What’s your path? Agency or in-house PR

by Rachel Gill

There are three very important factors young professionals should take into account when deciding which path is best for them for their public relations career: location, personality and agency vs. corporate.

In the session “Choosing Your Path: Agency or In-House PR” at the PRSSA National Conference, IBM Digital Experience Manager Brandi Boatner and Taylor Account Supervisor Ryan McShane lead a professional development session about the best way to choose your career path.

Both of them outlined benefits of working in both sectors of the industry.

“The three main benefits of agency public relations are a diversity of clients, a diversity of work experience and a diversity of colleagues,” McShane said.

From the other perspective, Boatner said the major work she accomplished in corporate public relations included researching how the corporation generated revenue, identifying companies that were globally known and companies that had high consumer brand loyalties.

However, both speakers agreed on a few main factors when deciding which path to take. Keeping your options open is key when looking for that first job, but you should also be specific about what you want to do. You should never limit yourself to just agency or corporate when you first start looking for employment opportunities. When choosing the right path, it is important that you remember who you know and what you ultimately want to do.

“Don’t look for a company or agency where you think you’ll fit in,” Boatner said. “Look for a company or agency you think would fit you.”

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