Still learning and growing

By reading Dave Fleets 14 Key Attributes For New Public Relations Professionals, I have found out that there are new things to learn about being a p.r. professional. Learning never stops as we grow older and I know I still have a lot to learn about the p.r. world.

Skills that need to be learned:
Writing: I know there is a lot of writing that goes on in the p.r. world and I feel comfortable writing press releases, but that is where it stops. Growing up in school, I always disliked writing long papers/essays and was always that person who put comma's in the wrong places along with other grammatical errors. Now that I am in college and am about to graduate I know that I have learned from my writing mistakes and look forward to the opportunity to show what I have learned from my p.r. writing classes in the future.

Communication Skills- I am confident that I do well talking with people one on one, but have noticed that I need to slow down, because I find myself talking to fast and the other person in the conversation looks at me with a weird face. That is one thing to take note of when talking with others.

Blogging- Who knew that blogging was going to be a big thing in the corporate world? I am glad that I know how to do it, but am not a fan of it. Blogging is big for companies and I understand the neccessity for it, but I could not constantly blog.

I definitley need to work and learn SEO, Coding, and RSS.

Skills & Attributes I do well:
Attention to detail- I find myself being a little ocd sometimes when it comes to projects, papers, or something business related. If something is not proof-read or gone over a thousand times, more than likely something will be or go wrong. I like to make sure that everything I do whether it be a press release, flier or an event perhaps. I like to think that I do this skill very well.

Media Relations- Never in my life have I ever had to make a media list or plan a pitch. I am thankful that I have found out how to do it in college, so that I am prepared to do it in the future. For my internship I had to make a media list of 15 counties. It was challenging at times, but I know how to prepare one and look up the listings for radio, tv, and newspaper. Pitching an idea to someone or some committee is nerve wracking, but learning from mistakes from past pitches has given me more confidence in doing a pitch now. I think that I get my ideas across nicely with words and physical evidence to support the idea.

Work Ethic- My work ethic is "getting the job done" no matter what it takes. I want to be a team player and will help out if needed or if I see something that is not getting done. In any job, a person needs to pitch in a little more when a deadline is nearing or an event is approaching. There is not I in TEAM, so we all have to help.

Social Networking Tool- I love facebook and would love to have the job of looking at my companies "friends" to see how we as a company impact their lives everyday. Knowing audience is key to success. I am confident that I have the skills to use the social networking tools well.

Proactiveness- I think I do this skill well, because I always want to have an anwser for someone even if it is not the right one. I would never want to not have an answer, because just sitting there are doing nothing will get you fired. I feel as though I always ask questions so that the person giving me direction is getting the result that they are looking for.