According to PR Week 9 out of 10 of the UK's largest PR agencies have hired more graduates this year despite the credit crunch. This apparently shows that the PR industry looks set to buck the recession. But there's a major flaw. The majority of PR graduates will not go straight into jobs working for the UK's ten largest agencies, many will begin their careers at small consultancies that might be less well equipped to ride out a recession.

As the only person on my course to have got a PR job since graduating, I would be surprised if small consultancies were mirroring large agencies and hiring more graduates than in 2007. But perhaps I'm wrong - what do you think?

Labels: credit crunch, formby, graduate, jobs, matthew watson, pr week, public relations, recession, students, uk

A couple weeks ago I blogged to say that I had applied for a place on Seth Godin's summer internship in New York. I didn't get it. I did however get invited to join his online internship during the summer months. A group of almost 100 top marketing students from around the world will be working together, sharing knowledge and learning from each other as well as from one of the greatest marketeers of all time and perhaps the world's most influential marketing blogger. Exciting, eh?

We'll be collaborating on marketing projects for Seth's website Squidoo.com as well as completing a number of other tasks. At the end of the summer, Seth has stated his intention to showcase the CV's of all the active interns on his phenomenally popular blog. Money can't buy that kind of reccomendation.

For my first task I'm hoping to team up with Richard Millington who writes a very inciteful marketing blog at FeverBee.com. We have been asked to create lenses (web pages) on Squidoo about topics which interest us. We haven't decided what our lenses will be about yet but I'm hoping we can write about the microblogging service Twitter. I shall keep you informed.

Labels: blog, formby, marketing, matthew watson, microblogging, new york, public relations, seth godin, squidoo, students, the marketing tribe, twitter, work experience

Stephen Davies of prblogger.com recently posed the question 'Where are all the student PR bloggers?' Now he's created a list, and for some reason or another I top it. See the list of UK PR student bloggers here.

It's not the first time Davies has helped me. I quoted his Behind The Spin article, 'Blog-it-yourself and watch your profile rise' in my dissertation. I think this serves to prove that blogging can raise your profile. This is certainly true in Google. A search for 'Matthew Watson' shows my blog as the 4th result, just behind a Professor Matthew Watson from the University of Warwick.

Labels: behind the spin, blogging, dissertation, formby, google, matthew watson, prblogger.com, profile, public relations, stephen davies, students, university of warwick

Dissertation asking Is blogging the future of Public Relations? Done.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with interviews:
(Alphabetical as always)

Heather Constantine, the parliamentary researcher for Ann Widdecombe

Iain Dale is a political commentator who blogs at www.iaindale.com

Sarah Halton of Tangerine PR

Roger Haywood the former CIPR and CIM president.

Ian Green the director of media at Green Communications

Johannes Kokert and engineer at Leica Microsystems in Germany

Simon Law, a junior product manager at Amadeus in France

Thibault Masson, the founder of international online marketing consultancy Fashion Fox

Katie McLoughlin of Trinity Mirror North West

Alexander Petricca, a professional photographer and blogger in Liverpool.

Douglas Smith the former CIPR president and MD of Parliamentary Perceptions

Margaret Tarpey the MD of Concept Communications

Nina Watson, the senior account manager at Concept Communications

Paul Watson the Global IT manager of Rolls-Royce Energy

Philip Young, a senior lecturer at the University of Sunderland and prominant PR blogger

Special thanks also go out to:

Maxine Barnett who organised the 'Two PR Greats' lecture and introduced me to Douglas Smith and Roger Haywood.

Anne Gregory whose lecture on 'Public Relations and its Struggle for Respectability' at the Bradford University School of Management helped me enormously.

Labels: cipr, concept pr, dissertation, formby, huddersfield, is blogging the future of public relations, matthew watson, public relations, students, university

For the last four hours I’ve been watching Live Earth. I’d love to watch it in its entirety but tonight is Simon’s leaving do and apparently I’d rather go to a party than save the world! That said I might walk instead of getting a taxi.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Why do we get taxi’s so often in Huddersfield? We live in the town centre and we’re poor students. Yet almost every night we go out we spend money to travel what is essentially a two minute walk. I plan to make it my aim to take less taxi’s next year. They’re only really necessary if it’s raining after all.

However, it is a lot easier to say things than to actually do things. But if we don’t do things we might not be here to say or do those things. Do you agree?

Labels: climate change, formby, global warming, green, huddersfield, live earth, matthew watson, students