*West Virginia University’s IMC program is a PRSA National partner.*
The Sample Resume
What’s the toughest aspect of putting together a resume? It’s staring at that daunting blank piece of paper. The challenge for entry-level professionals is to create a resume that gets you out of the “catch 22” of needing the
experience to get the experience. For mid-career, the challenge is fitting one –two decades of experience ontoone- two pages, while carefully selecting the right keywords to get you that interview. In a joint effort with West Virginia University’s IMC program, PRSA’s University Partner, we have put together a sample resume that will help guide your career and best represent your communications skillsets from an IMC perspective.
IMC Skill Sets Keep You Ahead Of The Curve
Why is IMC important to your career? Because it is the direction that public relations and communications is headed. Consider the following: You have put together a great social media plan for your supervisor. You’re generating a great deal of buzz and you have seen a jump in traffic on your site. Nowadays, your supervisor would next have you work with the marketing department to initiate a campaign and plan that incorporates a communications, digital, social media and a marketing component that keeps consistent messaging in all venues. If you don’t have IMC skills to back this up, you’re at a great disadvantage in terms of staying ahead of the curve.
IMC Skills Will Coincide With the Changing Roles of PR Agencies
What if you want to work at a top public relations firm like GolinHarris or Edelman? You’d need to take the same integrated marketing approach that these agencies are doing to satisfy their clients 24/7. To deliver real-time marketing communications, they have built multimedia centers in every office around the world. A leading agency like GolinHarris has a “bridge” for their employees to monitor up-to-the-minute stories daily, and then take back to their clients. Many other public relations agencies continue to follow suit.
Job Security, Job Relevancy and Maximum Salary Capacity
No doubt, the goals of any career are to keep your job, consistently upgrade your skills and to earn the best salary possible. Marketing managers, including integrated marketing managers, earned a 2012 median wage of $129,870 per year. Job outlook from 2012 to 2022 is expected to grow 12 percent (Bureau Labor Statistics). The majority of jobs posted on PRSA Jobcenter now have a marketing component to them.
Next Steps
Consider all the elements listed in the sample resume. They may include but are not limited to a working knowledge of search engine optimization, crisis communications, media relations, digital media, event management and working with public relations agencies. The more preparatory training you have in these venues, the better. Remember that a good graduate program will enable communications professionals to learn to re-align their marketing activities to ensure a constant flow of information to consumers from a variety of media.
The PRSA Jobcenter and WVU IMC is recommending these career guidelines and resume concepts because we want you to succeed at your job whether it’s at a public relations agency, corporation, technology firm, nonprofit company or any of the many other public relations specialties available.
For information about WVU IMCPrograms, please visit their website and if you’re looking for a job, please explore PRSA Jobcenter.
