Marketing Communications

You are currently browsing the archive for the Marketing Communications category.

Walter Jennings is an American who migrated to Sydney, Australia.Walter Jennings photo We found Walter through James Farmer, our kind benefactor for PRblogs.org. Walter met James as he launched his own blog, WallyDownUndy.

Walter has more than 20 years’ experience in the communications industry. Most recently he served as managing director of Burson-Marsteller Australia. Now he is in private practice as a consultant.

In his own words:

I’m a public relations professional. A PR guy. I don’t like spin doctor because I don’t spin. I communicate.

I specialise in high profile corporate relations. I counsel senior leaders on complex issues when communicating to a broad range of people, from employees to families to investors to analysts to regulators.

A 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence University, Jennings “is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, an organization for senior public relations and corporate communications executives, and he serves on the board of the Global Public Affairs Institute, as well as the boards of two charities.” (Source)

We welcome Walter to the group of contributors. Look for a post from him soon.

In case you don’t know, the contributors to Marcomblog sign on to mentor students out of their own kindness and generosity. They are volunteers. Each one will, time allowing, post once per month to the blog.

We have just begun our semester’s social media activity and look forward to another year of insights from our volunteer mentors from around the world.

Even DARE TO BE DIFFERENTthough it is the start of a new school year, it doesn’t hurt to look ahead to what awaits the senior class when they graduate and start looking for a job. Better yet, those with a few years to go should be looking ahead and acquiring the skills that will make them employable.

In that pursuit, it might help to look at the University of Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research’s Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates for 2006, which found that the job recovery that started two years ago for communication and journalism positions has now stalled (pdf of survey results).

“Graduates of U.S. journalism and mass communication programs confronted a weakened job market in 2006 and early 2007,” according to Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center and professor of journalism in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

But it isn’t all bad news, while benefits are in decline (for all workers), salaries for graduates with full-time jobs increased and even outpaced inflation slightly.

Before you get too depressed, remember that the best and brightest will still find a job. They will just need the skills that employers are looking for. The survey gave some clues as to what those skills are. Here are the skills that employed graduates reported using in their jobs:

Write, report and edit for print 38 percent
Still camera 15.4 percent
Write, report and edit for broadcast 14.5 percent
Photo imaging 9.2 percent
Video camera 8.1 percent
Designing and creating computer graphics 8.9 percent
Video camera 8.1 percent
Produce content for mobile device 1.6 percent

Looking at these numbers you might think that you should specialize in writing, editing and reporting for print. But I would say that while you MUST have the skills that are used most, having skills like producing content for video and mobile devices might make you stand out from the crowd and win the job.

Most communication professionals are looking for ways to include these new skill sets and many don’t have them. An entry-level employee with these skills in hand looks attractive. I know this because in my consulting business I am often hired by these same senior managers to do the jobs for which they haven’t developed the skill sets in house. As a new graduate, you can save your company a lot of money (hiring people like me) by bringing these skills with you.

So, join your school television station, learn graphic and web design by getting an internship or helping a non-profit, learn how to take and edit photos at the school newspaper…and so on.

What skills do you think you need to get a job and how do you plan to get them? Let’s share ideas and resources to help your fellow students and those that will come in the future.

« Older entries § Newer entries »

Blogkeeper

Associated Sites

MarcomWiki - Contributor Bios
Marcom Meme - Submit Sites and Articles - Rank Them
 
Some students participate at the Camp ASCCA Journal. They are learning about social media by creating videos and blogging.
Close
E-mail It