Hi all,

Writing partly to vent, and partly for feedback.

I’ve been searching for a new job for a long time. I was in a Food & Beverage PR agency, and while I liked my team and didn’t mind the work, it was low pay, with a lot of micromanaging. I wanted to expand my horizons, industry-wise. And the goal of a “new job” kept me going. Unintentionally, I assumed that the ways I was feeling about my current job wound subside as soon as I left and got a new job.

Well, I did it. I got a new job.

And I feel more lost than ever.

It’s also a PR agency, this time in the fin-tech space. The team is great. Everyone is nice. The pay is better.

And I’m miserable.

The constant urgency on all fronts, the never-ending hustling, the blurring of professional and personal life (you have to be on the lookout for news to “newsjack” all the time), the constant pitching to journalist when you can’t control if they will respond or not. It’s so overwhelming for me.

And it is after I got this new job that it dawned on me. The problem or dissonance might not have been my previous agency. It might’ve been PR agencies in general.

I don’t think this is right for me.

I just don’t know where that leaves me, or where I can go next. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful to have this job (specially in this economy). But I end most days near tears. I even skip lunch! Maybe it’s just the adjustment period, maybe it’ll get better once I’m settled, but I don’t know.

I love writing. I love being creative and bringing creative concepts to life (recently helped direct a video on the side!). I want a chill project-based job that allows me deep focus time and doesn’t come with the constant, teeth-clenching grind. That gives me a better sense of balance while also being good pay.

Did anyone else feel this way? Did you come to the realization that PR may not be for you? And did you pivot to find something better? If so, what is it?

Thanks all.

I applied for an AE position at a well known agency here in the Southeast in the beginning of July. The interview process started off with a writing assessment (which honestly these tests are dumb if you’ve already been working in PR for 10+ years.) A couple of weeks go by for the company to reach back out and tell me they want me to come in for an in person interview. It took the HR person 3 weeks to get the interview scheduled and it only happened because I reached back out saying it was taking too long to get scheduled. The day of the interview actually went well and I got a tour of the office and met every employee. This was a 2 month process only for them to tell me they don’t currently have a job available for me, but to apply in the future (I won’t.)

It’s frustrating how these agency’s waste our time interviewing. If they didn’t have a job available, they should just let us know right away instead of making us come meet the whole team. Any one else go through a similar experience?

Hi all - I’ve worked in PR for about a decade but have had very little exposure to real world crisis communication scenarios. This is an area I’ve been pushing to learn more about.

As a golf fan and YouTube golf watcher, I’ve been thinking a lot about what Good Good could’ve done differently with their recent reputation issue. For anyone unfamiliar, you can learn about it here.

With the benefit of hindsight and knowing how badly it’s gone for them, I thought of the following reputation management plan and would love your honest feedback…

Once it’s clear the advertisement would create significant reputational risk, take the following steps:

1. Work with Callaway and ad partners to immediately pull the creative.

2. Rush produce a new spot on Good Good’s dime to run for the remainder of the ad buy, with Callaway’s alignment.

3. Make a statement through the main faces of the brand (Garrett Clark and other talent) saying something along the lines of: we messed up and we do not take the mistake lightly. We immediately pulled the ad and are taking steps to ensure we have additional layers of review to prevent unintended messages in the future.

4. Along with the statement, communicate that you are donating the entire earnings from the Callaway ad deal for that specific creative to women’s shelters or domestic abuse-focused nonprofit organizations - 1-3 total, could even let your followers suggest/vote on the nonprofits for consideration. (note - the company said it’s donating its Callaway driver sales to a local women’s shelter… it’s unclear how much that would amount to since most retailers have pulled them from shelves/websites)

5. Add additional review measures for messaging campaigns/advertisements moving forward.

That’s what I’ve thought of so far… without any knowledge of how Good Good’s contracts work with Callaway and others. I know this feels aggressive, and it would be near impossible to get the brand’s leadership to buy in, but it’s clear this has become a serious reputation issue and has led to significant losses for Good Good.

Would love your thoughts - thanks!

I’m currently junior in college studying public relations, and I want to add a minor. My main concern is having a desirable skill set that won’t leave me jobless when graduation comes, which I am especially nervous about with the current economy/job market.

I’m interested in working in food/beverage, so I thought food and society would give me an edge in getting a job in the field out of college.

However, I don’t want to specialize myself too much and then risk losing out on other job opportunities if I don’t land a job in food/bev. I figure I could get an edge in food and beverage instead by getting experience in the field before graduation/out of college and get a business minor, so I have more technical skills when trying to find employment.

I could also do both, but that would mean killing myself academically in my time left in college (18 hours a semester or taking a summer semester instead of working).

What’s the best course of action?