Tag Archives: agency life

Should Interns Be Paid or Unpaid?

Giving away cashIt’s one of the most hotly contested issues around right now. No we aren’t talking about Alex Rodriguez and Biogenesis. We aren’t even talking about Obamacare. The hot debate lately has been over whether interns should be paid or unpaid.

Over the last few weeks, this story has been front and center. On Aug. 14, the Lean In Foundation’s Editor-At-Large, Jessica Bennett, posted on her personal Facebook page that she was looking for a “part-time, unpaid” intern. The post had many positive responses, even \ from those who were interested in the part-time gig. It was the negative responses that really put fuel on the fire. Continue reading

From A Former AAE to Another

Having come from a large agency background, I’ve grown accustomed to working on sizable account teams. This also means that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some great, young talent throughout the years. I’ll never forget when I first started out in agency life. Fresh out of college, I landed my first gig in healthcare public relations and haven’t looked back since. Throw in some traditional media relations, thought leadership and a bit of crisis communications, and I was well on my way to using the skills I had learned in college…right?

Well, maybe not. Continue reading

An Agency Perspective: Five Tips to Keep in Mind When Job Hunting

So you have your degree. You’ve graduated summa cum laude and your resume is polished into tip-top-AP- style shape.  But now what? How do you take the tools that everyone has at graduation – a resume, letters of recommendation and a diploma – and turn it into something that sets you apart in the job hunt?

While there isn’t one golden rule to mastering the job hunt, there are certain things that can help put you at the top of your potential employer’s list. Here are five tips to keep in mind: Continue reading

How to Find the Right Audience for Your Presentation

A great speech doesn’t count for much if you’re talking to the wrong audience. Most PR professionals know that speaking to the public is important, so they create great seminars and presentations for those who attend the event. However, no matter how much you advertise this event, it always seems to be family members and existing customers or clients who show up to “learn more.” Right? While it’s great that you have loyal customers, you want your audience to be full of new faces. I like to think of it this way: 1/3 of a PR agency is producing quality work, 1/3 is maintaining current customers and clients, and the other 1/3 is grabbing new clients. Therefore, it is extremely important that your expert speakers are heard by prospective clients and people who actually need to learn more about your company. Continue reading

Are Your Employees Undermining Your Business?

Quite a few of us have been there – the new agency on the block – handling a portion of a client’s business while another agency hangs out with the lion’s share.  Either it’s a new line of business for the company or the old agency fell down and this particular part ended up in your lap.  Everyone play nice but there’s no mistaking it – you want the rest of the business and the other agency, no longer resting on their laurels, wants to get the part you have back.

But we “play” nice. Continue reading

Stop, Drop and Roll

Businessman crossing his fingers behind his backI sit here today a recently unemployed public relations professional who is giving serious consideration to a career change.  I graduated college in 2005 and immediately entered the biz.  I had high hopes for myself and took every experience for what it was worth, learning every moment and dedicating myself and my career to the agency and clients at hand.  I loved it and have loved working in this field for over five years.

Recently I’ve made a few career moves to learn more, give myself more opportunities and resources, and also to make more money.  I’ve gone from a small agency of two, to a mid-sized agency of 25+ and I’ve noticed a few things along the way that I thought I’d share from my perspective.

I want to make more money, we all do.  But, I don’t want to make more money and love my job less.  Sounds like a simple statement that we can probably all share and support but in the public relations business, I’m not sure at my ripe age of 28, that I can see this as a reality.  With every agency move, I have indeed made more money.  But I also see things happening within the larger agencies that I strongly disapprove of and disagree with. Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk: Stephanie Smirnov (Part 2)

[Editor’s Note: The below post is Part 2 of Christina’s interview with PR Mama Stephanie Smirnov. Part 1 ran on the PRBreakfastClub.com Blog on Monday.]

  1. You are not only a successful PR woman, but also well rounded in non-profit work, you write your own blog, and much more.
    Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk: Stephanie Smirnov

Stephanie Smirnov
Stephanie Smirnov

This week I had the pleasure of getting to know more about our favorite PR Mama: Stephanie Smirnov, president of DeVries Public Relations. Stephanie relies so heavily on three gargantuan mugs of Starbucks coffee a day that her family is trained to not talk to her until she’s had the first sip. Sounds familiar. She’s a pro at wakeboarding, Wii Resort Wakeboarding that is, and relaxes in her Catskills home with her husband and son “swimming, skiing, grilling and chilling.” Stephanie listens to the best old-school funk, disco, and R&B and reads her favorite mommy blogs (The Bloggess, The Pioneer Woman, and Rock and Roll Mama to name a few) and design/trend blogs—a new favorite Design*Sponge. Okay, enough of the fun stuff. When Stephanie said she would participate for Coffee Talk, I couldn’t wait to find out how she is so successful in her career and also a great mom with a very solid family. How does one find the time for it all? And so I give you, Stephanie Smirnov . . . super mom and PR pro:

Continue reading