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Communications Manager
by Pam Powers formerly of Parker Hannifin
What do you do in this job?
Maintain inside and outside communications for the company specifically referencing people and products. Write and distribute press releases to local and trade media regarding promotions and new hires as well as information about our products (both new ones and changes to existing products). Coordinate and staff trade shows exhibiting our products (includes determining which shows are most appropriate for our company's identity + budget). Coordinate with all divisions regarding co-op fees of brochure creation and printing. Primary link to outside customers requesting brochure and information about our company. Handle all literature shipment (used outside mailing house for this). Write and publish quarterly magazine distributed to 500 distributors + employees.
Why is it interesting? What makes it rewarding?
This job had so much variety that I never did the same thing twice. I loved being able to talk to customers about our products and I also loved being able to provide our engineers and sales people with the tools they needed to serve our clients. Trade shows were the most fun -- non-stop talking all day, but boy did the feet hurt at night! The guys got to stand in business shoes, but I had heels. I'm a good writer, so being able to write up information about our products and see it printed in trade journals was enormously rewarding, especially if the release was picked up and turned into a "real" story. Getting our company's name in the media is "free" advertising and the more we got, the better. It's really important to keep your company's name out there where clients can see it over and over.
How do you become qualified for this job?
Majored in creative writing in college. Journalism would have been better, but our department was in the process of being accredited when I declared my major, so I chose one that I knew would be considered viable in the future. I had a background of working as a secretary part-time while in college, and accepted a position for a part-time PR secretary for a major commercial/industrial real estate firm while in college. I worked for them for two years, then moved on to a variety of other jobs that were all marketing/PR related. I learned all kinds of things on the job, but each company had its own unique product or service that I had to learn about in order to write about it accurately.
How do you work up?
Doing what I did. Start doing what you want to do -- no matter what job title or how "lowly" it might be. I worked from 2:00 to 6:00 M-F while going to college in the morning at first. Nights were for homework; Saturday morning I had another job working in a bank from 8:30-1:00 to help pay the bills for my own apartment. You do whatever it takes to succeed! My first full-time job was a mistake; I took a job doing what I thought would be PR at a hotel, but it turned out to be a sales secretary job. I tried it, tried to switch departments with no luck, then quit. Never stick around doing what you don't like or which won't further your goals. I quit on a Friday and had a brand new full time job by Wednesday! I went through a temp agency and got a temp-to permanent job, which worked out great. I ended up at a subsidiary of Canon Office Products, where I was the marketing assistant for a year. Then I got the job at Parker Hannifin.
How would a young person find out more about this job?
Talk to people in the business. I called the father of a girl I knew slightly and chatted with him about my goals. I knew he worked in PR and I had an idea that it might be an idea for me. He gave me great advice -- always dress and look my best (PR folks meet the public and you have to represent your company 100%); study writing; start at the bottom and learn everything I could. I did all those things. My father was a graphic designer with his own business, so I had an idea about the business of advertising already, but didn't have the artistic talent. I also knew I didn't want to actively "sell".
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