As a Capricorn, long-term planning is pretty much a given in how I approach all things in life. College was no exception.
Although rare for most people, I declared a major during freshman year orientation at Boston University, and stuck with that major the next four years. The College of Communication at BU has a robust program which includes graduate programs.
Being the planner I was, I began asking myself early on: What comes after this?
I enrolled in a business minor, with the idea that I could pursue an MBA. That plan did not last long, mostly because I hated the finance classes.
Once an MBA was less desirable, I began to think about potentially pursuing a graduate degree in communications, particularly my field of study, public relations. I utilized the wealth of resources and the network that BU College of Communication offered and reached out to as many alumni as I could to gather the best advice on how to pave my path after graduation. The response I received was the same thing over and over again: get a few years of experience under your belt.
I did exactly that and during my last semester at BU, I jumped right into agency life through an internship at Weber Shandwick while I was finishing up my studies. I met so many people within my teams who had pursued graduate degrees. I continued networking and asking questions, and to my surprise, many people told me that the additional degree was not the end-all-be-all it was made out to be.
From M.S. degrees in PR to MBAs, I was told over and over again that experience in the field proved far more valuable to agencies than an additional few years of school. After two-and-a-half years working at the agency level, I realized that even though I didn’t enroll in more school, I’m still learning every day.
When I first came to tech PR as a second semester senior, as to be expected, I had no experience in the field. I was forced to teach myself about the industry and products in order to be the best agency support for my clients and am still learning to this day. This same sentiment holds true for just about every field of PR from healthcare to sports to financial services, and the list goes on.
I’m curious by nature and will always be a lifelong learner. It is comforting to know that a field such as PR innately means I will constantly be learning new things every day.
It’s not to say a graduate degree is not still an option in the future. But for now, the plan in mind is to keep learning on the job each and every day.
Geneve Lau is a senior associate of media relations at Weber Shandwick.