Social media, PR offer hope in challenging job market

While the latest annual jobs survey by the University of Georgia's James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research is generally bad news for JMC graduates, public relations and advertising students can take some hope.

The survey found that only six in ten recent JMC graduates nationwide had found employment, the lowest level in more than 20 years. Public relations graduates fared the best, with 71 percent responding that they had a full-time job. This compares with 65 percent for advertising majors, 59 percent for print journalism majors and 57 percent for telecommunications majors.

Coupled with another report out recently, it seems the best way for public relations students to further strengthen their career prospects is to develop expertise in social media. The 2009 Digital Readiness Survey found that social media communications skills are nearly as important as traditional media relations skills for PR professionals seeking jobs.

The survey, sponsored by online newsroom provider iPressroom with support from Korn/Ferry International, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Trendstream, also found the following:

• Public relations leads marketing and advertising in the management and oversight of all social media channels within companies and other organizations. The only exceptions are with bulk e-mail and search engine optimization, where marketing takes the lead.
  
• Social networking, blogging and micro-blogging skills are the three most important social media communications skills for job candidates to have.
• Most organizations are considering hiring social media specialists.

A copy of the full report is available from iPressroom.