Future Resistant: Preparing Gen Next

I’ll be speaking at a CPRS panel, Gen Next: Preparing the Future Stars of the PR Industry on May 8 in Toronto. As someone who once hand-delivered news releases to the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa so as to develop a face-to-face rapport (and dare I say I also FAXed out media releases to a list generated from the Bowden’s big red book of media contacts), I’m now tasked with making sure our students are ready for the world of PR well beyond the day after they graduate.

Along with my students, I’ve made a point to become preoccupied with the Future of Work, knowing that 85 per cent of the jobs that will be around in 10 years haven’t even been invented. This past semester, our students conducted a survey for a Storyworks assignment (they worked with real client CivicAction) to learn about millennials attitudes towards the future of work. Most are optimistic: 71 per cent of respondents believe they will be able to make a good living throughout the course of their career, 55 per cent believe the changing skillset requirements will negatively impact their employment opportunities. Another group of students held a dinner and discussion to taco ’bout the future of work. And on April 29, I will participate in CivicAction’s Canvas summit held every four years to explore the issues of importance to the region, one being the future of work.

Likewise, at the end of March, I participated in another joint Centennial student-Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 alumni initiative that had youth from University of Toronto, McMaster, Guelph, Centennial College and York University sit down with alumni to see if we could come up with some real ideas around the future of work. What better way than to ask, ‘how can we help?’

There’s a lot to unpack and this will never be fully resolved. If there’s one thing that is certain, it’s uncertainty. But there are some things we at Centennial College’s Story Arts Centre are doing to get our students job-ready, and maybe even future-proof. Or maybe future-resistant would be a better term (kind of like the difference between waterproof and water-resistant; one guarantees you stay dry, the other, you *might* stay dry in a shower, but not in a downpour, and that of course depends on how long you stay exposed).

First, the hard skills. After extensive research on the paid influencer phenomenon for my Masters in Public Relations, I concede that paid media is here to stay. To that end, this Fall, our program is merging three once separate courses, Social Media PR and Media Relations and Metrics and Measurement into Integrated PR I and Integrated PR II. The course descriptions are as follows:

Integrated PR I Course:

Public Relations strategies are now an integrated combination of Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned (PESO model). Students will learn the fundamentals of each component of the PESO model with a focus on social media PR (shared) and media relations (earned). First semester, students will explore principles, terminology and best practices. For example, students will develop a solid understanding of how journalists work and paid influencers work. Students will use their new knowledge of key publications and journalists as well as key social media influencers in various fields to develop a targeted media list for a campaign such as an event.

Integrated PR II Course:

Continuing the lessons from semester one, students will use semester two to apply Integrated PR best practices and tactics: from planning, pitching journalists and contract negotiations between brands and influencers to content marketing for owned media and social media ad buys. Students will also apply industry tools to measure and evaluate integrated PR efforts.

We also know that if content is queen, data is king. Effective September 2019, a new semester one, Data Analytics Course recognizes the data-driven world we live in and in order to succeed, every PR practitioner must understand how to gather, analyze and apply data to every level of decision making, be it selling through an idea to the CEO or client, engaging employees or developing a campaign. This course teaches the latest data applications for the world of PR.

Then there are the softer skills, a theme that came up at the Top 40 Under 40 Alumni event. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari identifies the four C’s as cornerstones to future-readiness: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. Machines can’t take any of these away from us. Humans are still the masters of the relationship. These four pillars are taught in every course, every assignment. It’s part of our ‘hidden curriculum’ that ensures students engage with each other, the material and the world around them. Be it a group assignment where they have to raise money for a local charity — with fellow students they just met — to identifying opportunities and coming up with creative, strategic and realistic solutions for real clients in their Storyworks course, our students are applying the soft skills they will need to succeed. Exercising these muscles builds resilience (group conflict resolution! Time management of multiple assignments! A demanding client who wants an update NOW!). All of these strengthen resilience and moves our students closer to a state of ‘future-resistant’.

Soft skills or hard skills, our program does prepare the future stars of PR. And if you don’t believe me, just ask any number of grads who are managing successful careers, getting promoted and being recognized for their achievements. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @Centennial_CCPR for updates from our students and other program news.