Saturday, November 3, 2012 10 good reasons to work in public sector comms and pr (and 10 reasons why not to... )
What better way to test the pros and cons of working in the public sector, ahead of a talk with PR students in Manchester, than Twitter crowdsourcing what a bunch of industry professionals thought.
by Darren Caveney
I always enjoy talking to PR and comms students about careers. In my own way I like to think (rightly or wrongly) that I am able to give a little bit back and still remember those who helped me when I was starting out in the industry. And it's always an opportunity to learn from the students too.
We all need a leg up and access to others from time to time. Now, probably more than ever, actually.
So when Sarah Williams, senior PR lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University asked me to talk to final year PR students about in-house careers in the public sector I was very happy to help.
It doesn't seem so very long ago and I was in their shoes (a pair of rather nifty sky blue adidas gazelle's, as I recall) when I was one of the first to gain a PR degree back in the mid-90's.
Whilst the world has moved on significantly some aspects of the job haven't changed at all. The fundamental ability to quickly pull together an effective comms strategy is a given and I learnt from the master in Anne Gregory. Some of things she taught us still stay with me today.
So after 16 year's of looking after comms and pr for a range of people, I have a decent idea on the pros and cons of working in the public sector.
But in the spirit of embracing social media and talking to others I put a message out on twitter on the day of the talk to see what others in the industry thought.
and the results were interesting...
10 good reasons to work in public sector comms and pr:
1. Your role is often about 'real' issues (schools, care, culture)
2. Innovators and exceptional performers stand out, get spotted
3. It's an incredibly diverse sector, and so will be your role (see also 10 reasons not to... )
4. Job satisfaction. Your work counts - it's not (normally) about profits and shareholders
5. You have an opportunity to try (or push to try) new things like open source, open data and infographics
6. It's a genuine chance to build meaningful work relationships
7. Your role can make a difference to people's lives
8. There is a huge opportunity to work on large projects, events and issues from the outset (and not just after year's of experience)
9. The chance to experiment and innovate with digital and social media and have real conversations with real people. That's a real-life, daily training course sat right in front of you without the need for a classroom or £400-a-pop training days
10. You can contribute to the place where you live
10 reasons not to...
1. Local government is too diverse. It doesn't tend to do any one thing exceptionally well. It's more likley to be 'ok' at lots of things (and it's a fact that sometimes your comms is only as good as your product)
2. One size fits all does not work. One trick ponies need not apply.
3. It's slow - slow to change, slow to innovate
4. Forms, forms, forms... and then some more forms.
5. There's often a complicated chains of command which make quick decision-making and speed of response problematic
6. There is no glamour (forget Mad Men, 90's-style G&T drinks and cocktail receptions and office drinks cabinets)
7. The B word - bureaucracy
8. Budgets being slashed - even the comms basics are now in danger as budgets literally disappear
9. Your job will now always sit somewhere on a sliding scale of 'at risk' status. As Martin Reeves said recently, the tide has gone out for public sector budgets and it won't come back for 10 years. Maybe more. Maybe they will never return.
10. Your work will not always be valued, understood, needed or wanted (both internally and externally)
Oh, and here are five essential skills and attributes you'll need...
1. the patience of a saint
2. diplomacy and tact
3. assertiveness and leadership
4. the ability to read minds
5. the skill of making everyone feel special
and, finally, two reminders to local gov and public sector communicators...
1. Not one of the students I spoke to buy a newspaper. Not one. One subscribed to the Guardian Weekly online. None of the others read a paper newspaper. Not a surprise but further evidence if it were needed of the major shift in channels.
2. When prompted, the students could name three council services: schools, bins and libraries. Again, no surprises but a suggestion that widespread knowledge of our services across young people is low (and that's our fault, not theirs)
Thanks to the following contributors:
MarcommsKenny, Russ Cockburn, Ross Wigham, Nic Davies, Limetree Comms, Sara Nelson, rossy71, Chris Taylor, Katie Canning, Steven Heywood and Dan Slee
Darren Caveney is co-creator of comms2point0 and Vice Chair of LGcomms
Reader Comments (9)
Really interesting blog Darren, and as always it hits home!
I recognise the pros and cons listed. Thankfully the pros still currently outweigh the cons, but as you suggest the tide is turning due to budgets being slashed country-wide.
The final two points, do show the scale of the challenge ahead - adapting to a new style of communications and raising awareness of all the services local government provides, and how important these are.
Ian
Hey Ian, thanks for the kind words and your observations.
We must be due another gem of a post from you again soon?
best wishes
Darren
To the essential skills I would add:
Storytelling - turning dry, complex, jargon-fuelled information into engaging copy
Thanks Nancy - love 'storytelling' as a skill.
I think it should appear on comms job descriptions.
Good blog as always Darren.
The final two points will, I think, point to our watershed moment just around the corner - or maybe here already?
Many thanks Ross, suspect you are right (and that we are there already)
Take care
D
Thinking about this further, another couple for the 'plus' list (at least for a district authority)...
- Your skill set will extend beyond communications and will likely include web design, marketing, consultation, stakeholder relations and possibly even areas like human resource management and procurement, that you wouldn't necessarily experience in a similar role in the private sector.
- Your stakeholder relations and political understanding will prove invaluable for future positions
A great list if pros and cons, Darren. I was shocked but not at all surprised to hear that not one of the student reads a newspaper, and that's PR students!
Did you also ask if they read individual articles linked to from the Twitter, G+, news aggregators like and the like?
My impression is that many people read articles publshed online by newspapers, but only if recommended, and if they have attention-grabbing headlines.
On skills and abilities front, Matt Murray has a great big list over on CommsGoDigital: http://www.commsgodigital.com.au/2013/10/36-skills-for-digital-comms-people/
Thanks for the kind words, Mark.
I have repeated the exercise since and got exactly the same results. And these, as you say, are PR students who might have a greater than average likelihood of reading newspapers.
Suspect you are absolutely right about the links and recommendations sparking some online reading.
And yes, thanks for the link to Matt's pages. We're big fans of what he is building over in Oz.
Thanks again
Darren