Lauren Lorenzo, Public Relations Professional
Lauren is a public relations professional with seven years of experience. She majored in Communication Studies and took internships at four different companies, including Nickelodeon. Since then she has worked as an Account Coordinator, Assistant Account Executive and Account Executive.
Her next step is to become a Senior Account Executive at a well-rounded agency. Lauren has the experience to succeed in a client-facing role and exceeds expectations as a mentor to younger PR professionals. Keep up with Lauren on Twitter @LaurenLrnz and read more about her experience:
On school:
I was a Communication Studies major in college – I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do after I graduated so I felt like this major was the best option. Throughout my time at college, I took a PR class where we had to choose an on-campus organization and put together a PR plan for them. This is one class and experience that I can say truly transferred into the real working world because we had to think about objectives and strategies, and then had to actually create the press materials to go along with them. I also took an event planning course and was able to use a lot of what I learned in that experience and apply it to tasks I’ve had throughout my career.
On internships:
I had four internships during my college years, but my favorite one had to be when I interned for the PR team at Nickelodeon. I actually met a recruiter at a job fair and submitted my resume; she then reached out and had me come in for an interview. I interviewed with the Nickelodeon PR team and then sent a thank you not to everyone I met with. A week or two later, I followed up and they were still making their final round of decisions. I ended up getting the internship and going in two times a week. The things I learned and saw during my time there definitely helped in my first job. I was able to do things from updating media lists to monitoring the brand and watching first-hand how they dealt with crisis situations.
Funny enough, once I graduated college and started applying to jobs, out of the blue my intern advisor from Nickelodeon called me. She wanted to let me know that they had worked with one of the companies where I had applied, who ended up contacting them to ask a few questions about me. She was able to tell me a bit more about the position before the hiring company actually contacted me themselves. I did get the job and was with that company for close to three years.
On first jobs:
My first job was as an Account Coordinator at Freeman PR. I found it by looking through jobs on Craigslist and was with the company for almost three years. I was in the Account Coordinator role for about a year and worked my way up to Assistant Account Executive and then Account Executive.
On tools and resources:
Cision is definitely one of the most helpful tools – while their databases aren’t always the most accurate, it does make for a good starting point. I think it’s also important to use Google Alerts to help monitor what’s being said about your brand/clients, but be sure to do the occasional Google search because the alerts aren’t always super timely. There are also broadcast monitoring services like TV Eyes that are helpful in tracking down TV segments including your brand/clients.
Advice:
Advice for my college self would be to not stress out so much. I was always so worried about gaining experience and trying to know exactly what I wanted to do the minute I graduated. Don’t do that – give yourself time to get a feel for what you like and what you don’t like through internships. Not having a job the day after you graduate is not the end of the world, there’s a ton of other people in the same boat. Everything will work out in the end, just give it time.
To young professionals that are interested in building their network, I would suggest going to networking events and always keeping a positive relationship with former intern advisers and employers. Be nice to everyone you meet and never treat anyone with disrespect – it’s always better to be remembered for the good than the bad. Others are also more likely to help and recommend you if they have good things to say about you. There are tons of PR agencies and positions, but somehow there will always be someone who knows someone who knows you, and you’ll never want anyone to speak poorly of you.
Her next step is to become a Senior Account Executive at a well-rounded agency. Lauren has the experience to succeed in a client-facing role and exceeds expectations as a mentor to younger PR professionals. Keep up with Lauren on Twitter @LaurenLrnz and read more about her experience:
On school:
I was a Communication Studies major in college – I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do after I graduated so I felt like this major was the best option. Throughout my time at college, I took a PR class where we had to choose an on-campus organization and put together a PR plan for them. This is one class and experience that I can say truly transferred into the real working world because we had to think about objectives and strategies, and then had to actually create the press materials to go along with them. I also took an event planning course and was able to use a lot of what I learned in that experience and apply it to tasks I’ve had throughout my career.
On internships:
I had four internships during my college years, but my favorite one had to be when I interned for the PR team at Nickelodeon. I actually met a recruiter at a job fair and submitted my resume; she then reached out and had me come in for an interview. I interviewed with the Nickelodeon PR team and then sent a thank you not to everyone I met with. A week or two later, I followed up and they were still making their final round of decisions. I ended up getting the internship and going in two times a week. The things I learned and saw during my time there definitely helped in my first job. I was able to do things from updating media lists to monitoring the brand and watching first-hand how they dealt with crisis situations.
Funny enough, once I graduated college and started applying to jobs, out of the blue my intern advisor from Nickelodeon called me. She wanted to let me know that they had worked with one of the companies where I had applied, who ended up contacting them to ask a few questions about me. She was able to tell me a bit more about the position before the hiring company actually contacted me themselves. I did get the job and was with that company for close to three years.
On first jobs:
My first job was as an Account Coordinator at Freeman PR. I found it by looking through jobs on Craigslist and was with the company for almost three years. I was in the Account Coordinator role for about a year and worked my way up to Assistant Account Executive and then Account Executive.
On tools and resources:
Cision is definitely one of the most helpful tools – while their databases aren’t always the most accurate, it does make for a good starting point. I think it’s also important to use Google Alerts to help monitor what’s being said about your brand/clients, but be sure to do the occasional Google search because the alerts aren’t always super timely. There are also broadcast monitoring services like TV Eyes that are helpful in tracking down TV segments including your brand/clients.
Advice:
Advice for my college self would be to not stress out so much. I was always so worried about gaining experience and trying to know exactly what I wanted to do the minute I graduated. Don’t do that – give yourself time to get a feel for what you like and what you don’t like through internships. Not having a job the day after you graduate is not the end of the world, there’s a ton of other people in the same boat. Everything will work out in the end, just give it time.
To young professionals that are interested in building their network, I would suggest going to networking events and always keeping a positive relationship with former intern advisers and employers. Be nice to everyone you meet and never treat anyone with disrespect – it’s always better to be remembered for the good than the bad. Others are also more likely to help and recommend you if they have good things to say about you. There are tons of PR agencies and positions, but somehow there will always be someone who knows someone who knows you, and you’ll never want anyone to speak poorly of you.