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Past award recipients, Amanda Paterson and Jessica Chong, give their advice to aspiring applicants

Students may be wondering if they should apply for the CPRS Toronto’s Student of the Year, awarded annually at the Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Gala. If you’re involved in your community or the public relations industry, you should take the chance, apply for the award and put yourself out there.

From agency to in-house communications department, the last two recipients of the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award took different paths and here’s where they are today:

What’s been the most rewarding part of winning the CPRS Toronto’s Student of the Year?

Amanda: Winning the award means that I have the CPRS name behind me whenever I am job hunting. I feel confident that I can leverage that recognition into better opportunities in the future.

Jessica: I had ton of fun volunteering with the CPRS and working with the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee – so the most rewarding part of the award was having made those genuine connections with people in the public relations community.

Where are you working now?

Amanda: I’m currently on maternity leave from my position as a Communications Specialist at Baycrest Health Sciences.

Jessica: I’ve been at High Road since June and I’m currently an account coordinator.

What’s your day-to-day role?

Amanda: I am responsible for planning and executing internal and external communications plans. My day-to-day includes pitching journalists and editors, writing for web and social media, producing and designing our staff newsletter, and developing marketing strategies for Baycrest’s programs for seniors.

Jessica: My day-to-day schedule changes often and I love how fast-paced an agency setting can be. My role can vary on the digital side and include content calendar creation, web writing, social measurement, community management, influencer relations and sometimes even live-tweeting at events like Taste of Toronto.

Has your path in PR changed from what you wanted when you were a student or freshly graduated?

Amanda: I had worked in healthcare marketing prior attending my post-grad, and wanted to continue in that field afterward. It’s an interesting place to be.

Jessica: Before starting my post-grad, originally I wanted to work in-house in a communications department because I didn’t know too much, if anything, about agency life. Going through a post-grad program was my first introduction to agency life. What drew me to agency was how challenging and rewarding it could be to support multiple accounts.

What’s your advice to current PR students aspiring to win the award?

Amanda: Treat your program like a job and your teachers like your managers. Impress your faculty and they will be happy to write nomination letters for you.

Jessica: Think about what you can contribute to the public relations industry in the future and what you’ve already contributed. Don’t discount your past experiences before your post-grad or non-PR experience. Sometimes those experiences help paint a more holistic picture of who you are and what you can contribute to the industry.

Looking back what is one takeaway from the award you would like current students to know? Is there one piece of advice you would like to give them?​

Amanda: Public relations is all about measurable results. The award is proof of the value you can bring to an organization.

Jessica: Network. Head out to events or for coffee and put yourself outside of your comfort zone. Make connections and ask questions because you’re genuinely curious about their role and their experiences – in and outside of the office.

If you’re ready to jumpstart your career and build connections, consider applying for the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award. All you need is to submit a resume and one-page endorsement from a faculty, fellow student or mentor. Whether you wish to contribute back to your school or broader community, consider how you will continue to make an impact on others and share your story with the CPRS Toronto today.

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Public relations students, did we cover your questions and satisfy your curiosity about the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award? You can always connect with Amanda and Jessica on Twitter.

Written by: Jessica Chong, Account Coordinator, High Road Communications

As public relations and communications students, strategic networking is a skill we must all one day master. Though by no means have I achieved the status of “Networking Ninja”, I have started to apply many simple networking tips from five insightful authors. With these books, mastering networking will be within your reach!

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

By far the most well-known book about networking, Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People was first published in 1936. It’s a bestseller that is inarguably filled with excellent networking advice that has led millions to success.

Carnegie highlights six ways to make people like you (smile, be a good listener, and remember their name, to give a few), as well as twelve ways to convince other people to adapt your opinion or way of thinking (i.e. show respect and admit when you’re wrong).

This book is perfect for you if want to become a social influencer, would like to improve your leadership abilities, or if you simply appreciate hearing timeless advice in a constantly-changing industry.

2. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis

If you’ve ever conducted a job search, you know that finding employment often seems to be less about who you are, but who you know. Everyone knows that building a professional network is important, but what about other networks? Friends and family, friends of friends, and friends of family…how do they fit in?

In Connected, Fowler and Christakis explore and respond to this very question. The authors present “Five Rules of Life in the Network” to help readers understand how their network develops and how its transformations affect them. Fowler and Christakis also emphasize the importance of surrounding yourself with high value people and ending connections with people who distract you from accomplishing your own goals.

You need to read this book if you want tips on how to strategically build your personal and professional networks, and then learn how to leverage these connections to help achieve your goals.

3. Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi

In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi presents the steps he uses every day to help connect with the most powerful players in any industry. His networking tips are based on the principles of helpfulness and generosity and Ferrazzi thinks very poorly of networking that does not primarily involve building a strong relationship.

Among his most important tips, Ferrazzi emphasizes reaching out to your network all the time – not just when you need something from them. He also suggests making sure a relationship is mutually beneficial. Consider: what do you have to offer your new contact? It could be something as simple as a good book recommendation! He teaches these lessons using a collection of networking advice from celebrities and famous social influencers.

Interestingly, Ferrazzi recently launched an online guide to building your network on Udemy, a popular e-learning platform. The networking course costs $79.00, but will pay for itself as your career blossoms.

Never Eat Alone is a must-read for you if you want to appear more confident at networking events, or wish that you could command attention in a crowded room of industry leaders.

4. Social Intelligence,Daniel Goleman

In Social Intelligence, Goleman presents a scientific approach to networking. Studying the principles of neuroscience and biology, he suggests that the human brain is wired to impact the brain and biology of whomever you are interacting with.

Encounters with family, friends, bosses, colleagues and strangers all create different emotional reactions within a person. For example, a strong and positive emotional connection has ripple effects from your brain throughout your body. Conversely, stressful and negative encounters have toxic effects on your biology.

Though not focussed specifically on networking or the public relations industry, Social Intelligence is an excellent read for those interested in learning more about what happens neurologically when you shake someone’s hand, meet your boss for the first time, when you lie or are lied to. Becoming more aware of human nature will help improve your methods of interacting with others.

5. The Charisma Myth, Olivia Fox Cabane

When you attend PR events and start networking with practitioners, or even with other students, one of the things that will make you stand out from the crowd is your charisma.

Cabane believes that the idea that a person is born either with or without the gift of charisma is a myth. She destroys this myth and teaches readers how to become more charismatic.

Ultimately, enhancing your charisma doesn’t mean changing who you are, but using your own personality and the basic components of charisma described by Cabane to become a more influential and more persuasive networker.

There are my must-reads to improve networking! This list is certainly not exhaustive – please comment below if you’ve read another book that has helped you become a more successful networker. I’d love to hear from you!

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Erika Manassis is the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee Representative for Seneca College’s Corporate Communications Certificate Program.