Using PR Techniques to Get Your Clients Interviews and Get Hired

Jessica and Meryl

When I saw this article on "Using PR Techniques Can Get You Hired, Promoted" in the Atlanta Business News, it immediately caught my attention.

I've often said that there is no "degree" in resume writing -- careers industry professionals come from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. My personal background is in journalism/public relations, and I've often used these techniques in helping my clients with their resumes ... and to get interviews.

A couple of specific techniques from PR are important:

• The message is the most important. When providing interview training, I remind clients that it's up to you to communicate your message. The interviewer may have his or her own agenda for the interview -- and it may not align with the message you want to communicate. If you can pick 2-3 key messaging topics for yourself, you'll be able to stay on track in the interview.
• Use the "inverted pyramid" style of writing in the resume and cover letter. When writing a news article, you start with the most important information at the top, with the least important successively as you go down the page. In newspaper copyediting, this helps the editor trim from the bottom up, when space is an issue. The same is true with the resume.
• Have a theme or story. The use of storytelling principles continues to grow in the resume writing field -- because it's important to stand out. The same is true with newspaper writing. Personal interest profiles are written very differently than straight news stories. You'll see this reflected in resumes too -- and it can be the difference between an "obituary" resume versus an interview-winning resume.

If you are interested in this subject, check out "Be Your Own Best Publicist" (Career Press, January 2011) by PR pros Jessica Kleiman and Meryl Weinsaft Cooper.