Analysis of Personal Employability Competencies for PR Careers

This assignment analyzes the personal employability competencies of a student aspiring to a career in Public Relations. The student identifies and evaluates key skills such as commercial awareness, communication, and creativity, crucial for success in the field. Commercial awareness is defined as understanding a business's operations, market, and competitors. The student emphasizes its importance in interviews and professional settings. Communication skills, both written and oral, are highlighted as essential for interacting with clients, colleagues, and the public. Creativity is presented as a vital skill for generating new ideas and engaging target audiences. The student provides examples of how these skills can be demonstrated and improved, drawing on various sources. The assignment concludes with a reflection on the importance of these competencies for graduate recruitment and career preparation, including a comprehensive bibliography. Desklib provides this and similar assignments to help students with their studies.

Student 1
Identify and analyse personal employability competencies relevant to career of choice
Commercial awareness- by my knowledge, commercial awareness is the information in which a
graduate has gathered about a business before an interview either face to face or over the phone.
When employers ask about commercial awareness, they are testing the interviewee’s knowledge of the
business. From the amount of employees to financial reports, which can easily be found online as it, is
public information. Employers base their decision of employing a graduate based of their commercial
awareness of their business. In 2009, 35% of employers were disappointed with graduate’s awareness
of their business (Commercial awareness and motivation-based interviews, no date).
Identify- within Public Relations, commercial awareness is important and it tends to impact on
employers. Generally speaking, employers expect graduates to have an understanding of their
business, products or service, an understanding of the marketplace and competitors. Having this
knowledge as a Public relations firm may or may not guarantee a graduate position with recruiters but
it may have a positive impact on the employers as they may specifically remember the individual with
information about the PR firm.
Evaluate- commercial awareness is a way in which businesses and recruitment teams test their
graduates. A way to phrase your knowledge in an application could be, “I have noticed a few works in
which you have recently partaken where the clients were very pleased with the campaign and how you
dealt with the public.” Public relations is mainly about the business, it’s clients and how they engage
with their target audience so involving their clients and audience will show a grate knowledge of the
business who they are and what their main target audiences are.
Communication- Grimsley defines communication as “sending and receiving information between two
or more people (Grimsley)” As a graduate, you must have good communication skills in which all
employers expect from all their employees. This is to ensure there will be good communication both
oral and written between clients and the general public. To a graduate recruiter, having communication
skills shows the graduate will have good communication skills as well as phase good and important
questions when it comes to
Identify- within Public relations, communication is a skill, which is expected as well as gained and
developed over time. Communication can require written as well as oral. PR firms expect employees to
have an idea of face-to-face, email and telephone commination, as it is very important with the work
place to be able to successfully communicate with colleagues, clients and the general public. A way in
which communication can be developed and improved to impress Public Relations graduate recruiters
is to make sure to practice on both verbal and written as well as get help from others to improve and
enhance on it. Practice makes you perfect.
Evaluate- communication is an effective way in which two or more people can send and receive
messages PR firms goals are to have a good relationship with their clients as well as their targeted
audiences thereby communication is one of the most important tools in which a graduate must have
and is willing to develop on. When apply for a graduate job in PR, you must show your level of
communication in which employers highly seek. When on an interview, employers seek confidence,
smile and eye contact, which shows how professional the graduate can be.
Creativity- the oxford dictionary creativity is a way in which an individual or group of uses their
imagination to create ideas something new and exciting. Others sees creativity as a “desirable
‘something’ that can be beneficial to organizations (Candy and Bilda, 2009)”Public relations firms’
demands creativity as a skill as it will be needed in the work place. Example being, PR firms want
new and creative ideas to communicate with their clients as well as their target audience.

Identify- a way to show your creativeness within, as application form could be to suggest a creative
idea in which I believe could improve the firm for better results. With new and improved social media,
PR firms have found and creative ways in which they could use to improve communicate as well as
keep the clients and target audience interested in the firm.
Evaluate- a way to encourage creativity is to set aims and objectives with a deadline. Time
management is very important within the PR industry there by setting aims, objectives as well as a
deadline will help creativeness and thereby hitting the desired target. Creativity is set to help to
improve upon a business or a specific area thereby, helping the firm in the long run there by creating a
positive change within the PR firm.
Conclude- to conclude, this course has taught me a lot about graduate recruiters and what they expect
from graduates. From commercial awareness to know what the employers expect from me as
graduates within my field of interest as well as all sorts of field. I was able to research into Public
Relations graduate recruitment process there by when preparing for an interview within this industry
or any other industry; I am away of what is expected from me as a recent graduate looking.
Bibliography
Candy, L. and Bilda, Z. (2009) Understanding and evaluating creativity. Available at:
http://research.it.uts.edu.au/creative/linda/CC09TUTE/CC09Candy_Bildahandout.pdf (Accessed: 3
January 2016).
Commercial awareness and motivation-based interviews (no date) Available at:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/commercialawareness.htm (Accessed: 2 January 2016).
Fishbach, A., Eyal, T. and Finkelstein, S. R. (2010) ‘How positive and negative feedback motivate goal
pursuit’, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(8), pp. 517–530. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-
9004.2010.00285.x.
Grimsley, S. (no date) What is communication? - definition & importance - video & lesson transcript.
Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-communication-definition-importance.html
(Accessed: 2 January 2016).
Hogg, M. A. (2001) ‘A social identity theory of leadership’, Personality and Social Psychology Review,
5(3), pp. 184–200. doi: 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0503_1.
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
Candy, L. and Bilda, Z. (2009) Understanding and evaluating creativity. Available at:
http://research.it.uts.edu.au/creative/linda/CC09TUTE/CC09Candy_Bildahandout.pdf (Accessed: 3
January 2016).
(Candy and Bilda, 2009)
Commercial awareness and motivation-based interviews (no date) Available at:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/commercialawareness.htm (Accessed: 2 January 2016).
(Commercial awareness and motivation-based interviews, no date)
Grimsley, S. (no date) What is communication? - definition & importance - video & lesson transcript.
Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-communication-definition-importance.html
(Accessed: 2 January 2016).
(Grimsley, no date)
Hogg, M. A. (2001) ‘A social identity theory of leadership’, Personality and Social Psychology Review,
5(3), pp. 184–200. doi: 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0503_1.
(Hogg, 2001)