Many of the jobs I have looked at ask for a major in marketing, public relations, communications or related field. I want others to know what most of us already do: that public relations students can compete for these jobs right along with the marketing students and do just as great or better of a job than they can.

I think that is why the statistic that Lara presented is so important for us to cling to. PR is growing in importance in corporate America. Public relations departments are getting more credit and in turn more responsibility. And that is why more jobs are being created for our field. It’s nice to know that there are more jobs out there and that hopefully, with more jobs, we can get more respect as well.

It bothers me when I tell someone I am studying PR and the first thing they say is that I am going to be a professional liar. My fear is that if too many people feel this way about PR, then can we get enough support for the profession to last for many years? If we take advantage of the job opportunites given to us and show good ethical PR then we may stand a chance. I like to think it will last, but if people won’t stop looking at us as liars then we may not stand a fair chance 15 or 20 years down the road.

The concept of reality is beginning to hover over our heads as we prepare our portfolio and begin those searches for job openings and opportunities. After reading the Generally Accepted Practices Study conducted by USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, it seems to reinforce what this post states. Over the one-year span of 2003 to 2004 Public Relations was found to be climbing in many companies’ level of importance. Larger budgets, more positions, and precedence over other departments does make the future for PR seem a little more attractive.

But I have to question the ever-changing and evolving world we live in today. Will PR be able to keep up? Will PR grow or will it combine with another field? With each day a minor discovery is made and looking back over the past decade things have changed so much. Technology has shaped the world and created a dependence of companies on its mere existence. So, although PR seems to be growing I have to be a bit hesitant to jump for joy.

So my tip for keeping up, helping PR grow, and our future, as students entering the field, is to involve ourselves in as many diverse fields as possible. Don’t be expendable. Be a necessity. Don’t be replaceable.

Just last week, my parents were asking why public relations, as a profession, seems to be growing so much. My response to them was simple…corporations are realizing that it is a vital and crucial part to an organization. For the longest time, public relations was only used by corporations when something went wrong and the business needed to correct the mistake. In this case, a company spokesman would schedule a press conference and publicly apologize or right their wrong. Now, however, businesses realize that public relations practices are the only way to bring good media attention to a company/business, survey the population to find what the market needs, and/or to promote well-doing (just to name a few).

I agree with Ashley’s comment above, when she says that it seems like companies would look to promote their public relations/marketing/communications representative when economic times are down. Like I said above, public relations is one of the only mediums in which media attention can be brought to the company. When times are rough for a company, a good PR practitioner should be able to re-instill good faith in the consumer and marketplace.

It is becoming more obvious that companies are beginning to realize that public relations is an indispensable function to every organization.

I think it’s great news that there is more spending by marketing and communications departments and, consequently, more job vacancies. I’m glad I chose a field that is booming, especially at a time when new technologies and inventions are wiping out old jobs and creating new jobs.

I agree with Brandie, however, that although we may be fortunate to have a job in our chosen field of PR, that doesn’t mean we will keep that job. We must realize that jobs are mortal. For this reason, we must possess the latest skills and be familiar with several different areas of PR. We may be secure with our job for 30 years, but inevitably, jobs die. Each year 30 million jobs end and 15 million of them turn into vacancies that have to be re-filled. Therefore, we may have to change careers, by identifying what transferable skills we possess from our previous career or careers. If we are only familiar with one area of PR, how will we be prepared in the future when our job is terminated, we lose interest, we want to try something new, we’re seeking more pay or we are moving? We must always stay current in our field and educated in all aspects that surround and affect PR.

However, I have to wonder about further down the road. With technology progressing as quickly as it does, five or 10 years in the future could create a dynamic effect in the opportunities for the PR profession. PR is a broad profession in that it is flexible and can be incorporated into a wide range of positions and responsibilities. But with technology taking over so much of our society, more and more of these responsibilities will fall into the technical aspect of a company, organization, etc. And while we can learn the new technological aspects, the number of people needed to perform these tasks will significantly decrease. A manual task may require five people, while the same task using technology may only require one or two people.

Unfortunately, just because we have a job, doesn’t mean we will keep that job. We hear all the time in the news, the negative unhappy news, about massive layoffs. These layoffs occur for all sorts of reasons, but it all boils down to this: “We need to get rid of people, so who can we function without? Who are the most expendable?” If a company hires me upon graduation, five years from now they may put me in that category of the “most expendable.”

Hopefully companies will continue to adjust with the advancing of technology; but in the event they can’t keep up, that doesn’t provide much long term demand for the PR profession.

But, shouldn’t there be room for some good every now and then?

It’s a sad fact that our society longs to hear about the train derailments, the school shootings and the Nick and Jessica breakup. I wonder if it is because we have become desensitized to the bad going on around us, or if it is in a way a release. Does seeing bad things happen to others in a way make us feel better about what is going on in our own lives?

For me personally, throwing in some good with the enormity of the bad helps to keep me a little more sane. There is only so much horror I can take from the evening news. In Lance’s comment, he mentions the stories about pet adoption. It’s somewhat ironic to me that these feel-good stories always come at the end of the newscast, usually as the credits are rolling. To me this means two things: 1) These are typically the fluff pieces of the broadcast. (As well they should be. Obviously, the stories about the war in Iraq and the murder of a convenience store clerk take priority over the Jones family saving Spot from being put to sleep at the Humane Society.) and 2) Some news producer somewhere wants me to have a little faith that not everything in my world is bad today. Now the cynical (and logical) part of me realizes that this is probably because he wants me to watch again tomorrow, but that’s okay with me. I’ll continue to watch and hope that maybe tomorrow there will be more good news to report.

There is something that disturbs me about one of the above comments though. Ashley brings up the point that it is during the difficult times when the value of PR practitioners and marketing departments is realized. This is an unfortunate, yet probably true, observation. Management does turn to its communication experts when there are bumps in the road. Executives should be aware, however, that the good times are possible because of the continuing work of PR and marketing people to convey a consistent, positive image to its publics at all times. PR practitioners are the people the advise management in order to prevent “periods of instability and financial uncertainty.”

I look forward to diving into the current job market with its many opportunities. I also hope that management and the other members of the organization I someday work for will always see the value of my position, not just when they are forced to use me.