Landing your first public relations Job

Landing a job in a top Public Relations firm is a dream more and more young people are trying to turn into reality. In India, the PR industry has grown at an almost astronomical rate in the last few years. So has the number of people looking to get a foot inside the industry door.

Unfortunately, the industry seems to recruit most of its people either from within the industry, or from corporate businesses or media outlets. For new communications student graduates, the dream of landing a job within the Public Relations industry can therefore feel years or decades away.

I know how it feels, standing on bare ground with nothing but a university degree and a burning desire to get my first job. As a blogger, I therefore did what felt most natural to me – I started searching for articles and blog posts that could help me get an idea of what to expect.

I scrolled through dozens of blog posts on the topic and found that most of them were very helpful. Some explained what I could expect when looking for a job within the PR industry. Others taught me something about how I could attack the situation, what I should focus on when writing a resume or application letter or how I should address the consultancies when applying for non-advertised positions.

Based on what I had read on blogs and what I learned from talking to other people, I put together a strategy on how to achieve my goal.A couple of weeks ago I finally got a job (editors note: emphasis on FINALLY). After two rounds of intense interviews and a debate with the other applicants in the interview process I took part in, I received a phone form the consultancy, a respected Delhi PR-consultancy, and was offered a job as a junior consultant.

To pay back what I feel I owe the other bloggers that helped me in the chase for my first job, I therefore wish to continue helping newly graduated students land their first communication job by offering my best tips on how to land your first Public Relations job.

Summarized in a few steps, based on my personal experiences during my job search, is some advice on how to land your first Public Relations job:

1: Choose your ground
Establish an overview of the Public Relations industry in the region where you are applying for work. Put together a list of the firms that you most would like to work for and see who advertises jobs. Personally, I based my list on firms that could help me develop my Public Relations practitioner skills and that valued ethical standards that I could relate to.

2: Talk to people 
Ask people within the industry what you can aspect to achieve with the academic background that you possess. Ask them what they look for in their employees and see how you fit their criteria. Talk also to people about how to write an application letter and what to expect during the interview process. Try locating someone that is used to recruiting people, and ask them for good advice.

3: Understand your own capabilities
This is probably the most important advice I can give you. It is really important that you take some time to reflect upon your own personality and your own capabilities before you start applying for jobs. There are some questions you’ll just have to know the answer to if you want to land any kind of job. These are questions like:

-Whatare your goals in life?
-What do you want to achieve with the work you do?
-Where do you see yourself within three years, five years, or ten years?
-What kind of a person are you – Do you like to be in charge, are you a good listener?
-How’s your social intelligence, your work ethic, your social life, your learning abilities, your cooperation skills?
-What motivates you?
-Why are you applying for a job in PR?
-What are you good at, where can you improve? How do other people see you?
-What do you see in a good leader?
-What can you offer your future employer? – What can you offer that no one else can?

If you can’t answer these questions before you go into an interview, you can be sure you will never be able to credibly answer them during the interview.

4: Writing the resume
Use the answers you came up with in section 3 when writing your resume. Sell yourself – but keep it short. Look at the resume as a bullet-point media release.

A good way to structure the resume is to divide it into the following sub-headers:

-Personal Information (name, address, phone, e-mail and date of birth)
-Education (list your university degree and GPA  [Masters]– if it is worth mentioning, if not, leave it out)
-Achievements (at your university or in sports etc)
-Work Experience (in reverse chronological order, with your most resent listed first)
-Positions of Trust (held within relevant organizations etc)
-Key Skills
-Personal Qualities
-Other Skills (spoken and written languages, computer skills etc)
-Interests (blogging, reading books, surfing etc)
-References (contact your references before listing them)

5: Applying for the job
You can either write an open application letter to a company you find attractive, or you can apply for an advertised position.

No matter what you do, there are certain simple rules you need to follow. In your application letter you need to answer three simple questions:

1. Who are you?
2. Why are you applying for a job at this company?
3. What unique (but relevant) skills or experience can you bring to this company?

Write in a simple, formal style and keep the letter short. Show the receiving person that you are able to express yourself clearly and concisely

6: The interview-process 
When going to an interview, BE PREPARED:

-Read about the company and the people that are interviewing you.
-Prepare some intelligent questions that you want to ask the company about – three or four should do it.
-Be an active listener: Relate a question or an argument to a topic the interviewees have referred to earlier in the interview – Take notes if necessary.
-Show them that you can engage in a conversation, not just answer questions!

More and more interviews are case based. It is therefore a good idea to think of relevant topics or scenarios that you might be asked to analyze or reflect on during the interview. Remember, most questions that are case based do not have a set answer. The interviewer is interested in analyzing how you react to a question – How you resonate, how you handle pressure, and how you approach the question.

To sum up my post: The best advice I can give you is to smile and be yourself. Try to engage in a conversation instead of only answering questions. If you’re a blogger, that should not be a problem

 Cheero!!!!

An afternoon at Swami Shradhanand Marg!!

Waking up at 8 in the morning, after facebooking till 2 at nite can be a dreadful experience specially when you have your mummy scolding U as soon as she saw U. Scolding for staying awake so late at night and doing stupid and idiotic things all day on Lapi..

Got a text as soon as I switched on my cell.Hey I am planning to shoot a documentary today at Swami Shradhanand Marg. Please do come, It will really help me as U know how to convince people. [Crazy Aanchal] who wanted to be a director was the sender. She fled off to Bombay to do a course on Direction a year back and since then has been in constant touch whenever she needed money or wanted any other help.

Swami Shradhanand Marg…. WTF… where is it.. Opened Google and upon typing the name, I realized dat in our language, it is GB road!! What the hell Aanchal will do at GB road was what I thought immediately.Wow GB road.. I said to myself..I have passed through that area many times but neither had the courage of going upstairs to any Kotha or dark dungeon. 

 GB road is the premier red light area of Delhi and often we crack jokes and stories about how young 'inexperienced' men were lured inside and then robbed of their mobile phones, wallets, shoes , chaddis and boxers!!. I was better safe outside. Never had the balls to walk inside . Later, after 2 hours, she called me and  told me about the short film. It was based on the kids of sex workers, how they live their daily lives. (Do they live a daily life? Or, is it just about survival against all odds?).

I  reached  the New Delhi Metro station at the specified time. !! Seeing me there, she was delighted and gave me a grand hug.. Wow, U seem to be working out. She said with a smile and after a couple of of Suttas, we were off. She took out her Cannon DSLR and started clicking pictures . changing the scenes from white balance to grey scale and relishing each of the pictures that she was clicking. Crazy Aanchal was acting like a Kiddo!

They say it is Asia’s largest hardware market. It could be true. Stores are forever stocked with pumps and paints, tiles and  other sanitary stuff. Across the road is the Indian Railways Coach Care Centre from where we saw horny firangi tourists secretly taking the pics of the Gals and aunties standing on the balcony .There was also a  theka . Wow!!!

As soon as we entered the main lane , we could see most of the sex workers standing on the windows waving,shouting some of them whistling just to seek attention of the people who were passing by..Finally Aanchal said lets go to this one. Kotha No50 was what It read and we had to climb around 20 stairs to reach the Kotha. We saw 2 dalals standing there and one of them was watching both of us with suspicion.

We went inside and we saw a big hall with around 20 ladies and girls sitting on the floor all the eyes were on both of us.The murmurings and chit chatting stopped and there was a pin drop silence.”Namaste, hum log 1 NGO chalate hai and hum 1 picture banana chahte hai aapki aur bachon ki life ko lekar” I said confidently and softly.

Aap kahan se ho??

Hume kuch nahi kehna??

Kaun si NGO??

Kaisi picture???

Were a few questions I understood. Aanchal was sweating and I could see the tension on her face. Hum Delhi ke hi hai and hum aapke bacho ki life par 1 short film banana chahte hai .

There was a lady who suddenly appeared in bright red saree. She welcomed us inside and asked us to sit on the floor mat.We both sat and all of them surrounded us.

Aap  log toh kafi young ho. Aapkaise film banaoge. A young girl around 17-18 years came and asked this.

Anchal told her” Maine course kiya hai Bombay se film directing par. Main banaungi film she said with a confident  smile. Kitni fees di thi course ki .. Main bhi Doctor banna chahti hoon and apni mummy ka cancer theek karna chahti hoon said Deepa and suddenly our voice choked.

Cancer..We have heard about this word , this desease before and we knew that people who suffer from cancer live a terrible life full of pain and sufferings..

2lakh fees and 1 saal ka course hai was what Aanchal told her. Everyone who heard 2 lakhs was shocked. Might have never heard of so much money spent on doing a course.We asked them, we would like to see the childrens and ask them questions and click there pictures.

On the third floor, we entered a room where 10-12 children were sitting. Ye bhaiya aur didi tumse milne aaye hai aur aaj tum logo ke saath khelenge was what deepa said. All of them were very excited on hearing this and came closer to us.

Aanchal took her camera out and asked the bacha party to pose for different pictures. After taking around 50 pictures, she slid the camera inside the pouch once again.We said hie to the drawing teacher, a freelancer who comes in the weekends to teach the children painting and helps the children with other recreational activities.

We could see children from all parts of India.,anjali about seven barely spoke.She wandered all around with a toffee in her hand. Suddenly we realised that anjali-the ‘silent one'- had all the attention of Faiz, an eight year old kid. If the women of the house were to be believed, Faiz was in love with her. He adores her, takes care of her and shares his food with her.Indeed me and Aanchal were smiling like kiddos after hearing all this!!  :-P

We saw Deepak and karishma drawing something on there sheets.Colors were flying This was not a red light area. This was fantasy unleashed, of a childhood in exile, condemned in innocence.To every1’s amazement, Faiz drew quite well.

 So, do they go to school? I asked Deepa after lighting a cigarette, in the balcony. She said , yahan saare sarkari schools hai jahan padai nahi hoti.. I realized then ,that coming over and helping children out once in a while is not a bad idea. About to light my second one, Aanchal came and kicked me behind.. Dude, WTF cant you do this later, she said with her devilish voice.

I am coming in 5 mins… I said

Entered inside and the children were about to go  2 there English classes. We asked them questions about how have they been living and do they get proper food and how there parents treated them, Aanchal making notes in her notepad. Arjun saw my blackberry and wanted to use it.. I gave it to him and within 2 minutes, I could see he started playing snakes after unlocking it. Wow, quick learner I admired!!

 With the bacha party gone, we were served chai,namkeen and anda-bread. All of them gathered around and one of them even asked me that if possible come over and help the kids occasionally with studies.They were even ready to pay me!! Strange but true. Occasional interference of one or two clients did not hamper our conversation. I said will definitely try to come and I could see the smile on there face when they heard this.

We bid adieu to them later in the evening and I could see the happiness in the eyes of bacha party and there families that some one came and talked to them about there condition and some people will try there best to help them. We took an Auto and headed to New Delhi again.Aanchal gave me a high five as we sat in the auto and I could see the happiness in her eyes as she hugged me saying “ It was very emotional” and started crying, I said “ Hey, we will surely do something about it was what I said and wiped her tears.

I am glad, it changed the way I used to see GB road…

What'z The point!!

I'm way past my sleeping hour and I'm totally worn out so I thought I could sleep without popping my pills. As usual, the thoughts came flooding the moment I shut my eyes. Right now, I'm sitting in my  den, waiting for the pill to work its magic while the birds are chirping as they wake. 

I'm disgusted by my own laziness and incompetency. Almost every single one of my friends are about to wake up to get their asses to work, while I'm still here, like always. I'm disgusted not because its been two months but I've done nothing 

. I'm disgusted because I have no qualms being this unmotivated. I've been giving a well-rehearsed speech to anyone who asks about my job search progress. Everything sounds promising, only because those are my stories, and they are written in such a way.

There is no drive to enter the work force, even girls cannot entice me. Till now, I still cannot believe I've came this far, I've completed the never-ending chase of education and worked for a couple of years . I know this is real, but I cannot accept it. Somehow, I'm still hoping I'll wake to find myself dreaming, I'm hoping I'll wake and be 18 again. 

I cannot live this life, this isn't as planned. I'm supposed to be doing a lot of things now, I'm supposed to be driven, to be earning my big bucks, to be achieving something, but all I get are nightmares, nightmares from withdrawals. 

I lose myself everyday and I spend my everyday searching for myself. Sometimes I wish if it's impossible to turn back time, at least let it stop. I quite like being in this pajamas, in this darkness, in this state of tranquility. I cannot stand the noises in the day, the emptiness in the house, the never-ending questions I have no answers to.

I miss myself, I miss my friends, I miss my women, I miss my love, I miss having a real purpose in life.

Small Things brings U Back.

Just a simple message from your side, took me four years back.

The times that we spend, the late nights messages that we shared,

All of them suddenly came alive. Years that we spent,time which can never get back. Those walks together holding hands, came to a life.

It was then I realized its all gone. It was just something which will be with me forever, whether to  accept it or deny it...

But that message made me recall the best days of my Life.

It was my first day in college, I was damn excited.

New life, new friends and Yippie, an altogether different life.

I parked my car and went straight inside, showing my card.

Looking out for some one, whom I know, I decided to walk up to the Volleyball court.

As it is , I was from sports background, so this made more then sense to me.

I walked up to the court and saw a couple of seniors already gearing up for a practice session.

I  greeted them and was asked to change immediately. No choice but to obey.

Remember First day at College!!!

As I started My drills, laughing and enjoying with my fellow team mates,

 enquiring about the crowd and realizing how girls go mad seeing the college sports stars,

I suddenly saw the star of the class!!!

Oh man, what a sight, U came U looked here and there and then faded away.

I was speechless and in the process was hit by the ball on my face.

[Photo khich gayi] the slang used when some one gets hit on his face while playing Volley Ball.

It took me a few moments to realize wat just transpired, It was something that never happened.

Well I again got back to my work, smashing my way around  and made my seniors to admire my Game.

Hey  But my mind was altogether somewhere else. Occasionally trying to glance my way around here and there, just to catch a glimpse of her, I thought my first day would be a hell lot of Fun!! Yeah yeah!!

Finished the practice it was just 10’o clock, I was  glad and all geared up for the challenges and experiences ahead.

Went outside college for a sutta, just to get back my heartbeat.

I was sure it was something I never experienced.

No, I aint talking about the Ball that hit my face, though that was also the first time,

It was the impact that was created by that sight of yours.

Here I again entered, this time I was caught by the seniors.

Of course , U expect something to happen on the first day..

There was a girl coming out of her car wearing yellow Churidar and

 Here I was told to go and tell her that she is looking pretty and give her a flower...

I did not even got a chance to say No, all I had to do was go go and go.

I went and stood there, she was just passing by with head held high.

In a flash, I told her hey I am a first year student, U look pretty and hhhhhhere is a flower for U.

She was shocked, I knew I was gone and there was every one standing and laughing.

She just walked away and I stood there with my collars standing like those old hindi movie actors as if I have done something extraordinary.

Finally I decided to go for the lecture and I saw you.

Wow you are in my class, hey hey hey not talking about  the girl in yellow Churidar.

Days passed by I was enchanted with your charismatic presence.the air of confidence,conviction,attitude and all that was needed to be perfect was possessed by you..

Just any guy would lose his heart for you.

We never talked much..just an occasional hi and more of bye's to which i happily reverted to.

It all went casual until one day I asked you to make my assignment, the thing that usually happens when we enter college.

U said happily that I will do, I thought hey she is d one wooooooooooo Hoooooooo!!!!

One who will complete my assignment..

Suddenly I got a message at nite,

Wow a new number.. New admirer.. I said to myself.

Hey Harsh, your assignment is complete, will give it tomorrow was all that you said.

Here I was overjoyed and waiting desperately to meet U and in the process did not went for the practice...

The Bus stand is pretty nearby, would U mind walking down with me.

My heart skipped a couple of beats, when you came up with this...

Next day U came to college wearing a strap around your leg, U told me U hurt urself...

I helped U to the class and from now on those hi’s got some extended conversations...

First year went by and U became the most sought after and I became your best friend...

Those 15 minutes of walking around were damn amazing to end a tiring day...

God! I was so proud to be your best friend, hey I never knew I would start getting Linked up with you!

Deep inside it was something I wanted to,  and the overwhelming feeling was something that made me say Woooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo!!!!

I never knew things would turn around so much and jealousy will creep in, specially when the gals around would act as professional Bitches.I would be so pissed off and would go for long sutta breaks whenever somebody talked bad or bitched about U.

Those coffees around, those silent talks, those late night messages were something I was looking forward to, Coming to the college and attending class was wat you intended to do.

28^th December was the day that turned my life, I realized that I was in love and that too with a girl who is already commited and moreover leaving.

To sum it up, it was as if everything was falling apart.

Miss charming and mysterious told me that she will Miss me a lot.

25^th January was the time that you made me realize , it was more than just hie’s and Bye’s

Now, I had the best girl, one can ever dream of, the epitome of perfection, the  one who made me sing..

My dil goes Hmmmmm….

Nopes, I was not dreaming but the reality was yet to sink in.

Every talk , every message made me feel as if I am talking to some one who will be with me for lifetime.

As some one said, Giving sum1 all your love is not an assurance that he or she will love you back... 

The smell of coffee is still fresh, those midnight messages still make me excited as hell, the touch of yours still melts my heart.

I am glad it happened, it happened for good

And as the hanging on my wall says it all,

We are Friends Forever.!!!!

Ps: The girl in yellow churidar is  an assistant in the physics lab and I went ahead and apologized to her the next day. 

Love... Just Love.. My way of Perceiving Love

If You Love Sum1 Then Remember......


Very often when we meet sum1, he or she belongs to sum1 else..... Its so funny how we set qualifications for the right person to love while at the back of our minds we know that the person we truly love will always be an expectation!!!! 


There would come a time when we have to stop loving sum1 not because that person started hating us but because we find that they'd be happy if we let them go. You will know you really love some one when u want him to be happy even if their happiness means you're not a part of it!!!! If sum1 comes into your life and becomes a part of you, but for some reasons he couldn't stay... DON'T CRY TOO MUCH!!!!! Just be glad your paths crossed and somehow she made you happy even for a while. 


There are a few things that we never want to let go; Some people you never want to leave behind; But keep in mind that letting go is not the end of the world but rather it is the BEGINNING OF A NEW LIFE!!!! Just bcoz sum1 doesn't love you the way you want him or her to doesn't mean they don't love you... REMEMBER.... The best relationship is when your love for each other is greater than your need for each other. 




Giving sum1 all your love is not an assurance that he or she will love you back... Don't expect love in return, wait for it to grow in his or her heart. If it doesn't, be content it grows in you. It takes a minute to have a crush on sum1.... An hour to like sum1.... A day to fall in love with sum1.... But it takes a lifetime to forget sum1 you have grown to love!!!! And finally REMEMBER....

 Love is rather complicated, but I'll tell u this, "THE SECOND YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE TO MAKE SOMEONE ELSE HAPPY THAT'S LOVE!!!!"