By: Jayse Nelson
With the end of the semester coming to a close my thoughts of life after college have begun to consume my daily life. I have visited The University of Oklahoma’s career service Web site and their office. I have searched Craigslist.com and different hospitality and non-profit career search engines. However, my efforts are not yielding satisfactory results.
I feel like every position I look into is seeking someone with experience of more than 1 or 2 years. I have had experience in Public Relations, but nowhere near 1 or 2 years worth of experience. During my first PRSSA meeting my freshman year of college, I was instructed to get at least one internship before I graduated. I did get an internship. In fact, I had two very good internships. However, both of my internships were only for the duration of the summer and one of them was shortened due to my prolonged semester abroad.
Adding to the stress of finding a job is the recession our country is currently facing. According to information I’ve recently discovered, PR professionals need not to worry about employment possibilities. This is true, if the individual has sufficient experience and skills that can set them apart from the pack. Last year, Time magazines ranked PR jobs 19th on their list of recession proof jobs. In 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is still hope for us graduates seeking employment in the PR industry. Of the 243,000 PR jobs in 2006 the majority were in service providing industries mostly in major cities. Although there is a high rate of job competition in this industry, the BLS states that college students with a degree in PR and work related experience should exceed the competition. Maybe there is still hope for me to find a job after May.
5 comments:
Great summary Jayse! I think everyone who is graduating is scared about grim job market. I think the numbers you presented in you blog and also the links to other website that you incorporated. I think this is a very important summary to read because we ALL need jobs and the current economy is a very scary place to enter for the first time!
Great Job:)
I definitely understand where you are coming from Jayce. I feel like we all hoped that public relations jobs would be recession proof, however things have not been looking too bright lately. You definitely did everything right by gaining experience through internships and working hard. Just keep your head up and something’s bound to come along!
Of course there is hope for you! I did not know that the PR industry was considered to be on the recession-proof list. Lucky for us, I suppose, even though I do not know anyone who has had any luck in finding a new job.
There is always hope! I am really glad that you wrote this blog. The recession is really unfortunate for us all. What are the odds that after all of our extremely hard work to get the degree for our amazing job, there would be a hardcore recession. I heard that public relations is a good area because it is recession proof to an extent. Too bad that the pay isn't better, but at least it's something! I have found that connections get interviews, but talent will get you the job. I would definitely keep looking on Career Services. Also, you could find a niche that you like and look at individual websites. Specific searches seem to work better for me than broad public relations job searches. Good luck!
The job market is a scary place right now. As a fellow PR senior, I'm moving to grad school in a different field. I'm also concerned that I would not find a job in this job market, so I'm continuing my skills in hopes that in another two years the market will be better and I will find my "dream job."
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