Landing the Interview Vs. Getting the Job

After years in your PR dream job you may now be among the unemployed, checking out job boards, receiving alerts from Indeed, scanning craigslist. You’ve sent your resume to anything in the neighborhood of your capabilities; then you stare at your PDA and wait. While you might be in shock, halfheartedly going through motions of what you think you should be doing to “look for a job,” this lackadaisical and noncommittal approach will get you precisely nowhere.

When you were in your last job in PR, did you sit back and kick your heels up to wait for reporters to call you? Did you send the same pitch to everyone? Did you tell your clients not to be prepared for interviews? But, alas, if you did that might be why you’re looking for a job.

While toiling in that PR gig I’m sure you put effort into honing your capabilities, sharpening your communications skills and impressing the boss. Today, you are turning all that diligent effort into mush! You're forgetting the basics. At least that’s what I witnessed as I interviewed candidates for clients recently — that the pool of job seekers was replete with stuttering, ill-prepared, nervous-seeming and pretty wimpy responses with no obvious discerning interest in the company.

They just want a job.

If you can’t understand why you still haven’t gotten one, I think you need to take a step back and reassess what’s happening. Have you committed to your search with the same chutzpah you devoted to your last successful job? As a PR pro there is no excuse for being unprepared for anything, so take advice offered to clients and make it work for you. Here is how….

How: You wrote up an agenda for clients to know what to expect in a media interview; do the same to prepare for a job interview. Being unprepared for the media interview guarantees your client won’t be asked back, and could result in damage to a client’s rep. The same goes for your own moment-in-the-sun where you need to identify your communication objectives—making a good first impression, demonstrating your knowledge (“I understand that in…”) and showing value so that you get the offer because you went head-first into the situation!

Look at your agenda for the interview. Are you prepared?

Company Research: Demonstrate understanding of its core business. You wouldn’t show up at a new client’s office without due diligence (I hope) so don’t neglect the value in researching this prospective employer.
...Annual Reports/S&P
...Media Placements
...Google/Blogs/Twitter
...Corporate site/Executive Bios
...Linked-In Research

Don’t forget they are searching the ether for you too! BadPitch’s own @laermer reminded those participating in a #prstudchat for young pros: “Companies search candidates' histories everywhere. It's too easy to do it.” So, dudes, clean up the Facebook page — nix the beach week Jell-O-shot-apalooza photos and think before you post. [Don’t roll your eyes…it’s a hard-won lesson.]

Job Description/Experience: Use examples to demonstrate why you’re the fit they're seeking. Clearly articulate what you have accomplished and how you understand what the role is. Refer to the job description a few times so they know you actually read it and aren’t responding like a robotic!
 “Seeking experience with crisis management…”
→ I organized a crisis management strategy for senior executives and prepared our CEO to respond to inquiries during a [vaguely named] crisis situation, which resulted in favorable coverage and praise from shareholders…
 “Has successfully secured media placements…”
→ I have secured placements and features for clients with national and international broadcast media that includes CNN, Bloomberg News, New York Times, Hustler (kidding) and Wall Street Journal…
 “Has integrated nascent types of media into PR campaigns”
→ I am fully engaged on Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed and Flickr, and I have my own blog that I updated regularly; I use my knowledge to help my clients leverage exposure through nascent social media platforms ….. [Don’t lie about it.]

Strengths/Weaknesses: Think Socrates. “Know thyself!” Show confidence by recognizing your actual high points and admit those areas that aren’t your strong suits. If you’ve done your research you know what they are looking to hear.
 Reference praise you’ve received for a bit of fantastic work (something unique and not necessarily requested from an employer).
 Point out awards/achievements. Make sure these are on your resume!
 Note classes, symposiums, seminars or weekend college classes you’ve attended since you graduated to increase knowledge and strengthen skills.
 Align job qualifications with who you are.

Anticipate Questions: Think about the easy, tough and unavoidable queries—you know, like you told your clients once. Keep responses short and concise (two minutes max, said the attorney PR person in me) and don’t veer off topic, ramble, or get too familiar — no matter how warm your interviewer seems. Complicated responses during a TV interview bore audiences and make them click off; rambling, off-topic responses will lose interest and will make them wonder how quickly they can get you out of there and back to their own Jell-O shots! Think sound bites, think takeaways. Rid yourself of clichés forever. (“I am a people person” is one phrase that makes me run.) Think about what they really mean when they ask these expected questions:
 Why do you want this job?
 What do you know about our firm?
 How do you deal with tough-as-nails situations?
 What was a problem you encountered that you solved yourself?
 Where do you see yourself in five years? 10 years? 15? Old age?
 Why should we hire you? Why exactly...
 What professional organizations do you belong to?

During the interview, listen and stop nodding before you start. Do not correct the interviewer. It's amazing how many people do that. If your client corrected a reporter you'd try to kick him under the table! Even though you may have anticipated the question, the way it is asked determines how you respond. Misinterpreting a question and not thinking clearly what was said will lead to a misfired response - think of those fools who hit the Jeopardy buzzer before the end of the sentence! You’ve coached your client to ask for clarification politely; ask your interviewer to restate if you need to.

Just as you would stress the importance of coming across as being comfortable and real to your paying customers, you'd better do the same: “Answer every question the best you can,” noted @laermer during #prstudchat. “Be yourself. So many phonies out there. You will stand out - believe me. BS meters are set on high now.”

Two Way Talkers: Show real interest; ask questions and engage that interviewer like no tomorrow. The correct strategic questions will not only impress and show you are a human worthy of consideration but can also demo your preparedness, assertiveness and intelligence. (Plus, you are evaluating them as much as they are determining if you fit!) Think about why you want the job and whether it's your gig. Really, ask:
 Is this a newly-created position? Am I replacing someone?
 What qualities are you looking for that would make a candidate stand out?
 How are teams structured?
 What systems are in place to evaluate performance?
 Is the company contracting or growing?

You cautioned clients about not coming across as a windbag of hype so remember to avoid meandering nonsense such as “What about this weather, huh!” It’s wasteful and shows you don’t respect someone’s time — even your own.

Practice: You would never want a client to wing it so why should you? Practice and speak aloud in front of a mirror. If a friend or family member is around, have them read anticipated queries and respond as if it’s The Real Deal. Ask your faux interviewer to provide genuine feedback:
 Message Delivery - Are you concise and on-message, or are you rambling and losing them to thoughts of naughtiness?
 Posture - Are you sitting straight and leaning in or are you slouched with shoulders hunched with a look of doe-eyed sullenness?
 Facial Expressions - Are you making eye contact and acknowledging the question and/or smiling gracefully? Or are you frowning, staring into never-never-land or looking up/down? Worse, are you nodding involuntarily or staring as if hit on the head?
 Hand Gestures - Are your gesticulations natural as if to emphasize a point or do you fidget nervously so the seat gets sanded-down?

Appearance: On this day you don’t, as a client might, need to think about how your clothes will appear on camera; however, you do need to show you fit in with a corporate culture so try to learn what the dress code is beforehand. Many companies have gone to corporate casual, but even if they wear jeans best to go with business casual (“The only people who find you too dressed up aren’t dressed well enough,” said @laermer) since you are the professional looking for a position where appearance matters!
 Demeanor - Smile and say hello to everyone — every person you encounter. People form opinions within seconds since your first impression has to be positive especially in passing. (Prospective hires can easily be burned by speaking down to administrative assistants and secretaries who later say, “That guy was a dumb ass.”)
 Punctuality – Arrive early—but not more than :15. Being late shows a lack of respect for time, and too early is desperate. (Factor in traffic, parking, coffee, bathroom, comb-overs, et al.)
 Enthusiasm – Show the interested, always-on, passionate You; get yourself in a positive groove. Think about pre-fire hydrant Tiger Woods when he makes a great shot – not only is he elated but his fans are too. Enthusiasm is contagious, damn it.
 Familiarity – Break the ice quickly to make the next 30 minutes breeze by. The strand of commonality helps to thread a very thin needle!
 Arrogance – Oh boy is there ever a fine line between confidence and aggression. Don’t show up the guy or gal with your own self-assuredness. Keep your ego in check. Better yet, park it at the door.
 Negativity – Badmouthing anyone is, like Bruno said, a “nicht nicht!” If you’re going to be crappy to others, what’s to stop you from doing the same with them? There’s no room for that.

Follow Up: When you, that is, not if. Write a note by email, follow up by hand-written letter, and send something for them to read that you wrote, or is about you or maybe even placed by you! Stay away from form letters – write each letter yourself! Be Specific, Be Considerate, Be Assertive. Show you really — truly, no BS — want the job, you are the right person, and have proof.

Job hunting is the same as the fantastic advice we give clients. Know what you want, set your sights on a message you want to leave them with and go in for the kill! @GLHoffman of JobDig said with verve: “Get out there and work your ass off!”

Susan E. Jacobsen, LUV2XLPR’s Drill Sergeant
@susanejacobsen
@badpitch

Three To Do’s Before 2010

As we head into Thanksgiving, the last few weeks of the year are all but gone. And a couple of truths will present themselves during our final hurtle to 09’s finish line.

1) SELF-COMBUSTING CALENDAR: The end of the year represents the mother of all self-imposed deadlines. This can be a good thing. But if every. last. item. on the books with our clients is not completed? The world will NOT explode. Our job is to figure out which projects must truly get done before the calendar flips and focus on them diligently.

2) HOLIDAY HOURS: Despite the above urgency, the paradox of these final weeks is that there will be down time – people will be out of the office, parties will slow people down. This is time where we can be productive, but we probably can’t get too far on the above list.

So here are three things you should do before the end of the year. These are not resolutions. Resolutions are for health clubs and tobacco cessation products. These three things you can actually accomplish -- quickly.

1) SURPRISE & DELIGHT: Break the established brainstorm mold and mix it up with an unconventional idea fest. The goal is to start the year with one unexpected, unrequested idea for a client. Your competition may already be doing this (just sayin).

2) POP YOURSELF THE QUESTION: Ask yourself if you still love PR. Well, do you? This is a period of forced change. If you don’t like what you do, now is the time to change careers. (we’re NOT saying quit now, we’re saying FIND the job now). There are plenty of other folks who really do love this industry and will happily take your seat. This stuff is hard enough without dissenters in the ranks.

3) GET REAL. FEEDBACK: This is not your annual review. This is not a kumbaya-filled retreat. This is a suggestion box asking for anonymous feedback from everyone on how you can be even better in 2010. If you really love PR, this should be a constructive exercise.

We’re thankful for our careers and we’re hopeful you are too. Have a simply magnificent Thanksgiving.

Day 092/366 - To Do List uploaded by Great Beyond

The Blind? Deaf? Or Just Dumb Pitch

Bloggers send more than a few emails asking to be removed from a media list, we also send emails to PR people to tell them why a pitch doesn’t work for their blog – and perhaps what might work in the future.

I rarely receive a response from these notes – which is unfortunate and yet telling. But music blogger Olivia Giovetti brings us an experience with a PR firm representing high-end hospitality clients that serves as a clear, and very frustrating, example of what not to do.

Chinese water torture via email? A steady stream of news releases
“I'm a writer who somehow wound up on a PR firm's mailing list receiving releases that were way outside of my beat. I first sent polite yet firm responses to the (frankly terrible) releases asking to be removed from their list to no response and no action.

“After averaging a release a week for about three months (each one followed up with a "Please remove me from your list" and a reminder that it had been requested numerous times before), I sent an e-mail to the firm's CEO and president, beseeching both of them to help. When I STILL got releases from their firm, I wrote a much more terse e-mail back asking if I'd have to ask their clients for help in getting off their lists.

“When that resulted in nothing but more press releases, I broke down last night and e-mailed their clients, who couldn't have been nicer or quicker to get my complaints passed along to the appropriate contacts at their PR firm. I kept it to a mainly just-the-facts e-mail with an emotional plea at the end noting that they may want to reconsider their PR teams if this was how unresponsive they were being to journos.”

Denial – not a river in Egypt
"Today I received an e-mail from the firm's president stating:
'We have learned that you are emailing our clients with negative and incorrect comments about our company refusing to remove you from our media lists. Point of fact is that we don't know you nor have we never heard directly from you about this matter. You are also obviously someone we would not want to work with. If you have issues with our agency please contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX to discuss. Otherwise we will take steps to report your harassment to us and to our clients.'

"I e-mailed and called her back immediately, as polite as I could be. In the e-mail I pointed out that I have dozens of e-mails (both sent and received) in my archives that I would be happy to send. I then forwarded a sample of five or six and called her to be lambasted on the phone with various and sundry threats. I then received an e-mail stating:

'It's been more than 20 minutes and I have not received any of the emails that you supposedly previously sent to me and XXXXXXXXXX asking that you be removed from our mailing lists. Please advise so that we can resolve this matter.'

"I re-sent from my Blackberry (and received delivery confirmations for each e-mail) and then received a phone call from her assistant demanding to know when I would be sending. I told her that they had been sent (a second time) and then also forwarded an e-mail from one of their clients to me, which mentioned that 'They’ve received your previous communication and are committed to honoring your request.'"

"Summing up a back and forth, the PR prez has decided the whole incident was a "fabrication" on my part (because, especially in a recession where I'm going bonkers to make ends meet, I have time to do this stuff). I realize I wasn't going to earn any friends at this firm for jumping on their clients, but it's interesting to see how inept these people were at relating with the public. Now they've not only turned one journo off, they've tapped into that marketing adage that a person with a good experience with a company will tell three people and a person with a bad experience will tell 10. And the only thing that's a fabrication about me is my hair colour. "

The Patience of Job
First let me say that Olivia went above and beyond to try and make this right. The PR firm however took a bad situation, chopped it up into kindling, sprinkled it with gas and light it on fire.

Could we have what Cool Hand Luke would call “failure to communicate?” Nope. I’ve seen screen grabs from Olivia proving that this particular agency was employing what we used to call the rolling thunder strategy: a press release every few weeks regardless of whether or not you have news. Worse still is that the agency paid no attention to their media lists or to their email inboxes for that matter.

According to the agency president, Olivia does not exist on any of their lists; however the agency does use Cision. Having seen screen grabs it does not look like the agency is using email marketing software. In fact, if Olivia was replying to the notes and not getting a bounce back, that proves they probably were not using email marketing to push out the latest in high-end hospitality news.

The PR exec’s arrogant and defensive response is ridiculous. But I’m giving this NYC-based agency an early Christmas gift by not outing them – despite the fact that Olivia asked them more than three times to stop sending her news releases.

Media Relations = Customer Service
If anyone you are pitching ask to be removed from your list? Do it. And make sure you tell them you’re doing it. If you get any communication from these folks that merits a response? Respond. It’s kind of why you send out email in the first place.

Never forget that you’re pitching on behalf of your clients and that’s kind of a big deal. Changing your story, acting arrogant, defensive or just being stupid? It’s eventually going to get back in some form or another to your client.

1983 I'm Surrounded By Idiots uploaded by JD Hancock

Believe In Yourself; But Believe In Trends More

We're all looking for something to take us to a better place-workwise, that is.

How do we do that? Follow trends.

When you’ve got one example, it’s a “noticeable situation.” When you’ve got two examples, it’s a fact. And when you’ve got three examples—welcome to a trend.

A trend is something that is just happening—the way ads are becoming smaller by the second (and disappearing, thank G-d); the use of tiny devices that are almost ear-sized for us to check who wants to reach us; the tendency for movies to be built around consumer products like Ben Stiller’s haircut or a particular type of Mercedes (crap slogans, wicked cars)—and that is happening in a significant enough way to portend real and widespread change.

The trends enjoyed by a few today will be experienced by many tomorrow, and virtually all next week. And a PR person that wants to excel needs to be a great, not good, trendspotter who can separate the wheat from the chaff, distinguish today’s passing fancy or fading passion from tomorrow’s hot new item du jour.

In lots of businesses — media, entertainment, marketing, fashion or stock-market-related professions — knowing the latest trend is a prerequisite for success (or even survival). The message is clear: you miss out on a trend, you’re out on the street.

I asked a friend, a journalist, why she thought we are so fascinated by trends. “Simple,” she said. “The trends happen without fail, and we find ourselves in the middle of them, and we want to identify what is happening.”

The most important rule in spotting trends is the rule of talking to experts.

Here’s how:

1. Pay attention to people you believe in. Get in touch and ask questions.

2. Ask really good (and useful) questions. Have total belief in your sources and make them know this.

3. Find visionaries who can teach you new ideas, and try to tell them one thing they weren’t aware of. People who are true visionaries know they can take a new person’s idea to another level. So they are thankful to respond to your call/e-mail. It’s important to learn to recognize the difference between true visionaries and slick BS.

4. Be aware of where life is going. Pay attention to the signs that something — big change — is on the horizon.

5. Great trendspotters are always evolving, learning, and growing. Remember that Italian class you’re always thinking of taking? Right.

6. Don’t just read the Arts section. Be well-rounded. In marketing, and in life, nothing succeeds (even success) like a person who is knowledgeable and, er, interesting. And stuff.

Since You Weren’t Reading Carefully, I Made Another List

Here is a sum of what you can do today. It has more group action—in case you didn’t feel like reading before:

1. Follow leaders — pay attention.

2. Use the Net for everything (forget privacy concerns—they’re nonexistent and almost funny now, so go, click, and be merry),because at any given time you can follow the thoughts of approximately 1.5 million random, just-as-fascinated people. A nice number—and one I didn’t have to make up.

3. Collect data on areas that interest you. Hey, one thing that everyone
forgets—and I know I said it before, but I can’t stress it enough—get a napkin and write it down. Even if you don’t ever look at thepage again, the brain works in oh-so-mysterious ways. I do this with my always-neglected shopping lists that I don’t bother with before I "dial up" the Chinese Delivery Guy.

4. Get on mailing lists about things that interest you. It’s so easy to do that now. Gosh, in the old days you had to send SASEs (for the confused, that’s self-addressed envelopes with stamps—or snail). Today you just shoot an e-mail to someone or click a link. I mean, jeez, there’s no excuse.

5. Use separate e-mail addresses just to collect separate information. Get a Hotmail or Gmail account for spam. In these cases, e-mail is—dare I say it—worthy.

6. Subscribe to trade publications. Man, you can get so many of them gratis. In trade magazines you read passionate and often interesting articles on things you had heretofore thought were dull. Plus, you get to see others work hard to explain what you found inexplicable.

7. Talk to experts—arrange to meet. I’ve said it before, and that means I mean it.

8. Don’t ignore indicators. In 1929, the only ones who made it through the crash were those who read newspapers. And really read ’em. By the way, myyahoo.com and mywashingtonpost.com—all that stuff you think you want to know—are not good enough. Expand your wings, broaden personal focus, all those other clichés . . .

9. Just do it over and over again. Nike had a point, albeit a repetitive one.

10. It is indubitably a must to be informed. But come on, talking about being interested in order to succeed is so obvious. If you don’t know this, then close the book. Today, it’s more urgent than ever to be interesting since that would put you in a class by yourself—people tend to like you better because you are a hotbed of “hmm, cool fact” in a society where people repeat the same one-liners daily.

It is better to be remembered for who you are than simply nodded at.

11. Stay awake. I like my lattes with lowfat.

*****Twitter @laermer

Know Yourself, Be Yourself for Better Pitches

Last week, I had the blind luck to present right before Artie Isaac at SummitUp. If you don’t know Artie, you should.

Artie Isaac co-founded SpeakerSite and the Young Isaac Agency. He also teaches creativity, consumer behavior, copywriting and the history of advertising at The Ohio State University and the Columbus College of Art & Design. Artie started his career with agencies in New York, including Ogilvy & Mather. He holds an MBA in Marketing from Columbia and a BA in English Literature from Yale.

So what do I mean by blind luck? Well Artie’s presentation rocked the house and I would have hated to follow it. But there was some wonderful synergy between my presentation on storytelling and Artie’s presentation on social media as a vehicle for creativity.

Artie’s inspirational speech on creativity convinced me to interview him for the Bad Pitch Blog. While I ask Artie about tips for more creative pitches, he actually gives us a bigger picture perspective from his own experience. And I think it's even more applicable and can be applied to your media relations approach.

Chris Brogan on Better Blogger Pitches

Earlier this week one half of The Bad Pitch Blog kicked off SummitUp -- an event packed with great content, including presentations from Bob Garfield and Chris Brogan.

The Bad Pitch Blog took advantage of this quality time to ask a few folks about how to improve the pitch. First up is Chris Brogan -- author of the New York Times Bestseller "Trust Agents."

The book stems from his extensive blogging, speaking and community building efforts as president of New Marketing Labs. Here's his quick take on creating better blogger pitches.

The Axed Hack's Guide to Flacking: Are Journalists Meant For PR?

I'll get right to the point: PR is not the dark side any more.

As a reporter for a plethora of publications in the hard-to-remember '80s, I do recall titters from my colleagues when I defected to PR. I had to make more money and I couldn't cope with holier-than-thou editors. I'd written for USA Today, New York Daily News, New York Times, Crain's NY, Editor & Publisher, Us... and all I got was a T-shirt that said, "Someone read my article."

A lot of PR peers were once reporters who failed in the new gig because PR was immoral or beneath them (don't get me started!). You have to think of yourself in the highest esteem to make it as a journalist -- I get it -- but in order to make the leap into public relations, just cut out that attitude with a scalpel. If you want to be great and make money, you need to passionate about the work. And you just can't fake passion unless you're in porn.

Ever since I switched teams, I have met PR folks who started sentences with, "Back when I was a reporter..." Most were let go from reporting duties by slimming corporations. But some proved to not be so good at either profession.

To do well in the PR industry, you need to make a tough job look easy. You've got to have many balls in the air at one time. A lot seem to juggle well, except for those tasks you didn't come up with on your own.

Here is how to determine whether you've got the goods to make it in our hood--particularly since tons of reporters need jobs.

You belong in PR if...

You have attention to detail (or ATD)


Those devilish details are required. Consistency is everything, and if you're careless or sloppy, we beseech you stay away. But if you can spot a mistake from a mile away -- and stop it from attacking -- please join the PR association.

A guy employed at RLM PR previously worked at a terrible agency and came equipped with bad habits. He would write a mediocre draft, and when I said rewrite it, he shrugged, "Why? The client won't notice." He's at Gap now.

You can write -- and edit


You hate wimpy words like "accepts," "offers," and "ensures." You are all about full and clear sentences. You say what you mean to say, and you aren't that cretin always trying to "come up with a good way to say X." You use lowercase and capital letters correctly. Come on down.

Writing is rewriting.

There was a -- ahem -- creative type in our office who loved to write as though he were pontificating. He was a college professor, so he said. It's one thing to love to hear your own voice, but on paper, that's useless.

You need to see everything to its rightful conclusion


Reporters can write bad copy, hand it to an editor, and think, "S/he'll fix it." If you can't stomach that though, then join "the lighter side." You know the colleague who figures someone else will finish the product? That guy disgusts you, right? You're the one who ambles into a PR office and says, "What's it going to take to get this done?!?" We call it Gumby -- you never shrug or roll your eyes! You're our type.

You don't get scared at B-movies (or several simultaneous deadlines)


You would have never said, "I can't do more than one story at a time," as a journalist, and you can manage many screaming babies at once.

A reporter acquaintance came to work and freaked out because our computers were down. He was gone by lunch on day one.

You never call yourself "a people person"


You deal with words; people are secondary. Of course you're a team player, but will you sit down and create something? From scratch?

In Detroit, the GM Nod occurs when people come to meetings and say yes to every new fantastic idea until they leave the room and murmur, "That ain't going to happen." In PR, you always have to sell in your ideas to clients and colleagues.

How can you tell if you're right for this evolving field that happens to be hiring? You have an innate ability to leave your ego at the door and you can take a message to the people without editorializing!

You don't belong anywhere near PR if...

You think it's a breeze


Oh puh-leeze. I work my ass off and answer to a ton of chieftains: editors, reporters, producers -- and those clients who send passive aggressive emails all day long! Nothing we do is easy. Don't apply here. You already aren't applying yourself.

We ask applicants from the field of journalism why they want to be in PR. They say it's because they know how reporters work. The last one we hired answered, "because I want to make more money, and I'm not afraid to work hard." We love you!

You've dealt with PR folks so you've got mad skills


What's that -- incessant babbling against an onslaught of cheery PR types? We already put up with you at one job.

We hired an ex-producer who made an excellent first impression, but the second she arrived, she spent gobs of time saying why pitches wouldn't work and had a nonstop, almost obsessive need to communicate developments. She didn't let the elevator door hit her on the...

It's your way -- forget the highway


You are so darn flexible, you can do handstands! When push comes to shove, you've never met an answer you didn't know.

Two words: shoe salesman.

If the person doing most of the talking in meetings is you, then we're just not that into you. The best PR people ask lots of questions and listen to answers.

Your mother told you everything you do is precious


Your mom was wrong, and you've got no stomach for PR because you are as thin-skinned as Bill O'Reilly.

I once hired "The Smartest Person In The World," albeit temporarily. When errors were astutely pointed out to him, instead of learning from them, I got fistfuls of vociferous arguments. His mother worships him; he Tweets about it all the time.

You need someone to hold your hand because an editor did


A lot of applicants ask: Will you show me the way? Yes, if I was Peter Frampton! You don't have the "pit bull" self-starter thing going on, so let's not.

One of my firm's most successful PR pros arrived from a journalism career in Europe. He asks a ton of questions, but not before trying to find the answer himself. God helps those who help themselves. And we believe in him (lowercase "him" -- the guy we hired).

There are exceptions: You can write a scintillating press release, but still have an ego like Montana? Your ADD is stuck, and your ATD is phenomenal? Hang a hat here!

During these fast four years of co-crafting Bad Pitch Blog, we made it a home for reporters to articulately moan about PR simpletons. But through the most maudlin of economies, more than half of BPB's e-correspondence has been you people (journalists) asking if this snickered-at field could be a home for your needy selves! Letters say, "I can do this, no sweat. I know what's good because, gosh, I've turned down so many pitches!"

You know what I think? You could turn down a bed!

So it appears our two divergent careers have finally fallen in love. Now you have to decide if you're a sweet-grapes person who wants to learn and influence the public while connecting to always-busy people for 10 (you heard 10!) hours each day. If you see yourself pacing in that cubicle, you are a PR person who was once a full-time scribe.

That does not mean call for a job—unless you are offering me something fitting all the above. I'll take the call.

Twitter @laermer.