PR: a versatile career choice but it's still too male-dominated at the top

In our special 75th-anniversary print edition of Influence magazine, we heard from comms professionals who’ve recently entered the industry about their experiences, hopes and aspirations. This season, we’re publishing longer interviews with our panel. Today it’s the turn of Jess Gaynor, who is in her final year at university and last year enjoyed a work placement with Taylor Herring Associates. 

Q: What do you find exciting about starting a career in PR and have there been any surprises so far?

My favourite part about PR is how versatile it is. There are so many job titles that fall under the bracket of PR, and you can go into practically any industry with it. Even in the agency I worked at, client partners included those in travel, entertainment, food, non-profit, and more. The biggest surprise to me was how many surveys are used in PR. I think they generally go down well with journalists, which is why PRs use them so much to back up campaigns. I remember once working on a product sell-in and it was the survey story, not the celebrity partnership, which landed the story in the national paper!

Q: What skills do you need in PR that you weren’t aware of previously, or think will be needed in the future?

Before going on my placement, I didn’t quite understand the necessity of having strong digital capabilities. While it is important for any industry, more and more brands are using AI in the workplace, for example Heinz’s ‘Draw A Ketchup’ campaign, Jacquemus’ ‘Bags On Wheels’ stunt, and Samsung which used AI to reimagine classic paintings as part of their ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ competition. AI can also be used to draft press releases and lots more. Excel is also very important for tracking coverage. As technology advances I think this will become even more important in PR.

Q: After you graduate, how important is it that you receive ongoing training and learning opportunities to develop your career and for the wider benefit of PR?

While you can get taught the fundamental skills of PR on the job, I think that putting in extra time and effort into training outside of working will make a difference in how fast your career progresses. Since Covid, online training has become lots more accessible too. Even learning skills that aren’t directly related to PR such as email marketing, social media marketing and SEO courses (all found on Hubspot), would help in some way and also boost confidence going into a new role.

Q: How do you feel about the WFH model vs in-office time?

On my placement year it was hybrid working, with working from home Monday and Friday, and in the office Tuesday to Thursday. I enjoyed it, especially since I was commuting to London from home, so it saved time. For independent tasks like inputting data into an Excel sheet or creating campaign summary reports, I was quite happy to do that from home; however, group tasks like working on a sell-in as a team was made a bit more difficult. 

Q: Do you feel that it would benefit younger PRs and first jobbers to attend more in-person networking events, meetings, lunches and dinners?

Yes. On my placement I rarely got the chance to spend time networking, and I think it is still very important. I think it’s great for cementing relationships between PRs and the clients or journalists, but also a great opportunity for younger PRs to ask questions and find out more about the industry. In the agency I was at, we were always encouraged to invite journalists to lunch which was one of the parts of job that I enjoyed.

Q: What do you want from the PR industry in the future?

From a student perspective, seeing more PR professionals advertising for part-time jobs in starting positions would be great. I would love to gain more experience as I continue my studies in my final year, which would also hopefully bring more young PR professionals into the industry. 

Also, it’s my understanding that although two thirds of PR professionals are women, it is still around two thirds of men in senior positions. This is information I remember from the Global Women in PR Annual Index report from 2021 but I’ve not seen any news that contradicts this. I hope that this might change in the future.

Q: What do you think that employers need to do to attract and retain PR entering the profession?

Employers should open up jobs in starting positions to students. Additionally, I think that taking time to mentor junior members of the team and teaching key skills will help them to advance in keep them engaged and motivated.