quickly with the growth of word-of-mouth image-building activities, search engine optimization and Web site writing changes and social media expansion.

I am amazed that a marketing and communications leader in an industry that is being challenged as much or more than others because of the current economic climate still considers public relations to just be about press agentry.

Because of this statement, I took this as an opportunity to question my own opinion. I called some of the journalists that were key to this industry and researched the changes within the newspaper industry. Having a degree in journalism and having worked for newspapers, I enjoy looking at both sides of the communication spectrum. (By the way, I believe every public relations professional should have journalism experience.) The journalists I talked to mentioned that this industry I was interviewing in needed to do a lot more to get coverage. These journalists mentioned that the current practice of press releases and static headshots would severly hinder the coverage as other industries push good stories and events that directly compete with what a standard newspaper has space for. The journalists, who work for large metropolitan papers, mentioned that more emphasis must be put on social media, bloggers and more interactive elements to help build more public knowledge and interest.

Unfortunately, I am worried that this leader is harming the organization by refusing to understand the expansive possibilities of public relations and well-strategized communication plans.

Interviewer statement: “You don’t know the specifics of the industry, so you fail this interview.”

I believe there is a reason that careers skills are taught and, in turn, chosen based on skills (engineering, medicine, communications, art, etc) and not industry. An industry, however specialized, can be learned. As an example, when I was hired to work at Walt Disney World and started at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, I knew little about the property itself. I knew that I was a good communicator, I liked to help people and I enjoyed going out of my way to make people happy. That is why I was hired. During the first few months of working there, I learned the intricacies of the property — the story of the property, opening day, number of rooms, amenities, fun facts, etc. This was taught and I reached out to learn more and more.

Fast forward to the interview that prompted this blog post. Like any interview, I did my research about the company, about the publics it served, how it communicated, etc. This industry is a sub industry of a larger industry and I did not know all the facts of the larger industry, something I assumed I would learn during normal day-to-day operations. Well, I was asked, no, I was drilled on these facts (numbers, finances, etc). When I couldn’t effectively answer the questions, I was told I failed. I am still amazed that a communications and marketing leader would tell a potential employee that they “failed.” As I have also taught human resource management and organizational behavior, this behavior seems intolerable to me.

Self-reflection: “Did I fail?”

In every experience I have, I believe a life lesson is taught and experiences are gained, regardless of the outcome. Did I fail? No. This process taught me quite a bit about perceptions and generalities in an industry that I have enjoyed both personally and professionally.

This taught me that those in upper level positions in communications and marketing still are challenged to fully understand the opportunities that can be achieved using public relations on all levels.

This taught me that perceptions about an organization can be completely re-aligned by having a negative experience with an employee of that organization. Whether this leader meant to or not, her negative attitude and testy interviewing techniques has fully changed my perception from great to horrible. And with how word of mouth works, I will probably share that with those I feel should know about it. I do not believe this blog is the appropriate platform to share the specifics of the organization.

This taught me that as much as I prepare and follow what I believe are the guidelines for interviews, curve balls always exist.

This taught me that I continue to have an uphill battle helping people understand how eight years in the professional arena coupled with two and a half years in graduate school equals many, many skills that are worthwhile to an organization. In addition, I have learned that going back to school to “refocus” your career interests isn’t quite yet understood by industry professionals.

Ok, back to the job search. I’m sure I’ve hit some buttons with this post. I’d love to see comments.