The future of Goan PR:
Several PR students line up and chat about their
future
Team Café
Step aside, modelling and acting; PR is the new in thing!
That’s right! The person that gets things done, arranges for client coverage
and handles the image of a person or group is the new sought after trending
profession amongst the youth. The field of public relations is one that new
college goers are turning to, in the hope of exploiting an unsaturated field.
Jarryd Rodrigues, a college-goer from St Xavier’s College,
Mapusa says, “As a kid, I always enjoyed participating in activities related to
PR such as public speaking, elocution, debates. It’s also a lot of fun as it
involves maintaining good relations and socialising with many people. The
learning material involved in the studies for this kind of career has really
helped a lot, especially the practical sessions where we were taught crisis
management.”
Despite popular representations of the industry, this field
isn’t one that is just about glitz and glamour. The criterion and skill set
required to get ahead in PR can be rather taxing. These include: good communication
skills, the ability to multi-task and manage time effectively, good
organisation and planning, interest in all forms of media and the like.
Yet, putting aside all the gruelling needs to excel in this
field, there has been a growing surge in the interest in the field. Skitter
Faia, Director of Perfect Relations in Goa, shares her insight over the time
she has spent in the industry, much of which has been involved with moulding
students. “Over the last decade that we have been involved with public
relations in Goa, we have been interacting with students through guest lectures
in colleges and offering internships to students. Over the last two years, we
have noticed that students have been showing a keen interest in understanding
the profession better. We have seen a surge of interest from students in taking
up an internship with our agency,” she says.
So if you’re willing to put in the hours and you’re in it
for the long haul, maybe relationships are what you can thrive at, and maybe PR
is the field for you.
