PRSSA Press Release: Professionalism Panel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Panel of Public Relations Professionals Shares Insight with PRSSA Members

ATHENS, Ga. – March 6, 2019 – Last Tuesday, UGA PRSSA hosted a panel of three professionals to speak to the chapter about interviewing, professionalism and general questions about the public relations industry. 

The panel consisted of Kaci Pollack, Executive Assistant to CEO, PR Specialist and Intern Manager at See.Spark.Go; Samantha Meyer, the Grady Director of Experiential Learning; and Kim Landrum, Grady professor and PRSSA sponsor. 

PRSSA President Brooke Hamil kicked off the round of questions by asking, “What is the most important thing you’ve learned along your professional journey?”

Pollack responded by saying the most important thing she has learned along her career journey is the power of a relationship, especially with the networking opportunities that accompany developing strong professional relationships. “If you just foster good relationships, you’ll never know when that might come in handy,” said Pollack. 

Graphics campaigns professor Landrum gave advice to the chapter by saying, “Be flexible and take chances. My life would not have been what it is if I had just sat there and played it safe. You need to figure out what gets the blood pumping through your veins and you need to go for that.” 

When prompted with questions about the application process for jobs and internships, Meyer, a Grady Double Dawg graduate herself, highly encouraged students who have not been to see her in the Career Center to schedule a meeting to discuss job and internship searches, interview strategies and experiential learning opportunities. She also stressed that there are plenty of jobs for students and that they need to be active agents in their job search. 

Each panelist emphasized taking charge of one’s own career path, reiterating that assertiveness, attentiveness, leadership skills and passion set apart each student in the search for a job or internship.

“It’s about being in the driver’s seat versus the passenger seat. You want to get in the driver's seat of your career,” said Pollack.

The next PRSSA meeting will meet on Tuesday, March 19, with Tyler Williamson from Porter Novelli.