Monday, October 03, 2005
‘Have you read any book on PR?’
“Why does not the corporate world give the PR consultancy business its due respect? Why don’t we enjoy the same status as professionals in other management consultancies?”
I have encountered such questions on many occasions. If anything, over the years, such questions are getting louder -- and more frequent.
My own experience perhaps gives an insight into the problem. In the last 12 months, I interviewed 115 Indian PR professionals, with experience of six months-eight years, for various positions in my organisation.
One common question to all the aspirants has been: “Have you read a single book on PR after joining the profession?” The response is shocking. Barring half a dozen mentions of Al and Laura Ries’ The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR, not one professional had read any complete book on PR or Marcom.
However, thankfully, there was one exception: Noumaan Qureshi whom I promptly hired…
As far as PR professionals’ indifference to knowledge acquisition is concerned, this not an aberration but just the tip of the iceberg. With such an outlook, the why-don’t-they-respect-us lament of the PR industry would grow louder and louder. And who is to blame?
I have encountered such questions on many occasions. If anything, over the years, such questions are getting louder -- and more frequent.
My own experience perhaps gives an insight into the problem. In the last 12 months, I interviewed 115 Indian PR professionals, with experience of six months-eight years, for various positions in my organisation.
One common question to all the aspirants has been: “Have you read a single book on PR after joining the profession?” The response is shocking. Barring half a dozen mentions of Al and Laura Ries’ The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR, not one professional had read any complete book on PR or Marcom.
However, thankfully, there was one exception: Noumaan Qureshi whom I promptly hired…
As far as PR professionals’ indifference to knowledge acquisition is concerned, this not an aberration but just the tip of the iceberg. With such an outlook, the why-don’t-they-respect-us lament of the PR industry would grow louder and louder. And who is to blame?
