Advice To A Recent Grad

I got this email a few days ago, and haven’t had the time to respond to it, but I thought I’d at least let my readers pick up the slack:

My name is XXXX and I have read your blog for a while now after being introduced to it through Instapundit. I’m sure you get plenty of e-mails like this where people ask for your advice or opinions on something so if you don’t have time to respond it’s more than understandable.

Some background on me; I recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Political Science and just finished my first semester in the University of North Dakota’s M.S. in Space Studies program. Also, I am in the Army National Guard and just transitioned into the public affairs career field, completing a basic course at the Defense Information School.

I had originally planned to go to law school and hope for a career in space law, but after moving to public affairs I’ve fallen in love with the PR-field and now hope to find a PR-related career-path in the aerospace industry. My biggest question to you is, where do I start? I’ve tried researching which PR firms have major aerospace companies as their clients but have found nothing. Also, I don’t see aerospace-PR jobs advertised a whole lot. I’m not sure where exactly to begin looking or who to attempt to contact.

Also, do you have any advice on how I could present my qualifications once I do find someone/place to contact? My issue is that I have a liberals arts bachelors that doesn’t directly apply to the career I want (anymore) and my actual PR-training might not be understood/taken seriously since it comes from the military.

One last question, am I foolish in pursuing the North Dakota program? I talked to a few alumni before I applied and they all had great things to say, however I sometimes wonder if I’m making the wrong decision pursuing an interdisciplinary degree that an employer might not “get” when they review my resume.

Sorry if this e-mail was a bit rambling. I greatly appreciate any help or advice you could give me.

As I said, I hope that some of my readers, who understand the PR world better than I, can help.

[Update later afternoon]

Some advice from a (smart, who knows this stuff) reader who prefers to remain anonymous, but may be useful to more than the emailer:

[He should] save up enough money in his bank account to work as an unpaid intern someplace when he’s done w/ classes in North Dakota. That will give him real-world experience, and could actually turn into a job at the firm he’s interning for. Also, it’ll help him confirm that P.R., which can be a field that chews up young people and spits them out, is what he really wants to do. And if he chooses a city that has lots of outfits working in industries he likes, he can make other useful contacts.

Sounds good to me.

15 thoughts on “Advice To A Recent Grad”

  1. I don’t know much about PR but I have always advice kids to get as broad of an education as possible. Poli Sci majors are a dime a dozen but how many also know PR and anything about aerospace or how things work in the military. In China they say if you are one in a million there is 1000 more just like you. You make yourself desirable to a company in your combination of interests and strength. The hard part is finding the people that need your specialty. But if you are pretty darn good at two or three things, you should be able to find a place that will pay you for at least one of them. It may not be the “Right” job but it will pay your rent while you keep looking.

  2. Great of you to do his, Rand. Anyone who writes as politely and clearly as this young man deserves a break.

  3. Instead of a public relations firm, he might try getting a gig in-house with a smaller aerospace or related company.

  4. It is hard to find non-technical jobs in any technical industry. Keep an eye out on the companies you targeted and something will eventually pop up.

    A couple months back SpaceX was hiring someone to work their booths at conventions. Part PR part HR. At the time it was one posting out of 15-20, the rest were astronaut or engineer type jobs.

    I have no idea about PR firms but you could also add lobbyists to your research. With an increased reliance on private corporations for access to space, there should also be a rise in lobbying activities.

    You could broaden your scope and look at companies in the defense industry. They love people with a military background and your other specialties in poli sci, PR, and space studies would be a good fit.

    A great place to show how your different degrees compliment each other, is in your cover letter.

  5. Plus, if there are companies that you would like to work for, call their HR person and ask what you could do to become the perfect fit for their needs.

  6. My first piece of advice would be to change his name. I don’t think I’d want to hire anyone named XXXX….

  7. Finding your perfect job is a bit like hitting a home run your first time at bat. Be willing to get a PR job in any type of company, get experience, then you will have something real to offer the company you really want to work for. While working, make contacts with people in the industry; they may help you in ways you wouldn’t imagine. Hardly anyone works for the same company their whole career.

    With enough experience you may start your own firm and work for many companies you really like working at. It’s space. The sky isn’t the limit anymore. Especially for those that are young today.

  8. Having taught PR at the graduate level and having helped a number of students get jobs with firms and having tried to introduce the basic concepts of it to space commerce I would advise him to continue with the goal of going into the Space law field. The role of public relations is not well understood nor respected by aerospace firms, especially the New Space ones. Nor do they have any interest in understanding it. Its just seen as a necessary cubical to fill, like a clerk or book keeper.

    Space advocates may complain about the lack of interest in space, but none of the advocate groups or firms, large or small give their PR departments the authority or budget needed to really do a campaign to get the public interested. I am sure that is he is thinking he will make a difference in public support of space by going into PR, but he will only find a lot of frustration with the tech types who are in charge and look down at anyone without a tech degree as a 3rd rate worker not accepting they are as skilled in their field as the tech folks are in theirs.

  9. Wodun,

    [[[A couple months back SpaceX was hiring someone to work their booths at conventions. Part PR part HR. ]]]

    That is a good example of the low regard New Space firms have of PR. (And why those firms are misunderstood by the public….)

    Imagine someone with a Masters Degree working a booth at conferences just handing out brochures and posters to SpaceX groupies… Talk about a waste of skills. Working at McDonalds would be a step up, as least there are paths to management from the entry level positions. And it will probably pay better.

  10. I’m not surprised your correspondent came up empty looking for PR firms doing work for aerospace majors. I worked, a few years ago, for one of the firms that distributes press releases. As far as I know, all of the aerospace/defense prime contractor firms, and major subcontractors do their PR completely in-house. If you want to do PR for one of them, you need to be on their payroll. As others have pointed out, a military background should be a big plus in getting in those doors.

    As to some of the other advice on offer here, I can speak as a former target of PR – I was once the editor of a trade magazine. I yield to no one in my admiration for the late Robert A. Heinlein, but the late sainted Bob notwithstanding, it is not really true that you can sell dead cats to the Board of Health if given a suitable budget and a free hand. If technical types have developed a low opinion of self-important flim-flammers it’s likely because of personal experience rather than predisposition. The best way a technical organization or enterprise can draw the favorable attention of the public is to accomplish something impressive. Ryan Aircraft’s best-ever PR move was Lindy landing in Paris. Scaled Composites’s greatest PR hits were the Voyager and Space Ship One flights. SpaceX’s best PR was its Falcon 9 home run in June. Other examples from history abound. Companies that do nothing of consequence may be vulnerable to the blandishments of arrogant PR types who think anything can be put over with the right ‘campaign” but their betters know better and don’t drink the Kool-Aid. If your correspondent wants to do consequential PR, let him find an employer or client who’s doing consequential things.

  11. Dick Eagleson,

    I will second that. Too many folks mistake PR for hype. Its not. Its about communication, but you have to have something to communicate that is worthwhile. Also its far more about “listening” then “selling” and then using the input to shape your communications strategy and decision making.’

    For example surveys I have done show that public support for planetary defense and using space resources to solve shortages on Earth blow any other justification for going into space out of the water. Goals like exploration, going to Mars, searching for ET, returning to Moon or even space tourism are in the single digits among the non space cadet crowd. But instead of listening all space advocate groups do is shout louder hoping they will somehow be able to sell their dead cats to the Board of Health. And then wonder why no one is buying.

    That is also one reason I have written off most space advocacy as a waste of time. Instead of working to make the pie bigger its only about fighting over who gets the biggest share, and keeping other groups from getting any. The current debate over President’s Obama’s space policy is a prime example, and I expect the end result will be no pie for anyone when all is said and done.

  12. Mr. Matula,

    “The role of public relations is not well understood nor respected by aerospace firms, especially the New Space ones. Nor do they have any interest in understanding it. Its just seen as a necessary cubical to fill, like a clerk or book keeper.”

    Tell me about it. Try getting an MBA in modern America and convincing NewSpace companies that finance, marketing, and, well, PR are useful exercises.

    Mr. Eagleson,

    You’re generally right, but don’t forget that Virgin Galactic is more well known than Scaled by a large measure, and they weren’t formally involved with Scaled at the time. There’s also a long list of incredible achievements that didn’t help anyone, because the press wasn’t there. It doesn’t help if the press isn’t there, and they don’t show up retroactively. They have to be invited and convinced to come before the fact, and that’s what PR does.

  13. Everyone,

    I’m the student who contacted Mr. Simberg and I just want to say thanks to everyone who replied to this post with advice for me. All of the comments have given me a lot to think about and consider, especially the comments about the NewSpace companies often forgetting the value of PR.

    I really appreciate all of the input! Thanks again!

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