As the technology grows and continues to evolve, public relations professionals have to not only adapt to these changes for their campaigns and research, but they have to look at these as possibilities for education purposes as well as recruiting.  There are many ways in which new sites like Google+, Foursquare, Mobile apps, and others can be used in both PR courses and in the process of hiring and interviewing for a position.  Here are a few ways in which these emerging sites can be used strategically for education:

  • Host virtual office hours:  Several professors have also ready acknowledged that this would definitely be something to do especially with Google+, but this can also be branched out to other professions as well.  The IMC program at WVU is currently doing this with Wimba software for their online courses, but the possibilities in hosting online forums through Google+ hangouts is a definite possibility.  This gives the students and professor the opportunity to chat, discuss, and answer questions through a centralized location where there is a combination of both chat functions and video.  However, with each of these technologies, it is key to be aware of both the opportunities and limitations for some of these, especially for educators and their academic institutions.
  • Collaborate with research / PR teams:  With circles, you are able to categorize your friends and colleagues based on interests, and what is an interesting possibility would be to schedule meetings where researchers can present their current findings and update the team with the current standing of the research through Google+.
  • Conduct focus groups and interviews:  Having informal focus groups to gauge people’s attitudes, opinions, and thoughts about current issues can be also accomplished in this social media platform as well.  Of course, you will have to go through the IRB first in order to use human subjects.
  • Set up a crowdsourcing website for collaboration and curation of course material:  Students and professors want to have a creative, energetic, and dynamic learning environment – and if there was a site for the course were people were able to contribute videos, articles, and graphics to the site for everyone – this will enhance the overall learning experience.  This can be done through a FB page or setting up a Tumblr site for the course.  In addition, you would also want to make sure to have a Twitter feed as well for the students to follow key updates from the microblog site.
  • Incorporation of emerging technology into classroom:  Mobile apps, augmented reality apps, and geolocation features are just some of the current trends and topics currently being discussed in the social media community.  Looking at each of these features, these can be incorporated into assignments for class looking at each of these from a critical perspective (challenges and opportunities here in PR) as well as writing a proposal to implement one of these features (ex. geolocation app) for a business.

There are similarities to how to use these sites and platforms for applying for the job, and here are a few ways to do this strategically:

  • Host interviews and post a video resume:  Showing potential employers your personality, charisma, and enthusiasm for PR and social media can be expressed through video sharing websites
  • Establish presence across platforms through search:  Making sure to have the key words you want to be associated and tagged with (ex. public relations, social media, crisis communications, etc) in all of your respected profiles and handles is key.  Whether this is embedded into your personal blog or tagged in commentary you wrote in a guest post, or shared via Google+ Sparks, these are all possibilities incorporating this into your personal brand in the job market.
  • Show your resume in multiple formats:  Make sure to have the traditional CV and resume, but also think about looking at how to creatively market yourself that is new and innovative.  Providing an infographic resume to show your design skills, a video interview resume showing your personality visually, and share research and papers via crowdsourcing sites.
  • Think outside the box and be creative by looking at the gaps:  Look at current trends and implementation of new technologies by others – and see if you can see any niches or gaps you can use to your advantage for your own personal brand.  Setting yourself from the rest of the crowd is absolutely important to establish yourself and your own personal reputation.
  • Host webinars and broadcast presentations to employers through video chat: Show you are willing to share your insights, expertise, and engage in discussion with others about a particular topic of conversation.  Google+ could also be shared at conferences for those that would not be able to attend the conference, but would be interested in seeing your presentation.

Public relations professionals – in research, education, or looking for a position – have many opportunities to implement these various platforms and social media sites into the classroom as well as their personal online reputation management.  Thinking ahead with the current trends and identifying your strengths in this arena will help make a noticeable impression on not only the PR community, but also for future employers.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Best Wishes,

Karen