Jack O'Dwyer? Is he somebody?

http://www.odwyerpr.com/

I'd recommend a business oriented major rather than English, although I could support it as a minor. The problem, IMHO, with a great many PR/Communicator types is that they don't have a clue about business, marketing, finance, etc., and yet they work for companies that are built upon these disciplines. They tend to get in meetings/conversations about business topics and look like deer in the headlights or ask questions/make statements that show their ignorance.

And then wonder why they aren't taken seriously.

I also would add to your list some Math and Science courses, if for no other reason than these courses teach how to think and solve problems. I'd also add courses in entrepreneurship and innovation.

It's also important to round out the formal education with some hands on experiences, especially those that involve leadership, project management, team motivation, etc.

Craig, I agree that the best communicators are versed in some of those disciplines, but I'd add that you may get a company to help pay for your MBA, but you'll never get a company to pay for your broader education.

Nobody finds PR and employee communication more interesting than I do, but I would worry very much about an 18-year-old busying him- or herself collecting all the right perspectives and skills—from great literature to teambuilding—to be a crack corporate communication commando.

And faced with one or the other, I say: Learn the big stuff, then pick up the specifics as you go .....

Right on, Craig. I constantly give that advice to all college students and the parents advising them, that no matter what you want to go into -- including sports, theater, and writing -- business as a major or minor is a smart call. No matter what career you go into, it's going to be in a business. If we communicators wish to have a seat at the strategic table, then we need to know business strategy and understand our role in it, and that is not just to be able to "speak the language of the CEO and CFO".

In terms of a starting a career in PR or other writing-oriented track, the key thing hiring managers are looking for is a portfolio. So I say again, Craig, right on but with a slightly different take. Get a part-time job or internship that helps you build a portfolio of published writing, or just get busy on the campus newspaper.

michaelclendenin

Craig and Michael, two questions.

• I don't see any defenses of the PR or communications major here. What's your take on folks who emerge from school with those degrees?

• I may be moved to agree that macro- and micro-economics and a business history class would be part of the good liberal arts education I stubbornly recommend to the poor schmucks who seek MY advice. But I'd never tell someone who had a chance to be a really good writer/actor/artist/engineer/scientist/musician to major or even minor in business.

I have to agree with David, but that could be my secondary eduction degree talking (emphasis on English, of course). However, I did officially earn a "Communications Comprehensive" degree in secondary education, giving me the ability to teach English, public speaking, journalism and drama. I feel like it prepared me for the work I do now with the exception of the seat at the table. But to be honest, I don't really want a seat. Why?

For the same reason that none of my friends in college were business majors. I'd rather hang out in the theater department and play cards with those people. I simply don't find business interesting, but I feel that I can still get the messages across. Maybe I'm wrong.

An important point, Eileen; the VP might need to have an MBA, but the newsletter editor might need to have an MFA.

I hope everyone would acknowledge the need for a few theater-department card players in an ultra-serious, button-down corporation.

I wouldn't tell anyone who wants to be a good business person to major in business. Really.

Craig, seriously, if anyone takes the time and energy and spend the money to complete a business-oriented major, there's about a snowball's chance in hell that they're going to be seeking a PR job when they graduate. They will of course look for a job as a business manager, where they will make three times as much money as they would in communications (David's niece being the exception).

I do agree that business literacy is crucial to establishing credibility in our field, but it can and perhaps, as David suggest, should be learned later on. About five years into my career I took a three-day crash course called Financial Accounting for Non-financial Executives, put on by the American Management Association or something like that, and it was hugely valuable to me -- finally taught me how to read a balance sheet.

So, yes, we need to know about business but business needs us for all the other things we know about human nature, and creative energy, and story telling, and fairness, and sympathy, and compassion -- and the extremely valuable skill of being able to detect bullshit a mile away. And when one is too close to the business, you can't do that very well at all.

As for communications/PR degrees and diplomas, I think they're valuable and, interestingly, they are often taken as second degrees by folks who have already lived some of their life and already have an arts degree. I can remember how refreshing it was for the new grad who joined a corporate comms department at a former employer. They always added something to the conversation by reminding us that there are things called communications principles that practitioners can sometimes forget as they move from one crisis to another.

David:

Let me point out something obvious, something that everyone knows but has so far not mentioned: If we were advising your niece to become a college teacher of English, our first impulse would NOT be to tell her "For God's sake, don't study English whatever you do."

Which means to me that (1) Business simply is not a real field of study, (2) Neither is public relations, and (3) These two pseudo-fields have the messiness, the chaotic quality, the unpredictability of "life" and therefore will never be formal subjects of study, reducible to principles, theorems, hypotheses, but rather trades, in which the rules change as often as technologies or public opinion change.

But then, exactly the same objection can be made to introducing "Communications" or "Journalism" into the college curriculum. Both of these two are also simply too amorphous, too "lifelike" to be branches of study.

As a matter of fact, treating business and PR as if they were real subjects like geometry or organic chemistry has led to the absurdity of "Methods in Minor Sports" and the other courses designed solely to keep college professional athletes eligible.

Of course, to say this is not to imply that there are not tricks of the trade that one can learn from fellow practitioners. Ragan Communications itself, the company I work for, has been built on that assumption.

Bill Sweetland

Great post.

I have a P.R. firm, and I have an undergraduate business degree (in finance) and an M.B.A., so I'd like to add my comments.

I also have a P.R. colleague who also has an M.B.A. and her own P.R. business.

We both agree that our business education (from the M.B.A.) has been helpful to us in understanding the goals of our clients, financial measurements, and nuances of business stories.

In a perfect world, if someone could afford it, I would recommend a liberal arts degree, working for a few years in a P.R. firm, and then getting an M.B.A., especially if the P.R. firm will pay for it.

I don't believe that a P.R. degree is necessary.

I taught myself every single aspect of public relations, including how to write a press release, pitch, etc. I even wrote an e-book on it (the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit) so others could learn how to do it themselves.

P.R. is not rocket science. But understanding business and being a great communicator is essential to successful P.R. efforts.

I think a PR/Communication major is preferrable to a general degree IF there is a solid course of study in the other areas I outlined. Of course, my own background was not one of grand design but of happy accident:

* entered college with interest/dream of becoming a veterinarian, so naturally in high school I concentrated heavily on biological sciences/chemistry/math. Interestingly, the other area I excelled in was writing.
* when I admitted to myself in my sophmore year that I didn't have the temperment (or drive) to become a veterinarian, I switched to business with a focus on marketing.
* finally ended up in J-School in the PR track curriculm (which is where my Mom said I should have been since day one...either that or Law school; wish I would have lisened to good ol' mom! )

When I found "PR" I was fortunate to study under Walt Seifert (founder of PRSSA) who taught the nuts and bolts of PR, and who had a great internship program. I also think it beneficial that I wrote for the OSU Lantern, actually winning one of the top three coveted beat assignments (which galled the news ed students to no end since they considered me a "sell out!" ).

>>But I'd never tell someone who had a chance to be a really good writer/actor/artist/engineer/scientist/musician to major or even minor in business.<<

Neither would I if they weren't going to join a business-oriented organization or one where advancement required some level of business acumen. BUT, if they plan on building a career in a business environement and want to advance, they simply have to have a working knowledge of how money/profits/markets/etc. work.

Ron,

You make a good point but, how many PR/Communicator professionals actually will invest time and money to follow your example? Or even take some courses at the local community college?

Hell, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics there are more than 250,000 (or more) engaged in PR and communications and yet,how many actually are/have joined a professional association? Less than 10%?

Thanks for your comments, Craig, Ron, Bill, Craig.

For those who want to get rich and powerful by doing PR, they need to be:

A. A genius.

B. An MBA (and still purty smart).

But for many others, isn't it slightly fun to be in a barnstorming profession that has no rules, no uniforms, no legal standards of conduct?

It seems to me we might celebrate the lack of organization as much as we rue it. Or, as many in our profession pretend to do when they appear outraged at something like this Princeton Review thing, pretend others just don't understand our incredibly disciplined, deeply complex profession.

David, you know which side I'm on. I've been a barnstormer all of my career and have benefited from a lack of strict rules and well-defined practices. A journalist-turned-PR-consultant speaking at a recent PR conference I was part of in Australia called PR a "black art" -- perhaps, in the spirit of this blog, we should call it a "grey art" instead.

"But for many others, isn't it slightly fun to be in a barnstorming profession that has no rules, no uniforms, no legal standards of conduct?

It seems to me we might celebrate the lack of organization as much as we rue it. "

I think it's not lack of organization that we should celebrate as much as it is lack of "ordination." Our lack of orthodoxy is the essence of our value to the organisations that employ us, and the fact that there are only few things that we take seriously gives us the ability to question that which others hold sacred.

Good one, David.

As I'm one of the "weirdos" David referenced in his initial post (why?), I'd better get my US$.02 in here...

Actually, it was the Review's description of "business communications" (which O'Dwyer missed) that I personally was most upset about. I won't repost it here -- but if you check it out (click on "weirdos" at the top of this page), I think you'll agree it's pretty superficial. That's what has galled so many people... and that has (fortunately) led to this topic of discussion (here and elsewhere).

From my perspective as an old-timer -- having worked with communicators with degrees in English, Journalism, Communications, Business, Psychology, Sociology, Physical Education and other majors -- some "specialized" programs do seem to encompass most of what a prospective employer might look for when hiring a new communicator.

That's why my ideal degree in -- get ready -- Communications would include the following:

- A healthy dose of liberal arts -- as any degree should include, to provide that "well-rounded" education

- A series of courses in writing -- not just literary prose, but text that's concise, compelling and oozes clarity

- A few courses in business -- not an MBA, but enough to provide a solid foundation in such areas as strategy, finance, marketing, organization and management

- And finally, the Communications curriculum, including (in no special order) measurement, marcom, media planning & design, speechwriting, presentations, strategic and crisis planning, film/video, the "technology of the moment," comms management, and so on. (No, the list isn't complete -- but you get the idea.)

- Oh yes, internship(s), because any opportunity to get their hands dirty on-the-job will help aspiring communicators made a smoother transition from the classroom to the real world.

I'll be the first to agree that OJT (on-the-job training) may be the greatest learning experience, but someone with this kind of college/university education is more likely going to go a lot farther a lot faster and will certainly be more capable of hitting the ground running...

...and have a great time in this barnstorming profession!

David, in the interest of full disclosure: I emerged from Ithaca College with a degree in Communications. I've probably learned 100x as much in the 30+ years since I graduated -- but I like to think I started out at IBM much better prepared than had I received a more generic degree. I may be a weirdo, but my record speaks for itself.

Of course, as we Yanks would say, "your mileage may vary." And that's cool.

Oh, one more thing: I think (hope) most of us aspire to a higher calling than "legal standards of conduct." The world is full of executives and politicians (is that redundant?) who may meet the letter of the law, but whose conduct defies even the semblance of moral or ethical conduct. Regardless of what education and degree(s) we have, aren't we better than that?

Another thought struck me as I was driving into the office today:

Given that the Princeton Review has staked out a position and, from what I have been able to determine is not backing down in the face of opposition by O'Dwyer and other professionals who have responded in various forums and blogs, my underlying question is "What are the professional associations going to do about it?"

It would seem that this issue is ready-made for IABC's new advocacy initiative or should be a catalyst for PRSA to engage in their famous refrain of doing "PR for PR" or something.

Or will it be another example where the official industry response is a gnashing of teeth and wailing?

Well, good point Craig. But I must say--and I neglected to mention in my original post--that it was IABC advocacy czar Mike Zimet who gave me the heads-up on this whole thing, and it's his discussion I link to under "weirdos," above.

Not sure what Mike or IABC intend to do about this publicly but they are on top of it.

Mike--

Sorry I called you a weirdo.

But you have to admit, it WOULD take a weirdo to be 18 years old and at once so intensely focused, professionally ambitious, broadly curious and technically willing that they'd sign up for the communication major you lay out here.

My favorite communicators have always been people who found their way into this profession after giving up—or giving up making a living at—their great literary, journalistic or artistic ambitions.

And the most SUCCESSFUL of those folks have been the ones who found fascination in this business, and who threw themselves into it wholeheartedly, applying their considerable intellects to achieve greatness in a business of which they understood the real context.

Yes, maybe I'm the weirdo. But I've found lots of other weirdos in this business, and them's the ones I like to think with, and drink with.