Written by: Laik Sweeney, SSC President and University of Guelph-Humber student
Angela Frangos is a student representative for the University of Guelph-Humber and stepped up this year as the Assistant VP, Internal. Currently, Angela is completing an internship brand-side.
*Responses have been edited for clarity. Watch the full interview here.
How did you find public relations, and why did you choose to get into it?
I feel like I stumbled upon PR. I wasn’t aware that this was a career path in high school, but I was always really good at reading, writing, copy editing and public speaking. Looking back, that was all a sign showing where I was going to end up.
I began to look at media programs in grade 11, and from there, stumbled upon communications. I looked at a lot of schools and ended up taking a chance on the small school that I had never heard of – the University of Guelph-Humber – and I absolutely love it. Guelph-Humber is really unique because you get a degree and a diploma in four years. You also get all of the theoretical knowledge that a university would give you and the more hands-on, industry-specific skills that a college would give you.
I also liked Guelph-Humber because it bought me some time. Although I liked communications, I wasn’t sure if I could make a career out of it. With Guelph-Humber, the first two years of the program are general, giving me those extra years to make sure I was certain about my career path. From the PR classes that I attended early on, I thought that PR would be a really great fit for me, and it has been! I’ve been really loving it ever since.
Tell me more about your experience on the Student Steering Committee and your new role as Assistant VP, Internal.
I’m really happy I had the chance to step up into this role. It’s been a great opportunity to be much more involved in the event planning that we’ve been doing on the SSC, and the SSC in general has been, and continues to be, an amazing experience. I’m really glad that I joined and was given the chance to be here.
The SSC has also been a great way to learn from other PR students at other schools who are going through the same thing. We all have similar concerns and nerves, and we also get to talk to and learn from industry professionals who share their skills and knowledge with us.
Students are encouraged to take their first position in public relations at an agency. You’re doing yours brand-side; what’s your advice to those who are debating between the two?
I love being in-brand. I’ve only been in the position for a month or so, but I really am enjoying it. We definitely are encouraged to go the agency route, and I think that is for a good reason. You have so many opportunities to get hired out of school or as a student. You get a lot of experience with different brands in different areas right out of the gate, which is very beneficial.
However, I always had a gut feeling that I wanted to be in a corporate environment. I wanted to work with one brand and get to know their voice and messaging really well. It has been a great fit for me. If you feel like you’d be better in-brand, give it a try! As students, now is our chance to try things. Trust your gut, and you can always change course later.
What’s your advice for students coming up into the PR industry?
Don’t box yourself in, and don’t feel like you have to know everything right now. You don’t have to know where you’re going to end up. I feel like we’re encouraged to find the niche market that we want to operate in right away. If you know that—that’s great. But, we’re students, we’re learning, and that’s okay. In communications, we have the opportunity to move around a lot—whether it’s in-brand or agency, lifestyle or tech.
Now, I’m a strong advocate for setting small goals for yourself. For example, I set the goal for myself that I wanted to do an internship in a corporation. Now I’ve achieved that goal, and I’m living in it and learning from it so I can revise my course and set my next small goal. This is not to say that you can’t have big dreams; this just works really well for me. By setting small goals, I can live in the moment a bit more and be more open to opportunities that may come my way. I want to make sure my next step is something I’m really excited about.