The Unexpected Elements of PR

“Great thanks for packing all that up! Now move it.”

While some parts of the public relations career are what you would (stereotypically) expect – parties! dinners! free stuff! Fashion Week! glamour! – there are still a lot of things that go on in the background that people like to not mention. Since it is Fashion Week and I have a large event corresponding with a certain, sexy movie launch tonight, I thought I would share some of the unexpected qualities of a PR career that you can expect to find at any level.

Physical Labor - Day one, you will carry something that probably isn’t safe for you to carry in heels. 7 years later you will still find yourself at Home Depot hauling potted trees to style a space or carrying moving boxes 3 blocks in 9 degree weather to move gift bags from your office to event location. Just this week one of the partners of the agency was moving new furniture into the office to prep for a new business pitch. The physical labor element of PR never ends.

Mindless Work - There will be hours spent on excel. Hours. There will be days stuffing gift bags and creative deliveries. You will need to attend meetings with new clients that will feel like your AP Bio class. There is some mindless work with every job, but in PR it definitely pops up on a weekly basis.

Negotiator/Mediator - You will throw ice water on too many hot situations, mostly heated by emotions and hurt feelings. Whether it’s with co-workers, vendors, or clients, you will need to talk people down. Clients will call you ready to scream and you’ll have to put on your sweetest voice and explain the situation calmly and take care of too many small things so they feel good. And flowers always help.

Customer Service - Someone will have a problem with a product and it will be your fault. You’ll need to be the middle man between the brand and this consumer. You’ll need to make sure she is taken care of and it never happens again. You’ll need to answer the queries on Facebook about why the brand isn’t taking care of an issue, and you will do it with pizzazz.

There are many others… what other unexpected elements of PR have you seen?

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