Business & Public Relations CAREER INSIGHT
LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk
www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers
Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Introduction Studying towards a degree in Business and PR will provide a good foundation for a career in public relations by helping you develop an in-depth understanding of areas like: corporate communications, event management and online public relations (including search engine optimisation and social media strategy and management). During your studies at LJMU, you will have plenty of opportunities to put theory into practice by completing a range of practical assignments, work-related learning activities such as guest lectures, or work placements e.g. a sandwich placement year or voluntary work alongside your studies. However, as your degree will also introduce you to traditional business functions like marketing, human resources, management and finance you might also develop a closer interest in an area outside of public relations. As these business areas are open to graduates from any degree discipline, you might also like to consider using your transferable skills and relevant knowledge developed from your course or further independent study to pursue a career in one of these or related fields. Being aware of the range of options open to you will enable you to make an informed, and well thought out, career decision. Researching different career pathways and entry requirements is essential preparation for your graduate career, so ensure you make the most of available resources, attend career events or employer talks, and take every opportunity to network with professionals to find out as much as possible about the career areas that interest you. You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn profile and following relevant organisations and vacancy sites on Twitter. In recent years securing a graduate role has become increasingly competitive, so gaining relevant work or voluntary experience and engaging in extracurricular activities alongside your studies is crucial to demonstrate to prospective employers that you have the motivation to succeed in your chosen area and have developed the required skills. Being familiar with organisations’ entry requirements will be important to sell yourself effectively to prospective employers, so research is key to marketing yourself successfully and securing a graduate job.
Typical job options This course will set you in good stead to pursue a number of career paths within the PR, marketing and advertising sector. You could start exploring typical job options in this sector via: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/public_relations_account_executive_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/public_relations_officer_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/marketing_executive_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/market_researcher_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/event_organiser_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/advertising_account_executive_job_description.htm
Your options within the wider business and management sector include for example: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs_advertising_marketing_pr.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs_financial.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs_human_resources.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs_management_and_statistics.htm
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs_retailing_buying_selling.htm The suggestions listed here are by no means exhaustive, so we would encourage you to consider other relevant options e.g. based on previous work or voluntary experience, skills and interests. To explore job options by sector, check http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm. You can also use career planning tools like http://www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm and https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report to generate initial career ideas. Ensure you check entry requirements for each area e.g. will you need a degree in a specific subject? Is a 2:1 degree classification essential? Does the employer offer support to study towards professional qualifications through relevant industry associations like the Chartered Institute of Public Relations? Is any specific work experience required?
We also recommend that you download a copy of our “Planning your Career” guide from the Careers Teams website at https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm . This includes a list of useful questions to help you explore your career options and introduces you to the DOTS model to help you with your career planning.
Main employers Public relations is all about reputation management and influencing customers’ opinion and behaviour, consequently PR professionals work in organisations of all sizes across a range of industries and sectors e.g. local government, not-for-profit organisations and charities, engineering and manufacturing, retail and finance. They can work both in-house i.e. working exclusively for one company or organisation and in consultancies i.e. providing PR advice and services for a number of clients. PR professionals who work in-house will need to develop specialist knowledge of the particular area they are working in e.g. pharmaceuticals, banking, fashion and healthcare – and design and implement a PR strategy around the specific organisation’s requirements. Consultancies vary in size and range from small specialist consultancies that focus on a particular sector to larger consultancies with a wider client base. Some large private companies run relevant graduate schemes in PR and communications or marketing. Some examples are listed below, but we would advise you to research additional employers from the sectors you are particularly interested in. http://futureleaders.gsk.com/en-gb/our-programmes/communications-and-government-affairs/ http://www.britishairways.com/careers/graduates/our-programmes/leaders-for-business.jsp http://www.hotwirepr.co.uk/careers/graduates/ http://diffusionpr.com/pr_graduate_scheme_2015 http://www.tesco-graduates.com/graduate-programmes/marketing/ http://www.unilever.co.uk/careers-jobs/graduates/uflp/marketing/ Companies with in-house PR and communications departments that do not run a formal graduate training scheme in this area should offer opportunities for “direct entry” in an assistant or trainee role, so it is always worth contacting organisations you are interested in directly to find out about relevant opportunities. As reputation management is essential for charities and not-for-profit organisations to secure funding and donations, many of these organisations also employ graduates in various PR roles e.g. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/charity-jobs/graduates-and-interns/graduate-scheme and http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Jobs/Graduate-Development-Programme/WTDV030711.htm.
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Often, successful candidates have previous experience of working for a charity through a voluntary placement or fundraising. If you are interested in working in local government or higher education, we would recommend you contact relevant organisations to enquire about opportunities and when/where these are advertised. Most organisations will advertise vacancies on their own websites, but might also use websites like http://www.lgjobs.com/ and http://www.jobsgopublic.com/ or http://www.jobs.ac.uk/. All occupational profiles listed on http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm include a section on typical employers and vacancy sources, so use these as a starting point to research potential employers within additional career areas that interest you.
Useful links and websites LJMU Vacancy website http://ljmu.prospects.ac.uk/ Prospects - Careers information and graduate jobs http://www.prospects.ac.uk/ Targetjobs - Careers information and graduate jobs https://targetjobs.co.uk/ Milkround - Graduate jobs, placements & internships http://www.milkround.com/ Jobs in the public sector http://www.lgjobs.com/ http://www.jobsgopublic.com/ Graduate to Merseyside - Graduate placements in small/medium-sized businesses in Merseyside http://www.graduatetomerseyside.co.uk/ Graduate Talent Pool - Graduate internship opportunities http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk/ Chartered Institute of Public Relations http://www.cipr.co.uk/ http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/careers-cpd/careers-advice-and-case-studies Public Relations Consultants Association www.prca.org.uk PR Week http://www.prweek.com/uk Search for jobs in PR http://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/pr/ http://www.prweekjobs.co.uk/ http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/marketing-pr
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Chartered Institute of Marketing http://www.cim.co.uk/ http://www.cim.co.uk/insight/tools-and-templates/getin2marketing/ (careers information for students and graduates) Direct Marketing Association http://www.dma.org.uk/ Business Marketing Association http://www.marketing.org/ Search for jobs in marketing http://www.simplymarketingjobs.co.uk http://jobs.brandrepublic.com/ http://jobs.marketingweek.com/ Information about careers in Advertising from Creative Skillset http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/advertising_and_marketing_communications Institute of Practitioners in Advertising http://www.ipa.co.uk/ Targetjobs Retail - information about careers in retail, buying and merchandising https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/retail-buying-and-merchandising Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - HR news and jobs; details about membership and qualifications www.cipd.co.uk Personnel Today - HR vacancies and news www.personneltoday.com People Management - HR news and vacancies http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/ Directions - information about careers in the finance and legal sector provided by the Financial and Legal Skills Partnership http://www.directions.org.uk/careers/ Inside Careers - information about careers in banking and investment, chartered accountancy, insurance and pensions http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/professions/banking/advice/ http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/professions/chartered-accountancy/advice/ http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/professions/insurance-pensions/advice/
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Follow relevant companies/websites through Twitter for example:
@LJMUCareers
@Prospects @ProspectsJobs
@targetjobsUK
@CIPR_UK
@prweekuknews
@prjobsuk
@CIMinfo
@BrandRepublic
@InsideCareers
Depending on your specific career interests, you could also follow relevant websites and organisations e.g. @retailweek for news relating to the retail sector or @CIPD for HR-related news.
Sources of work experience Download our mini-guide on “Making yourself employable whilst at University” from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm for an overview of the different types of work experience available and some general suggestions about finding work experience opportunities. LJMU has been managing a summer internship programme for Level 5 students in recent years, so keep an eye on your LJMU inbox for details of any opportunities. Many large organisations like: GSK, L’Oréal, Vauxhall Motors, Microsoft and Cancer Research UK offer marketing or communications summer internship opportunities or year-long sandwich placements. These are generally advertised on websites like Prospects, Targetjobs or Milkround, as well as on the organisations’ own websites – opportunities are also advertised on the Careers Team’s vacancy website http://ljmu.prospects.ac.uk and on www.ratemyplacement.co.uk. Many placement schemes in other areas like finance, retail management or HR are open to students from any degree discipline. Check your eligibility before making an application e.g. some summer placements are specifically aimed at second-year students. Application deadlines for sandwich placements and summer internships can be as early as October/November for a start date between June and August the following year, so start your research early to ensure you don’t miss out on relevant opportunities! Applications for summer internships or year-long placements with large employers are very competitive, so involvement in extracurricular activities, previous work experience or voluntary work can give you the edge over other candidates. It’s never too early to start getting involved in clubs and societies or to gain work experience, so explore relevant options early on in your studies. Many societies/clubs through LiverpoolSU have an events/social activities or marketing co-ordinator/officer, which could be an excellent opportunity to gain some experience in organising events, liaising with corporate sponsors or managing a society’s social media presence. There are also opportunities as a student brand manager or on-campus promoter (these are usually paid positions). Companies
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
recruiting brand managers on behalf of clients like Aldi, Virgin, the Guardian or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office include http://campusindustries.co.uk/ and http://www.oncampuspromotions.co.uk/. If you are interested in completing a year-long sandwich placement, we would recommend that you seek advice from the Employability Support Unit in the Business School, who advertise industrial placement vacancies and advise on opportunities https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/esu/index.htm. Many undergraduate students also secure work experience through a more ‘speculative’ or ‘creative’ approach i.e. after contacting organisations directly through networking events, via email or through LinkedIn. You might, for example, consider contacting a local PR/marketing consultancy (depending on your career interests) as a starting point. Once you have some initial career ideas, undertaking work experience or voluntary work in these areas can be a great way not only to find out whether this role would be right for you but also to build up a network of professionals and organisations in your chosen sector, which can often lead to further work experience or even a full-time role after graduating. Before contacting organisations about work shadowing or work experience opportunities, make sure you research the organisation and find out the best person to get in touch with. It is important that you demonstrate that you are interested in the organisation and have spent some time finding out what they do. Even when applying to secure work experience for the first time in this industry, show the employer what you have to offer e.g. briefly outline any relevant skills or knowledge gained from your course. Look at the skills listed under entry requirements in the occupational profiles on Prospects http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm and try to evidence these on your CV, drawing on examples from your course, work experience or extra-curricular activities to demonstrate how you developed these. Useful websites to research a range of voluntary opportunities include https://do-it.org/ and http://www.liverpoolguild.org/volunteering. Many charities and not-for-profit organisations require volunteers to assist them in organising fundraising events, developing and implementing a social media strategy or generally marketing their organisation. You could also contact LJMU Volunteering Manager Chris Prescott on 0151 904 6356 or c.j.prescott@ljmu.ac.uk to enquire about current opportunities. It is also worth researching relevant organisations/charities and contacting them directly to find out about voluntary roles on offer.
Recruitment schedule Recruitment cycles and deadlines will vary depending on the type of work you are applying for. Again, research is key to ensure that you do not miss relevant opportunities. As a rule of thumb, the selection process takes longer in larger organisations, as they tend to receive a higher number of applications and use several different stages to reduce the number of potential candidates. As a result, application deadlines can be as early as October/November in your final year of study for a start date in August or September of the following year. If you are considering postgraduate study, find out if there are any specific closing dates for applications by contacting relevant universities directly.
Many graduate training schemes with large companies will accept applications from students of any degree background. If you are interested in these roles, you will need to be aware of the recruitment cycle. Many employers begin the graduate recruitment process during the autumn term for finalyear students – some placements are advertised then as well. Most closing dates are in November and December, but some are earlier so it is important to start researching companies that you want to apply to early on. The application process for graduate training schemes usually involves completing an online application form, which may require you to answer ‘competency based
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
questions’. This may be followed by psychometric tests, a telephone interview and an assessment centre. You may also need to submit your CV. Most of the large recruiters have a section on the student/graduate pages of their website that outlines the different steps of their selection process, so check these to find out what is required. For more information about graduate schemes, download the ‘Graduate Schemes’ guide from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm . The Careers Centre runs its “Graduate Schemes Uncovered” workshop on a regular basis – please check our events pages on https://worldofwork.ljmu.ac.uk/events/ for details. Many of these opportunities are advertised in the Prospects Student Career Guide and the Targetjobs directories (available from the Careers Zone) and on websites such as Prospects, Milkround and Targetjobs – also check organisations’ own websites. You may also find work through small and medium-sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs). These types of companies don’t usually have structured training schemes but will recruit ‘as required’. Depending on previous experience, you might find yourself applying for entry-level roles on an administrator grade at first i.e. job titles like marketing administrator, PR assistant, trainee communications officer; but once you have gained experience in one of these roles this should open up opportunities for promotion within your organisation, or give you the required experience to apply for higher-grade positions with other employers. Some SMEs may use their own application form but most applications will be by CV and covering letter. These positions will be advertised on company websites, relevant recruitment websites, the Job Centre and national and local newspapers. The ‘creative’ or ‘speculative’ approach to job hunting, outlined above, is also important when looking for graduate roles. Making contacts and approaching organisations speculatively to look for work is a common route into employment. For more information about the speculative approach to job hunting, download a copy of our guide to ‘The Hidden Jobs Market’ from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm You can get advice about the recruitment process by booking a one-to-one appointment with a careers or employability adviser (call us on 0151 231 8099 (select option 1) to arrange this) or you can attend relevant workshops in the Careers Zones.
Examples of employment destinations (LJMU Business and PR graduates):
Account Executive-Peppermint PR Owner/Director-Duckhands PR Online Communications Officer-Information Commissioner Office PR Account Executive-Zeus PR PR Account Executive-One Marketing Communications Limited PR and Communications Intern-The Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children Company Director-Camp Cupcake Director of Operations-The Box of T Ltd Marketing Manager-Subway Secure Subs Ltd Marketing Officer-Liverpool City Council Marketing Planner-CYTS Sales and Marketing Assistant-IMS Ltd Event Manager-Big Entertainments
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Key events and networking
Liverpool Careers Fair: usually held in the autumn and spring of each year, see fairs website http://www.liverpoolfairs.org.uk/ for additional events Manchester Careers Fairs: open to students and graduates from any university; check http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/events/ for details Careers and Employability events at LJMU: Keep an eye on our events pages at https://worldofwork.ljmu.ac.uk/events/ for details of upcoming employability workshops, networking sessions and employer talks. You might be interested in the “Pursuing a career in clinical psychology” session we usually run once per semester. LiverpoolSU Clubs and Societies: http://ljmu.unioncloud.org/groups#club-society LinkedIn: You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn account (http://www.linkedin.com/) to network online with professionals and organisations in your chosen industry
Other information LJMU Enterprise Fellowship Programme – Support for LJMU students and graduates interested in starting up their own business. Further details can be found here: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/startup/ including eligibility, timescales and training dates.
Careers Zone Our campus-based Careers Zones are based in the reception area of James Parsons Building at Byrom Street, in Aldham Robarts Library and in IM Marsh Library. Call in for help with any careers enquiries, to book an appointment with our advisers, pick up careers guides and resources, meet employers, book a practice interview and much more.
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Notes
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Career Insight: Business and Public Relations
Notes
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