There are many college instructors and professors who have brought social media principles and techniques into the classroom, though few have integrated it as early or as thoroughly as Robert French of Auburn University (@rdfrench on Twitter).
I spoke with him about entry-level jobs in PR, internships, and the experience of running PROpenMic, a Ning-based social network for PR students, faculty, and practitioners.
Phil Gomes: So, give us a state-of-the-union on PROpenMic.
Robert French: Growth continues, but primarily with students. I’m happy with that.
More faculty would be great, but we have a lot of terrific practitioners that continue to contribute.
Traffic seems to be up, a bit, too. Our time spent on site and pages viewed per visit are both at about five (5 minutes & pages). That is consistent with the life of the site, too. We are, overall, at 624,076 pageviews for the network. I know these are not the best indicators, but worthwhile to consider.
Most appealing to me is the growth in use by academics in class exercises. We’ve had several faculty incorporate the running of the site, a week of adoption with posts and videos, to using groups for classroom exercises. From the United Arab Emirates to the UK and here in the US, students and their faculty are using PROpenMic as a learning lab. This, to me, is the most rewarding aspect of the network.
We’re always open to any ideas to expand opportunities. The only drawback for me? Time and resources. Whatever happens, it has been a positive experience.
PG: On PROpenMic, we had one member who said (only half-jokingly) that ads for entry-level PR jobs basically consisted of “Tweet for my client non-stop” or words to that effect. What’s your sense of the spirit in which PR companies and marketing organizations are hiring your students?
RF: I do fear that many faux internships are being offered by people that are really only interested in spamming. Seriously. The most recent internship offer, which I removed, was for a non-paid group of students to ghost post and tweet. It was yet another SEO link and keyword flood effort.
I’ve been happy with the jobs and internships our students have been finding. Actually, a lot of those jobs and opportunities found them. Our various projects, like Auburn Family and PROpenMic, seem to get the attention of potential employers. I believe it is the experiential nature that most employers find appealing.
From an alumnus that’s now incorporating social media into the mix for the Georgia Cattleman’s Association to our two interns that just built a social network for Auburn University’s Alumni Clubs, they are being given real projects with significant responsibility.
One student was just offered a job with a regional insurance business in south Florida (at $50K/yr) to slowly build a presence for them in social media spaces. I found it interesting that they emphasized the “slowly” aspect of getting involved. So, some people are taking the area seriously and do see it as a communication function important to their company.
Lastly, I believe we have six alums or students actively working in political campaigns using social media. These are Alabama state and county races. That was sort of a surprise.
Add those experiences to the people we have in everything from church and retail PR work to those in corporate and government work and I’m heartened to think that the real opportunities in broad public relations work still exists. It is even growing.
PG: You came out pretty strongly against unpaid internships, even getting into a back-and-forth on PROpenMic with one hiring manager and, eventually, banning such postings altogether. What has happened since?
RF: I still try to stay on top of these and at least challenge them, if not banning them altogether.
Aside from the instance I shared above, there have been more and more attempts (IMO) to capitalize on the economy and dire need for internships. How are they capitalizing on it? By pushing “for credit” internships. I always want to remind those pushing those opportunities that it is the university that determines an internship’s viability for credit – not the provider.
A post from examiner.com led me to the U.S. Dept. of Labor site, featuring this:
If all of the following criteria apply, the trainees or students are not employees within the meaning of the Act:
- The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
- The training is for the benefit of the trainees or students;
- The trainees or students do not displace regular employees, but work under close supervision;
- The employer that provides the training receives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees or students and, on occasion, his operations may even be impeded;
- The trainees or students are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
- The employer and the trainees or students understand that the trainees or students are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.
If nothing else, this has emboldened me to even further address the cause of pay for students in their internships. Yes, you and I have both worked for free in our early days to gain experience. Today, I feel that pay for students is a must in almost all instances.
PG: In keeping up with the pace of change, how have you changed your curriculum in the past year?
RF: My curriculum seems to change every semester, let alone every year. From gaining access to Radian6 to focusing more on real world assessment of reach and potential for influence, we try to continually give the students experience that employers will relish in a new employee.
Our experiential blogging, feature writing and video production continues and seems to morph each semester. I’m always looking for new relationships in the local community where students may truly have an impact. Just a few weeks ago, The Corner News (a local print & online weekly) picked yet another student’s story for the front page of the print edition.
If there is a new tool or opportunity that will benefit the students, I want to be all over it. Our largest daily newspaper is about to launch a citizen journalism section to their site. I plan to have us in there.
PG: We have a few of your students among our ranks. What would you say to PR students who would want to join them?
RF: Yes, you have hired many of our alumni and we’re grateful.
To our current students, I say they should discover the key characteristics of those wonderful people and mimic their behavior … until they can expand upon it.
As I see it, those students all exhibited these key characteristics.
- They listened and learned before they dove in.
- They gained an understanding of, and an appreciation for, the markets and environments they wanted to work in after graduation.
- They were willing to take chances. They are unafraid to fail.
- All of them are quite terrific writers.
- And, having personalities that draw people to them, rather than pushing them away, is always a plus.
Each of those students embraced traditional and emerging practices. They had and have a balance. Develop the same knowledge and character traits within yourself. Then, employers will come to you.
