communication

New Year, New Degree: The Road to Grad School

Lauren Gray 1 Comment

grad schoolWhen I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in May 2012, I couldn’t wait to be done with college. Passionate about starting my career and impatient to begin my new agency job, I was ready to leave behind tests, lectures and projects for the real world.

Exactly three years later, in May 2015, I’ll be in class again – this time, as a graduate student pursuing my master’s degree in integrated marketing communications.

Why grad school?

My decision to pursue a graduate degree was the direct result of a shift in my career path. After two years of working agency jobs – and an unexpected layoff after the loss of a client – I was unfulfilled, frustrated and ready for a change.

After much thought, I accepted a marketing position with a small liberal arts college where I focus on telling the stories of students, faculty and alumni who are doing amazing things. I assist in developing communications plans for community relations, development and alumni relations efforts. And I’m in an environment where education and the pursuit of lifelong learning are valued and respected.

Unlike the agency world, where experience is indispensable and graduate study isn’t a necessity, nearly all management and executive-level jobs in higher ed administration require an advanced degree. And, with more of their top communications officers reporting directly to college and university presidents than ever before, I’ve got my eye on the top spot and a plan to get there.

In addition, I hope to teach at the college level in the future – another position that nearly always requires at least a master’s degree.

For both of these reasons, grad school became a logical next step for me. But how do you know it’s right for you?

Is grad school the right move for me?

It’s a difficult decision to go back to school – one with personal, professional and financial implications. Before you sign up for a GRE prep class, here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Will earning a graduate degree further my career? Think about where you’d like to be in your career five, 10 or even 15 years down the road. Search job postings based on those goals and look at the qualifications. Is a master’s degree preferred or required? Talk to your professional mentors and explore LinkedIn profiles. Understanding exactly where you want to be in the future will help shape your plan for how to get there.
  • What program fits my objectives? Part-time and online programs are flexible options for working professionals. MBA programs focus on business, while M.S. and M.A. programs can have professional and academic tracks. Since my bachelor’s degree is in public relations, I was looking for a graduate program that would complement my skill set while allowing me to focus on taking classes in areas where I was less versed. After narrowing down the choices, I reached out to alumni via LinkedIn and learned firsthand their experiences and how they were using their degrees.
  •  How much will it cost? Though grad school isn’t free, there are many ways to cover costs and make sure you’re not saddled with large debt in the process. Make sure to submit the FAFSA, which will help generate loan eligibility. Explore scholarships and fellowships. In addition, talk to your boss about going back to school. Many employers will look favorably upon an employee seeking education and may provide tuition assistance or reimbursement.
  • Does the timing make sense? It’ll take me a little more than two years to finish my degree taking classes part time while I continue to work full time. That’s quite a commitment. Will you be able to devote the time necessary to be successful? Each person’s situation is different; take a look at personal and professional obligations and be realistic about what you can take on.

With public relations and marketing professionals working in a variety of industries, each with their own set of requirements and qualifications, grad school may not be the right move for everyone. My best advice? Do your research. Ask the right questions. Create a plan. It will soon become clear if (and when) graduate school will fit. And, if you end up back in class in 2015, I’ll save you a seat!

Sarah LackSarah Lack is an alumna of Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She works in the communications department at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, and is the communications coordinator for Girls on the Run of Greater Summit, a nonprofit organization serving Northeast Ohio. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter (@sarah_lack).

communication and pr… Three Things I Do to Improve My Communication Abilities by Janet Krenn

New Professionals PR Blog Leave a comment

In The Public Relations Strategist, I recently read an article called: “Leading in Tough Times” by David Grossman (APR, Fellow of PRSA, and CEO of The Grossman Group). The article had several bits of interesting information, but one point stuck with me. Grossman points out that just because you write or talk doesn’t mean that you are communicating.

“If your audience isn’t understanding you, then it doesn’t matter what you are saying. Communication happens in the mind of the listener,” Grossman writes. In other words, the difference between writing and communication is how well you’ve reached your audience.

For people who aren’t in public relations or journalism, this concept is just about completely foreign! In school, other departments teach students to write in academic prose, which is typically too wordy with too many clauses and too stilted for consumption by the average individual. Just because you communicate well with an academic, doesn’t mean that you are communicating well overall.

In my opinion (and I don’t believe this is original thought, but maybe just difficult to determine to whom to attribute it), there are three things we can do to better communicate with a general audience:

1. Prune
How many times have I written useless words in this article? “Just”, “so”, the list continues. Trimming back these useless words and some redundant sentences would make any written piece more understandable. As William Zinsser, author of “On Writing Well”, wrote “It won’t do to say that the snoozing reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. My sympathies are with him. If the reader is lost, it is generally because the writer has not been careful enough to keep him on the path.”

2. Practice
We all practice writing at work–it’s part of the job! But what do you do to practice when you’re not in the office? Later, I might practice by writing a long update email to some friends or by adding to the pages of my neglected journal. Right now, I’m practicing by writing this blog post. If you’re looking for more ways to practice your writing and communication, New Professionals members can also write for this blog. (Contact me if you’re interested.)

3. Read
It’s no secret that the best writers are enthusiastic readers. Now, we find so many sources of content, narrowing down options has become tough. Hundreds-of-thousands of books are published each year, and maybe as many blogs are posted each day. Then you have newspapers, social media. So how do you find what to read? On top of my work-related updates on Google Reader, the dailies, and the weeklies, I typically take recommendations from magazines, friends, or colleagues. (Did you notice that your New Pros group has been reading and discussing 3 books during our “Summer Book Club”? It’s not too late to participate in the August’s book “Crush it!; we’ll discuss the book on the blog during the first two weeks of next month.)

What about you? How well do you think you communicate with your intended audience? Do you have tips or tricks that keep you on your game?

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JANET KRENN is the 2010 Chair of the New Professionals of PRSA and will be hosting the “CRUSH It!” discussion during our Summer Book Club in August. You can contact her at janetqs(a)gmail.com or @janetkrenn.