How to Pitch Yourself

In my role as office manager, I review requests for internship opportunities and employment. People want to work at Peak because they are outgoing, influential, great communicators, have an eye for detail, have had experience in media relations – all the things we’re looking for. Surprisingly the majority of applications we receive are sent by email with short cover notes. Very few candidates contact us directly.

As PR professionals, we pitch ideas and stories to media. We also promote and sell our services to clients. We are the best at it because we talk to people and persuade them to cover our story or give us their business. We never just send an email.

If you seek a career with a top public relations firm, pitch yourself. Demonstrate the skills you’ve put on your resume. Sell us.

Strong research skills: prove it

Spend time on the company website; know who you’re applying to, the key players.

Attention to detail: prove it

Proofread your resume for spelling, grammatical or formatting error. Don’t have your resume stand out for all the wrong reasons.

Strong communication skills: prove it

Putting together an impressive resume and cover letter is a good start. List only the experience that is relevant to working with us, or reword your past experience so that it’s clear it will transfer to the new role. Write an impressive cover letter. Call to arrange an informational interview or better yet a meeting with someone in the firm who makes the hiring decisions.

The interview, well that’s a topic for another day.

Tags: agency, employment opportunities, internship, interview, media relations, pitching, Public relations