Two things happened to me recently that confirmed my faith in the value of PR degrees for graduates wanting jobs in the PR industry, following PR Week's annual summer survey of industry attitudes to academic qualifications in the subject.
First, as I was bustling through Waterloo station en route to meet some of the hosts for my first year PR students' forthcoming London study visit, I (literally) bumped into one of my second year students, heading off to start a week's work experience at one of the UK's top consumer PR agencies, Halpern.
Did I know she'd arranged this? No. Did she seem nervous? Not in the slightest. Was I delighted? Yes. Why? Because Halpern was one of the venues we'd visited during her London study visit in 2007 and she'd had the foresight to use this contact to sort out a priceless placement. Without the study visit — a crucial part of her degree — there'd have been no contact and, likely as not, no placement.
Second, this morning I emailed Lotte Mahon, MD of The Vine (a Falmouth PR agency) to find out if she'd be able to take part in our PR guest speaker programme. Five minutes later, I received a reply — not from the intended recipient but — you guessed it — from another of my second year students who was happily looking after the office while the boss was away on holiday. It was only three months ago that I'd helped broker this student's placement and now I find she's virtually running the show.
So, brilliant news for these two students. But also more fuel to the argument for PR degrees helping graduates get a foothold in this competitive business.
PR Week carried an interesting article on this subject in June
