Undergraduates of tertiary institutions in the country have been advised on how to prepare for a career in Public Relations.
They were offered relevant tips at the fifth edition of the Virtual Public Relations on Campus Summit organized by the Nigerian Women in PR (NGWIPR) over the weekend held exclusively for students of Lagos State University, Ojo.
Two female public relations professionals: Tolulope Omoyeni, an alumnus of the University of Sussex and Communication Officer at the Lagos Business School, and Oluwatoni Sanni, a freelance Public Relations professional and a graduate of the Canadian University, Dubai spoke at the programme.
Omoyeni, who had wanted to be a broadcast journalist like Femi Oke of Aljazeera encouraged the students to start a blog and write daily, emphasizing that writing is the most important skill for anyone who wants to pursue a career in public relations.
“I had my first degree in journalism and I wanted to be like Femi Oke. After my Masters in the UK, I applied for a job at a radio station and I was offered N15,000 as salary. I had to review my life goals again because I realised then that nobody cares about your degree but what you are able to deliver.
“ While a radio station offered to pay me N15,000, a PR agency offered me N40,000. This, amongst other factors, made me decide to pursue a career in PR” she explained.
For Sanni who had a background in advertising but got job opportunities in PR, discovering her flair for the profession early, her personable character and skills made her thrive on the job.
According to her, “a PR person must have a great personality. Such a person must be open to learning about every sector and topic, and must be up-to-date with the latest trends”.
She encouraged the students to take advantage of the holidays and apply for internships regardless of whether it is paid or not, adding that the experience they gather matters for their first role.
Dr Ganiyat Tijani-Adenle, a gender researcher and lecturer in the School of Communications, LASU who represented the Dean of the School of Communication, Professor Sunday Alawode commended the organisers for bringing the Summit to their school.
“We were quite excited to receive notice that Nigerian Women in PR was interested in delivering the Summit in our school. Many female undergraduates focus on PR during their undergraduate programmes but lose interest along the way due to a lack of motivation and mentorship.
“ I believe seeing young ladies like them who are thriving in the profession will encourage and motivate them not to give up, “ Tijani-Adenle added saying the institution looks forward to more opportunities to collaborate with the organisation, especially in the area of research for women in public relations.”
The PR Students on Campus Summit is designed to provide an opportunity for undergraduates to interact and learn from young female public relations professionals, with the aim of providing practical and actionable information to help undergraduates make an informed career decision.
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“We have eminent and experienced people in Public Relations. However, if we are not consciously opening up the profession and training people to come into the field, in the end, we will not find very capable hands to hand over the baton to. That is one of the reasons we came up with the PR summit”, said Tolulope Olorundero, founder of Nigerian Women in PR.
Speaking further on the significance of the event, Olorundero said, “with the #NGWIPRStudentSummit, we bring female practitioners with three to five years experience to share with undergraduates how they transitioned from student to professional, thereby inspiring them and demonstrating how viable a career in public relations can be.”
The self-funded virtual Summit by NGWIPR has been held for students of the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, University of Uyo, and the Nigeria Institute of Journalism because of the determination of the group to “take the gospel of public relations to all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
As part of the Summit, the Nigerian Women in Public Relations introduced the attendees to its Students Ambassadorship program where five female undergraduates will be selected from the institution and fully integrated into the NGWIPR community.
“The Students Ambassadorship programme is an initiative by Nigerian Women in PR created to enable female undergraduates to gain experience in the field of Public relations while still in school. The programme is aimed at giving them a head start in the profession.
The selected students will act as a liaison between their institution and the organisation, developing public relations programs and delivering them with direct supervision from the organisation.
“Our aim is to engage these students as volunteers who learn the ropes of PR by educating their immediate community about the impact public relations can have in building a society we all desire,” said Abimbola Fapohunda, Communication Associate at Nigerian Women in Public Relations.
Nigerian Women in PR, established in 2019, is an independent social impact organisation created to build a robust network of practising and aspiring female public relations professionals of Nigerian descent. The aim of the organization is to support, inspire and empower these professionals while improving access to career-advancing opportunities.
With its programmes including #PRin30Seconds, PR Students’ on Campus Summit, Reverse Mentorship Workshop and #ThrivethruPR, the organisation is “determined to support female professionals get and retain a seat at the table where far-reaching decisions are made.”
TOP TWEETS FROM THE SUMMIT
If you want to succeed in PR, you need to be voracious about getting information. It will influence your writing and the reach of your content – @Tolucomms
To succeed in PR, you need to continuously upskill – Toni Sanni #ngwiprstudentsummit
The fundamental thing about PR is that you must do research and understand your target audience – @Tolucomms
To be a great PR personnel, you must know how to write and edit. You must embrace a culture of critiquing people’s work – @Tolucomms
A PR person must have a great personality. You must be open to learning about any and every sector or topic. You must be up-to-date with the latest trends – Toni Sanni
If you want a job in PR, the skill you need is writing, every other thing is an add-on – @tolunimi_
“What I learnt from that experience is that in Nigeria, no one is going to pursue you with a job just because you have a degree or an international masters.” @tolunimi_ at the #NGWiPRStudentSummit
That you have a degree doesn’t mean anybody will hand over anything to you. You need to pursue what you want – @tolunimi_
