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Written by: Dhruvy Rawal, Blog Manager, Centennial College 

First impressions matter 

Often, a great way to get an employer’s attention is by sharing your best work with them. Especially for budding PR professionals, demonstrating your value by presenting a well-put-together portfolio can greatly pique a recruiter’s interest. 

Even before you make it to the interview stage, the first impression that your resumes and portfolios form can be a deciding factor on if you’ll land the job. So here are some tips that’ll help you along the way in creating an impressive portfolio!

How to design an impressive portfolio 

The platform

• When creating your first portfolio, user-friendly portfolio designing websites like Wix and Strikingly are great options. You can create a digital portfolio within minutes, which stays preserved on your website for a long time and is easy to share and edit.  

Introduce yourself 

• Not everyone knows who you are (yet)! Dedicating a part of your home page to a short summary about who you are and what you do is a good place to start. 

Get creative 

• Designing portfolios can be super fun – as you get to experiment with different templates, layouts, design elements, and fonts. Get creative and let your personality reflect in your portfolio. Having said that, do remember that it is going to be viewed by employers, so keep it professional.

Portfolio content 

• When it comes to showcasing your work and creativity, the sky is the limit. If you’re starting out in the industry, don’t hesitate in including your schoolwork in the portfolio, as long as you feel it is something worthy of sharing with an employer.
• Written samples such as news releases, communications plans, media pitches, and blogs are a great addition for PR students, as they display your core writing skills.
• You can also share your best photographs, social media posts, podcasts, and videos you may have created with your peers.
• You can include unpublished work too, just remember to give credit where credit’s due though!

Sharing your work 

• Creating a portfolio is just the beginning. What matters is you driving visibility by including your portfolio link in the resume. By doing this, you make your work easily accessible to recruiters and future employers, who now have a fair idea of your potential and capabilities.

Last thoughts

It takes time, effort, and constant updates for your portfolio to look sharp and client-ready. But once you put in the work, it’ll greatly help you in making a memorable first impression – and place you higher up on the recruitment ladder! 

To keep up with all things SSC, follow @CPRSstudents on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok.!

Submitted with credits to The Business Wire Global Media Relations Team (CPRS Toronto Sponsor)

COVID-19 and the resulting shifts in the labour market have undoubtedly impacted media and the media relations landscape. 

Our global media relations team identified these eight notable trends in journalism for the year ahead: 

• The rise of hybrid events
• Importance of strong relationships with journalists
• DEI, Culture Awareness, and Transparency
• AI and data journalism
• Growth of newsletters and podcasts
• The role of social media in news media
• Brand citizenship and continued corporate social responsibility
• More focus on resources to support journalists

[Learn More]

Written By: Dhruvy Rawal, Blog Manager, Centennial College

Working from home during the pandemic has challenged us all to adapt to a new normal. Now, we may be challenged yet again when adjusting to a hybrid working model in the coming months. 

Many of us are feeling anxious, dreadful, excited and in some cases fearful at the thought of returning to work in person. To find out what ‘work’ may look like for the PR industry in the near future, a group of post-grad PR students from Centennial College hosted a virtual discussion with a distinguished panel of PR and HR experts who shared these key takeaways. 

1. Stronger team bonding: As a result of remote workplaces, PR professionals are pausing, observing and getting inspired by practitioners from within their existing network; an opportunity that wasn’t as readily available pre-pandemic.

“Kaiser & Partners organizes virtual luncheon sessions to discuss insightful industry events, learn from one another as team members and engage in cultural exchanges to foster a deeper sense of community amongst employees,” said Maggie Hall, account director, Kaiser & Partners

2. Taking care of mental health: To ensure that employees aren’t left feeling burnt out and exhausted, agencies are taking a preventive approach to mental health.

“At Media Profile, each staff meeting ends with a wellness activity such as yoga or meditation to help retain mental freshness. Every year, the agency provides $500 to each employee to maintain overall health and wellness and $2,000 to access mental health resources, when required. Two mental health paid days per year are also provided,” said Stephanie Bell, vice-president and head of human resources, Media Profile.

3. Personalized work models: Agencies like Agnostic and Argyle PR are surveying employees to get a gauge of their feelings about returning to work and many are open to accommodating those who’d like to continue working from home. 

Lena Knight, vice-president of Agnostic shared the agency’s long-standing ‘employee-centric’ work policy, even pre-pandemic. “The agency is less concerned about where an employee is working from and more focused on creating flexible support for their employees,” she said.

Meanwhile, Andrea Cunningham, operations manager, Argyle PR shared that they are indulging their staff with some retail therapy by providing a small monetary incentive to put towards the purchase of a new coffee mug, a new computer bag or transit fare…a little perk to make the commute back into the office a little smoother.

4. Maintaining work-life balance: Working from home means the lines between our professional and personal lives are often blurred and during the pandemic, many employees were working long past 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most have implemented policies to maintain work hours and restrict emails and calls from clients and managers after hours. 

Media Profile provides employees with financial resources to work from anywhere in the world for one month at a time. “These ‘nomad’ programs provide employees with a change of scenery and an immersive cultural experience while completing their day-to-day client work,” said Stephanie. 

Many employers are going the extra mile to make sure their team members feel valued and taken care of. If you are experiencing anxiety, insecurity or fear about returning to your office, contact your HR department to help you ease back into your workplace with a collaborative and open perspective.

What changes are you most excited to see from your employers in the future? What about the 4-day work week? Let us know your thoughts!

To make sure you can go into your quest for internships with confidence, we’ve put together an awesome group of current and former interns who will walk us through how they landed their first PR gigs. 

Register now and join us for FREE tomorrow, Thursday, March 31st at 6 pm on Zoom for ‘Ask the Interns’! Limited spaces are available.

Find the latest content from SSC and CPRS Toronto by following us @CPRSstudents on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok.

Written By: Sanjana Ganguly, Student Representative, Seneca College

With new job postings popping up every day, it can feel like the competition is only getting stiffer. Plus – for many of us, it feels as though every time you check your LinkedIn, another person is sharing their excitement about a new job they landed. 

Well, fear not! The Student Steering Committee has accumulated a wealth of knowledge throughout our post-secondary careers on landing job positions and we want to let you in on a few tips we learnt from our ‘Get Hired’ event earlier this year.

How to Build the Perfect Application

The most essential part of landing a job is an outstanding cover letter and resumé. Here are some do’s and don’ts to remember when building both documents: 

Do’s 

1. Match your resumé to the job description and be sure to incorporate key terms into your cover letter

Always remember to tailor your cover letter and resumé to what has been outlined in the job description. Make sure you double-check formatting! First impressions matter. 

2. Talk about your relevant experience

Don’t shy away from mentioning school projects you enjoyed working on as they count as relevant experiences that prepared you for the workplace. 

3. Showcase your computing skills 

Mentioning skills related to data analytics, social media and CMS (content management system), greatly help give your profile that extra edge. 

Don’ts

1. Rinse and repeat 

That is to say, don’t use the same copy and language for every job you apply to.

2. Overpromise and underdeliver 

Don’t write about an experience you cannot testify for. 

 

Best Practices on LinkedIn

What matters most in the digital space is having an impressive LinkedIn profile. 

The secret sauce to one of the most important aspects of communications is Networking! Given the pandemic, if meeting in person is not possible, make virtual coffee meets happen. 

Tip #1

When connecting with someone, send a personalized message to showcase your value, authenticity and passion.

Tip #2

Make your LinkedIn profile SEO-friendly to improve your search appearances and help recruiters easily reach out to you. 

 

Great job! Now it’s all about doing your best at the interview. Here are some useful insights: 

1.  Make a great first impression

A friendly smile and cheerful attitude go a long way.  Doing a little research on the interviewers beforehand also helps and can be a good icebreaker!

2. Be interested and engaged 

When it’s your turn, always ask questions that matter. 

3. Be thankful

Write a thank-you note to the interviewer or share a video on email to add a personal touch.

 

Now that you know how to stand out from the crowd, start prepping to get the job you have always dreamed of!

Want to work with the SSC? Be a collaborator of CPRS students and help us produce content for our blog or socials! Apply here and have a chance at adding something cool to your portfolio!

We’d love for you to follow us @CPRSStudents on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok to keep up with things SSC and CPRS Toronto!

Submitted with credits to Business Wire Content Team  (CPRS Toronto Sponsor)

From Business Wire’s 60th anniversary to 2022 public relations predictions, we produced a strong library of blog content last year. Look back at our most popular pieces from the last three months of 2021, which include tips for writing and editing news releases, pitching, brainstorming and collaboration, and event publicity.  

Each blog post offers guidance and valuable insights to help you plan and execute your communications or publicity strategies this year. 

Read them all here – and don’t miss our 60 Tips and Trade Show Publicity guides.

Written By: Jennifer Smith, Student Representative, Humber College

 Last week, CPRS Toronto’s Student Steering Committee (SSC) hosted its signature bi-annual event, Passport to PR. During the three-day event, students from across Canada got the valuable opportunity to hear from and connect with seasoned PR professionals from within the industry. 

The event was divided thematically with each day dedicated to learning about a distinct area of PR. Students had the chance to get an up-close and personal look at a day in the lives of our guest speakers, making the event exciting and engaging.

Day One: Influencer Relations

On day one, we had the pleasure of hosting speakers from Veritas Communications, Faulhauber Communications, Shine Talent Group,  North Strategic and MSL Group. 

“What was particularly great about taking this thematic approach is our speakers took the time to bring their unique body of experiences and knowledge to their presentations which left our attendees with a full picture of each respective umbrella of PR,” said Luxshana Sivaneswaran, President of the Student Steering Committee.

They discussed the importance of strong relationships between PR pros and influencers, and the value that influencer marketing has to offer in today’s world. Highlights from day one included an in-depth discussion about the importance of strategy when collaborating with influencers, building trust and fostering the influencer-agency relationship for the long term. Do’s and don’ts to keep in mind when communicating with influencers were also touched upon.

Influencer Sarah Nicole Landry (@birdspapaya) also joined the conversation and provided a unique perspective on how influencers can benefit from channeling authenticity when publicly representing brands, and creating content that aligns with who they truly are. 

Day Two: Consumer PR

Day two was all about agency life, as APEX PR, Ruckus Digital, Edelman, Craft, and 1Milk2Sugars gave us a peek into successful consumer PR campaigns that were celebrated for their highly engaging and truly out-of-the-box ideas. Our guest speakers talked about the agency-client dynamic, and how truly listening to clients and understanding their needs can help create meaningful content that resonates with their consumers.

Various topics of discussion included the benefits of working in an agency, the significance of a client’s media training, and how to strategically design and deliver effective key messages for represented brands.

 Day Three: Government Relations

Town of Milton, Proof Strategies, Addictions & Mental Health Ontario, and Earnscliffe Strategies walked us through the many facets of government relations and why it’s an essential and exciting space in PR. It was an eye-opening event for students, as guest speakers busted common myths surrounding the government relations industry in the media landscape. 

We came to learn that working in the industry challenges you to sharpen your PR skill-set and offers great work-life balance. Government relations allows you to see the changes you make in real-time, and helps explore many different avenues of PR.

The CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee would like to thank our guest speakers and students for attending the event and receiving it so warmly. We hope that students found some valuable PR gems to carry with them on their professional journey!

If you attended Passport to PR, we want to hear from you! Please take a moment to fill out our survey for a chance to win tickets to our Spring edition of Passport to PR.

Follow our socials @CPRSstudents on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, to hear more about upcoming events, guest speakers, industry information and contests.

By Sneha Lohtia, Student Representative, University of Guelph-Humber

Mark your calendars, your favourite event is back! CPRS Toronto’s Student Steering Committee is excited to host the much anticipated bi-annual Passport to PR event next week – and this time we’re switching things up a bit.  

We are going virtual for the second consecutive year and attendees can expect exclusive insight into the PR industry from the best the city has to offer. However, the SSC is taking a bit of a different approach.

“In the past, Passport to PR brought students behind the curtains of Toronto’s leading PR agencies,” said Luxshana Sivaneswaran, President of the Student Steering Committee. 

For the first time ever, Passport to PR will host three industry-specific days where each day will solely feature speakers that specialize in their respective stream of PR. 

“Public relations is a growing industry. It feels as though every day a new role that didn’t even exist just a few years ago is created to meet new demands,” said Luxshana. “I believed it would be a missed opportunity if we didn’t highlight a broader variety of pathways for students… which is why I thought students would find it more valuable if we segmented our event thematically and brought different perspectives to each area.”               

Day One: January 25

Attendees can expect a day of influencer relations on Tuesday, where they will hear from the best in the biz including two agencies with a broad influencer portfolio and an influencer management agency!

• Veritas Communications
• Faulhaber Communications
• Shine Talent Group + Sarah Landry 
• North Strategic

Day Two: January 26

Wednesday will be dedicated to consumer public relations and will include an exciting line-up of Toronto’s top agencies; 

• APEX/Ruckus Digital
• Edelman
• Craft PR 
• 1Milk2Sugars

Day Three: January 27

The event will wrap up on Thursday with a day of government relations that will feature insightful conversations from government PR professionals who work in provincial, municipal and agency. 

• Town of Milton
• Proof Strategies
• Ministry of Transportation
• Earnscliffe Strategies

“The idea is, whichever themes we don’t feature this term, we will in March,” says Luxshana.

All three days are guaranteed to provide a behind-the-scenes look into what life as a PR pro is like and offer some amazing opportunities to connect with the city’s top practitioners! 

“Looking forward to meeting the next cohort of Toronto’s top public relations talent and future of our industry,” said Nina Kalos, EVP and General Manager of Veritas Communications.

Attendees can register for the event and purchase tickets here. 

The Student Steering Committee is also hosting an Instagram giveaway for one ticket to a day of your choosing to the event. Enter here.

Don’t forget to follow the SSC on Instagram and Twitter to stay updated on the event and all things CPRS!

Submitted with credits to Business Wire Content Team  (CPRS Toronto Sponsor)

We asked experts from 17 PR agencies for their 2022 communications predictions and trends from 2021 they think will continue this year. Many touched on the continued impact of the pandemic, hybrid work models, and the importance of keeping focus on DE&I efforts. Other insights included:

• The necessity of multimedia content
• The importance of integrating PR pros with other departments
• The increasing influence of AI and other technologies on communications strategies
• The growth of freelance journalism and news influencers
• The usefulness of campaign analytics
• The continuing commitment to employee communications

See what each of these experts had to say and how these predictions can influence your 2022 planning.

By Ravjeet Singh, Student Representative, Ryerson University 

We hope you’ve come back from the winter break relaxed, reset and recharged for the new year. Mark your calendars because the Student Steering Committee is kicking off 2022 with an exciting lineup of events just for you!

January 13 – #GetHired: how to build a knockout internship application

New year, new resume? Are you ready to embark on your quest for internships? January is typically when recruitment for summer opportunities begins. 

If you want to make sure your application makes it to the final round, join us on January 13th at 6 p.m. on Zoom to brush up on your application and hear from a panel of HR experts who will talk about all things resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles ahead of your internship quest. Make sure you register to secure your spot! 

January 25-27 – Passport to PR (P2PR)

Our much-awaited bi-annual P2PR event will take place from January 25th to January 27th on Zoom from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. During the three-day event, students will get a chance to learn about a variety of interesting areas in PR each day: 

• Day 1 (Jan 25): Influencer relations
• Day 2 (Jan 26): Consumer public relations 
• Day 3 (Jan 27): Government relations 

Experienced PR practitioners will join us for the event to discuss all things PR, including providing an inside scoop on what it’s like to work at some of Toronto’s most celebrated PR organizations. Spots fill up fast for this event, so grab your ticket before it’s too late! 

February 15 – Ask the Interns

In February, we are bringing back the ‘Ask the Intern’ virtual chat event on popular demand, where you can ask a panel of interns all of your internship-related questions. Each intern will also be taking over our IG @cprsstudents for a day to show students a day in the life of a PR intern and interact and connect with you. More details to come. Stay tuned.

Throughout the year, SSC will be hosting exciting and engaging IG live events such as Trivia Tuesdays, Wellness Wednesdays and Instagram Story takeovers. Here, you will get a chance to interact with inspiring PR professionals and ask industry-related questions, so keep an eye out! 

We’d love to know what you want to see from the SSC in 2022. We’re conducting a short survey to inform our content strategy. Take 5 minutes to answer our questions and have a chance at winning a $25 VISA gift card.

Lastly, don’t forget to follow us @CPRSStudents on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok to keep up with all things SSC and CPRS Toronto.

Written By: Luxshana Sivaneswaran, President, Student Steering Committee & Sneha Lohtia, Student Representative, University of Guelph-Humber

While this semester felt longer than usual, it also flew by in the blink of an eye. Many of us were probably counting down the days to when we can officially commence our winter break. 

Perhaps you’re someone who has all sorts of holiday traditions, social plans, and a growing list on Netflix slotted in your schedule ahead of you. Or, you could be someone who is thinking ahead to the winter semester. Between internships, and all those tasks that you told yourself you’d tackle in your time off, that brewing list is suddenly growing again. 

Everyone’s time off looks different. But as PR students, we at the Student Steering Committee argue the most effective breaks are those that strike a balance between getting the rest that you need, while keeping those creative juices flowing.

Here’s a list of five ways to relax, reset and recharge during the holidays:

1. Clean & declutter

Throw on a fun playlist or podcast and get to work. Cleaning and decluttering your physical space helps clear your mental space as well; it’s therapeutic and formalizes this ‘reset’. A great way for you to feel organized and at your best heading into the New Year!

2. Maintain a healthy sleep schedule

After all those all-nighters that were pulled, your bed probably looks VERY inviting. Catching-up on your sleep and maintaining a regular sleep routine will help ease the back to school transition in January. 

3. Set aside time for leisure

Now is the perfect time to enjoy all of the tasks and activities that you told yourself you’d get into once you had the time. Our Vice President, External, Sara Hopkinson, says that she has set a personal goal for herself to read at least two books during the break.

4. Learn a new skill or hobby

For those concerned with not being able to flex their creative muscle as much during their time off, challenging yourself to learn a new skill or hobby might be just what you need. Check out fun DIY projects that interest you, or LinkedIn Learning to learn a skill that you could add to your arsenal. 

5. Reflect and set goals

Journaling or writing about the past twelve months is a great way to reflect on your favourite (and not-so favourite) parts of the year. The reflection helps create a great foundation as you look to set new goals for yourself. Here are some writing prompts to get you started.

On behalf of the CRPS Toronto Student Steering Committee, we congratulate you on completing the Fall semester and hope that these tips help you truly relax, reset, and recharge during your break. 

We can’t wait to share our BIG plans for you in the New Year; in the meantime, don’t forget to follow us @CPRSStudents on Twitter, Instagram and most recently, Tik Tok (!!) to keep up with things SSC and CPRS Toronto!