An Interview with Deirdre Breakenridge: #PRStudChat and Mentoring Relationships

By Rowena Briones

Rowena is a graduate student studying communication with an emphasis in public relations at the University of Maryland. She also works at ICF Macro, a research and consulting firm that conducts health and communications marketing for non-profits and governmental agencies. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter and read her blog debut, PRismatic Perspectives.

On February 15th, I had the amazing opportunity to serve as a representative for UMD’s PR students and participate in a Skype call with Deirdre Breakenridge as part of winning the #PRStudChat Challenge for Universities this past October. Though I was extremely nervous right before the call, Deirdre was extremely friendly and approachable, and we delved in right away into a very engaging and informative conversation. Feel free to listen to the podcast in its entirety, but here are some of the key takeaways from our interview, which focused on #PRStudChat and mentoring relationships:

Where do you see #PRStudChat going in the future?
We definitely want it to grow, in the student, educator, and professional base. We want to take it on the road, have meet ups all around the country. Maybe have the universities who participated in the challenge hosting these events.

How, if at all, does #PRStudChat foster mentoring relationships?
Because this dynamic community is bonded around the PR profession you’ll get a lot of people who will want to help each other. That’s what its all about. There’s an overwhelming willingness to help. Relationships are being forged outside of #PRStudChat. Students contact me for help. It’s the environment and the people that make it such a great community.

What are some advantages/benefits to a mentoring relationship?
It’s a chance to give back. All of us grow up in PR. We all take, take, take, as you advance in your career. When you get to that point it’s your time to give back to the universe. Mentoring is a wonderful opportunity to learn about PR and communication through the eyes of a professional – to have them guide you, give you advice, open your eyes to challenges and exciting communication you’ve never experienced before. Though you’re all learning in your classes it’s hard to make that connection with what you’re learning in the classroom and what actually takes place in the business environment.

What makes mentoring relationships unique in the field of public relations?
We are such great, great communicators and we truly know how to build relationships, that’s our role, that’s what makes it so wonderful and better, and the learning that’s taking place is the best relationship building because you’re working with people who know how to communicate, grow and educate.

What are some advantages to using social media in your mentoring relationships?
The landscape, depending on the platform, is so rich with ideas and information… it’s easy to listen, find relevant information, and share quickly and talk about them, either through that platform or through a Skype video sharing things on your desktop. You tap into these great informational portals and bases of knowledge to help the person that you are mentoring.

Has social media changed our perceptions of mentoring?
It could in the sense that you do have quick sharing and knowledge. I don’t want it to replace…if you have the opportunity to be face to face, there’s a certain relationship building when it’s more personal. I wouldn’t want mentoring to be in 140 characters or less. For mentoring, you wouldn’t want anything to be cut short. Because that’s the opportunity to ask questions, to get in depth with stories, and anecdotes, and challenges and how we got over certain obstacles. That can’t be shortened, it shouldn’t be.

What advice would you give to mentors/mentees undertaking a mentoring relationship in PR?
It would be to really listen first, so you can understand the person, the relationship, understand their needs. Bring what is relevant and new and important to PR professionals, be proactive, bring information to them that they wouldn’t get as student or in their own organization. It all starts from the “getting to know you” phase. And that is so important. You don’t want to skip over it, you don’t want to bombard with information… you want to learn and understand and grow together.

Students are so intuitive when it comes to the technology and the platforms and being able to navigate the landscape. They could teach us a few things. And we can help them connect the technology side of PR with the business and communication end of it and how to help customers.

What advice would you give to mentors/mentees undertaking a mentoring relationship using social media?
If you’re using social media, don’t rush it, balance it with other platforms to have longer conversations. If you get the opportunity together to participate in dynamic chats, do it, so that you’re both listening and learning to bring back interesting topics and things that have happened.

All in all, I had a great experience talking with Deirdre and learning about her personal experiences with mentoring and PR, why she started #PRStudChat, and her thoughts on how social media can impact mentoring relationships.

Edelman Saves Face with Social Media

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

PRSSA students from across the midwest and a few from across the nation.

PRSSA who??

Is this a joke?

Actually, this was no laughing matter. This was the situation we faced at Edelman on Thursday, February 11, 2010, when I attended the DePaul PRSSA Regional Activity, ‘Get in the Loop’ in Chicago, IL.

A group of 28 fellow PRSSA members and PR pre-pros led by Kellyn Wieland, VP of Special Events at DePaul PRSSA, trekked from DePaul’s Loop campus to Edelman’s agency downtown. Oo-ing and Ah-ing as we approached the skyscraper gleaming in the sunlight, we walked through the glass doors and waited to be ushered through the building. Giddy with the excitement of being at a “big” agency, we took a seat on the couches and ledges, patiently waiting to be led upstairs to the land of Edelman.

But that initial excitement turned into deep disappointment. We sat in the lobby for 45 minutes, never to be let in to the agency.

Kellyn spent the entire 45 minutes trying to call her Edelman contact, only to be asked to “come back tomorrow.” To note, Kellyn had dutifully sent email after email weeks before to confirm the visit. However, we later found out that it was the day the Edelman Trust Barometer was released and the entire agency was booked in meetings.

Sitting with 27 other restless college kids in the lobby, I decided to tweet via text from my non-smartphone to David Armano, Vice President of Edelman Digital, about the Edelman fiasco.

Even with my annoyance at the wait and confusion, I was astounded when Rick Murray, President of Edelman Digital, responded within seconds of my tweet (read from bottom to top):

Heather Crowley from Edelman HR came down to the lobby with another Edelman internship coordinator to tell us a little bit about Edelman, its internship and employment programs and to answer any questions we had about Edelman.

Had we been kicked out of the lobby like the security guards wanted, all 28 future PR pros would have not only left empty-handed, but with a bad taste in our mouths.

It still amazes me what one tweet can accomplish. Congratulations, Edelman Digital, for listening when no one else would hear us.

Does Your Twitter Handle Belong in Your Resume?

In the day and age of social media, emails and personal websites, our world is gradually becoming paperless. One *exception to this paperless world is your resume/ CV (*even resumes/CVs are becoming paperless, but most employers will prefer a hard copy for the final interview or will print off your “paperless” version onto paper during the application process).

But is the bridge between online and on-paper one that should be built? Or rather, does your social media contact information belong on your resume/ CV?

In my opinion, yes. I put my twitter handle in my resume. Where you decide to put your social media information is personal preference, but I decided to make my twitter handle very noticeable and included an entire section under “skills” where I include which social networks in which I am active.

I also have my blog (the one you are reading right now!) listed under relevant experience/ projects. However, I only suggest you include blogs in your resume that you regularly write for or that have received some sort of recognition.

Putting your social media contact information on your resume not only let’s the employer reviewing your resume/ CV that you’re tuned in to using social media, but that you have nothing to hide. Let’s face it, they’re going to google you regardless if you put your twitter handle on your resume/ CV or not. Why not beat them to the punch and say, “Here I am and this is why you want me to work for you” (this is also made under the assumption that your social media identity is kept clean/ professional. I think this is a safe assumption to make for most PR pre-pros). Showing employers that you have nothing to hide, but instead are actually borderline showing-off your social media identity not only shows candidness and professionalism, but confidence in who you are as a pre-pro and your willingness to make life easy for him or her.

As a result, your social media identity tells them even more about you:

• Personality type
• Personal brand
• Interests/ Hobbies
• Aspirations
• Skills (especially writing and using technology)

This type of information is especially helpful to your employer when applying for jobs that are out of state or area. It lets him or her get a sense of who you are and whether or not you would be a good fit for the company. It provides the employer a sneak peak to your feature film.

Some employers even place high-importance on the use of social media contact information. Here’s what some of the pros said:

Worob It’s the first thing I look for when reading resumes.

thescottbishop If you have an active and valuable twitter brand…add it to your resume (but be aware of what you tweet).

prtini Absolutely a good idea if you’re applying for PR/SM jobs. Shows you are involved online. Important for

employers to know.

sjhalestorm Fits very well into contact info. – gives feeling that you are involved, not hiding. Give potential employers all the opps you can to stalk you by including Twitter handle (+ others) – then impress them.

Additional Resources

Report today in the UK mentions use of Twitter handle / LinkedIn details on your CV

Careerealism’s Resume: 20 Down and Dirty on What to Include

Brand Republic: Social Media talent vacuum in PR and Marketing

(Special thanks to @kionsanders @bitty_boop @Lmnovo @patrickbjohnson @aaronwolowiec @AdamVincenzini @dfriedman16 @TBlinkedin @lisaatufunwa @PattyBaragar @EstrellaBella10 @AlexiaHarris @han_ma @ Worob @thescottbishop @PRtini @sjhalestorm)