PR Masterclass: 'Do your research and have a very positive attitude'

The e4m PR & Corp Comm PR Masterclass was concluded on February 27, 2025 at The Park Hotel, Connaught Place, New Delhi. In the first panel session, industry leaders came forward to guide and share their experiences with students on the topic: How to land your first job in the PR & Communications industry. Throughout the discussion, they shared their personal experiences, stories from their journey, and lastly, tips and tricks for future professionals on how they can secure their first job in the industry. The panellists include Aman Dhall, Founder, CommsCredible, Aman Abbas, Founder & CEO, Commwiser, Garima Sharma Nijhawan, Founder, Oathenticity, moderated by Ritika Upmanyu, exchange4media.

The discussion started and all the panelists shared their thrilling stories of how they secured their first job in the industry. 

Garima Sharma Nijhawan started and narrated, “I was at the IIMC campus during recruitment season. Back in those days, the hiring process was really exciting. Most of you, especially those in the industry, would probably know Anoop Sharma. At that time, he was with Perfect Relations. He was the one who interviewed me and ultimately hired me at Perfect Relations. For us, the entire experience felt like a celebration because 13 of us from the campus were selected to join the firm. Now, in the initial days, they throw you into the deep end, much like being thrown into the Ganga. You either swim your way through and survive, or you sink. And if you survived your first month then you got the chance to meet the founder.”

Then, Amaan shared about his transition from advertising to communications industry, golden moments when he entered, and the baby steps he took to sustain in the industry. “I started my career in advertising after completing my MBA. During that time, there was an in-house PR agency at my workplace, and I realized that PR will grow in future. That’s when I decided to make the switch to PR. Just to share a little anecdote, when you joined that agency, you weren’t told exactly where you’d be placed. There was a parent agency with several allied agencies under it. You’d go in for an interview at the main agency, qualify, and then be asked to report on a particular day. But when you arrived, you wouldn’t know which agency you’d be assigned to until you were escorted to a different location. It was always an interesting experience back then.”

Moving on, Dhall mentioned that he started his career as a journalist and used to get paid 500 Rupees at that time for writing articles. So, by the time I actually went for my first interview, I had several bylines, and in fact, I landed the first job in our institute. It was for a little publication from Karnataka Vij Times, which was later taken over by The Times of India group. All I will say to today’s students is that volunteer a lot, contribute a lot, and earn a lot of bylines. Even PR is all content, so, showcase your research skills. I think that'll help you a lot, especially in landing your first job.

Next, Abbas elaborated on the mistakes today’s students make in their resumes and initial interviews, “I asked this question to many students: “Why do you want to be in PR?” And you will not believe that almost 70%–80% said, "Because, you know what, I like meeting people." But we are not in the business of meeting a lot of people. PR—public relations—has "public" in it. "Public" is basically the audience of the organization, and that audience could be fairly large. It could be an electorate, it could be an entire middle class of the country, or whatever. So, would you meet so many people? You will not. It's about using the tools to be able to reach out to that public that the organization is trying to catch.”

Furthermore, he also shared the tips and tricks students should keep in mind before going for their first interview or to secure their first job, “You should know where you're going, do your research, know more about the PR industry, about the overall business environment, and have a very positive attitude.”

Sharma interacted with the students present in the audience and help them understand the definition of PR and communications by stating, “The easiest definition of PR is if there is fire you're going to go and extinguish it and if there's no fire then you're going to figure out a way of ethically professionally spinning things around and igniting a fire that does not mean sensationalization, that does not mean wrong information, that just means that as people we can weave a story in such a beautiful way that somebody else wants to have it.”

Dhall explained the nature of today’s job market to the students and helped them understand the aspects they should be focusing on to secure their first job. “I think homework is very important, research is very, very important. When you are meeting someone, you should know about their organization and what they are trying to achieve. If they ask any questions, can you give takeaways in three or five pointers or even introduce yourself.” Furthermore, he elucidated that because of technology coming in students should learn and ace at multiple skills.

Garima exclaimed, “The first job is about first impressions, it's about knowing what you want and the more you know yourself in this journey, the higher chances of you to be able to land a job that you want to sustain and thrive in.”

Lastly, the panelists concluded the discussion by sharing their advice with students that the power is in their hand, asking them to find their mentors early on, upskill themselves as per the market trends, instead of challenges and look at opportunities because they are multifold.