PR Resources for Students

As a CMU grad and former PRSSA member, I am so excited that you're sharing your words and wisdom with the CMU PRSSA chapter! I was just at an event for PRSA Detroit, and PRSSA students from Wayne State University in Detroit attended. Each student there expressed how happy they were to have had the opportunity to attend a PRSA event and meet professionals who may possibly be their boss or colleague one day. The students got some great one-on-one time with professionals, so I would suggest PRSSA students reach out to their local PRSA chapters about participating in events.

Social Media Club is another great group for students. We started Social Media Club Detroit this summer, and it's given me another opportunity to connect with professionals in the PR industry. I would highly encourage students to find out if there's a Social Media Club chapter close to where they live, and if so, become a member!

Hi Heather! You're advice and wisdom was so great at tonight's chapter meeting, I'm checking it all out now! Thank you so much!!

I really like #PRStudChat on Twitter. I think it's such a great resource for young PR students. I joined in yesterday for the first time and I found it to be very insightful.

Brian Solis was a guest mod, and he's one of my favourite blogs to go to. I have learned so much about PR 2.0 (go figure! That's the name of his blog, lol) from him. I wish he would more. But regardless, I'm glad Valerie told me to join in the discussion yesterday b/c it really made me wish I had had something like that available to me when I was an undergrad.

I'm glad outlets and tools like #PRStudChat & Twitter are around because they really bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.

:)

Great post Heather! CMU PRSSA is so excited to hear from you. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

Thank you so much for the love, Heather!

I also like the 20 something blogger site - 20sb.net. PRSA is also a great resource - they always liason with different PRSSA chapters, and many offer a student discount to attend programs.

By connecting with local professionals and members of the media, you will quickly gain a deeper understanding of industry and begin to build mutually beneficial relationships. Take advantage of all networking events in the area. Best of all, students are often given a discounted price to attend! Some events include PRSA luncheons, meet the media events, tweet ups, seminars, etc. It's one thing to connect with people on social media sites, but take the initiative to attend an event or set up a lunch or coffee date with someone in the area. Step out of your comfort zone and try to meet at least 3 new people at each event. If you are willing to put in the extra effort to do these things, your reward will be far greater in the end.

Thanks for the great contribtions yesterday! There are so many great resources available for PR Students these days... PRStudChat is a great oppty to connect w/ professionals and educators (the LinkedIn Group is a fantastic way to start networking!) Heather Huhman has a terrific LinkedIn Group as well- #PRIntern|#Entrylevel ... a super resource for finding out about internship opportunities and jobs. PROpenMic.org should be on the list as well. The key thing w/ all of these tools, chats, blogs, books and networks, is that students take advantage of the opportunity they provided to build relationships.Comment on Blogs. Reply or CM on Twitter. Engage professionals on Linkedin via shared Groups or Q&A. Building relationships is what PR is all about and as a student of PR, there is no better time to start than right now.