Hi again :)
I just can’t believe it guys that we are reaching the end of the semester. God! It went on so quickly. While at the MCB, not only did I get the opportunity to apply the PR skills I learnt during lectures and Tutorials, but I also realised the indispensable qualities that a good PR person should possess in order to succeed in the challenging and dynamic PR industry.
Hard work
Hard work is always rewarding. It is the best approach to professionalism. Hard work helps to meet the never-ending deadlines of the PR profession. Don’t forget that hard work is a personality trait that can render others impressed ;)
Vocational skills
As discussed in my previous post, the profession is now expecting more from PR persons than just drafting releases and preparing presentations. Now in the information age, PR professionals should develop research and listening attitudes as well. Modern managers rely on accurate facts and figures to develop strategies. They expect their PR professionals to be well informed and if you look at it properly, research and listening is a way to get a seat at the management strategy table. At the MCB, the PR practitioners (as internal, financial and media communicators) have fully understood this and their research and listening findings have increased their participation in management and has helped the bank to persevere in its mission and maintain its image in the banking industry.
Being an industry expert
Apart from grasping communication skills, practitioners should understand thoroughly the industry in which they operate. At the MCB, for instance, the communication practitioners had to develop other skills such as reading fiscal findings, understanding and using financial terms in daily communication activities with financial stakeholders. They have become experts in current trends affecting the economic and financial sector of Mauritius. This is done by keeping abreast of current affairs and developing the ability for lifelong learning.
Understanding and accepting technology
A PR practitioner should be in touch with the current and latest developments in technology. Most organisations are incorporating new media and technologies in their PR programmes. It is therefore, the duty of each professional to get familiar to these as effective tools.
Be effective thinkers
Finally, practitioners should be creative, analytical and strategic thinkers who work closely with the management.
Thanks to this internship experience, I have been exposed to these fascinating qualities in the communication professionals of the MCB. Hope you too have experienced these and if you have other qualities that you have noticed because you have been placed in a different industry, I’d be more than happy to know them.
Will update more soon ;)
Take care
Youshrina
3 comments:
Hi Youshrina
I really enjoyed reading your entry. I think that what you have shared is a reminder for everyone contributing to this blog that these are the qualities a good Public Relations practitioner should have and we should try to put these skills to practice while on internship.
I agree with you that we should keep up with times and accept technology as it was invented to make our lives easier, (although this might mean more work) keep us connected to stakeholders and target publics as well.
Another point i would like to add is in PR, practitioners should learn the art of mingling. During my internship, the first few media visits i facilitated was a chore as i stood close by watching, never uttering a sound, while the camera crew film or took footages required.
My manager then gave me feedback that i had to try to leave my comfort zone and talk to them as this was a method of forging good relationships with the media.
After making the first move to talk to them and ask questions, i realized I learnt a lot from the different crews that came.
This is one of the things i learnt during my internship which i thought would be useful to share.
Cheers,
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
Thank you for your reply :)
Yes i totally agree with you. Actually i got the same remark on the first few days of my internship. I was asked to make a step towards the other people working in the different sections of the communication dept. of my company. Since, i was new there, i was feeling a bit awkward and hesitant. But after having done that, i realised its importance. I felt more at ease and had the feeling that i had people out there who would assist me whenever i am facing a situation, which they did actually. They did it because I went to them first and initiated conversation with them first.
Mingling and taking initiatives should definitely be in the lot of qualities that we, as future PR professionals hopefully, should develop and maximise on to be successful. Do not expect others to come to you first, particularly journalists since they are busy people. That's one of the things i learnt during my internship.
So thanks for sharing this and reminding me of it Andrea.
Cheers,
Youshrina
Totally i agree with you, all the qualities you listed really contributes to a good PR person. For a person to fit well into a PR world he/she must have good communications skill, they should be able to talk to all kinds of people and they should be patient.
One other thing that i need to add to the qualities is the ability to work under pressure and meet all deadlines. Deadlines are very essential in PR, imagine having to write a press release before a given media make its publication and you dont finish in time.This means even if the said media find your press release newsworthy they wont use it because it wud be late.this will affect your work.
I hope a lot of us will develop these qualities when we now get into the industry so that we can be productive at all time.
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