PRSSA chapter connects students to professional world
Utah State University is full of clubs and programs with the goal of helping students find their footing in their respective industries upon graduation. One such club is the USU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. In the fast-paced world of public relations, experience is key, and PRSSA aims to give students opportunities to excel upon entry to the public relations world.
As part of a nationwide society that holds chapters not only at universities but for professionals in cities across the country, PRSSA can help students find jobs and internships in public relations by placing them in real-world situations.
“PRSSA is the bridge from the classroom to the workforce and the community in the field of public relations,” said Scooter Porras, USU PRSSA vice president. “We learn a lot of stuff in the classroom. PRSSA helps us take those same principles and apply them with professionals and real-world experiences.”
Porras said the club not only helps students gain connections on a national scale but also on a local level, working with companies in Cache Valley. The students also partner with the Salt Lake City chapter of the Public Relations Society of America to help find students jobs and internships across the region.
“PRSSA prepares students with real hands-on experience in internships and jobs. It connects students with local mentors along with national mentors like the Salt Lake City chapter, which is our mother chapter,” said Chloe Miller, chapter president. “You get exposure to really large agencies, businesses, organizations through this national outlet that you wouldn’tbe able to otherwise. Logan is pretty rural, and public relations tends to be a metropolitan thing, so it connects you to that world if that’s what you’re looking for.”
One of the top priorities of the club is to help students find jobs and internships, according to Miller. To do this, students maintain a strong presence in the industry to find new connections to assist students.
“We try to be very active with our social media presence on Instagram, and we’re growing our LinkedIn. We’re constantly posting and trying to make connections across the country,” Miller said. “We have an online job board that we try to keep updated all the time. We’re constantly just posting opportunities for students.”
While the club puts effort into helping students find jobs and internships across the country, it also helps students make connections on campus by creating a tight-knit group that can support each other throughout their academic and professional careers. A relatively small club compared to similar clubs across campus, students rely much more on each other for their success, according to Porras.
“Everyone in this club is super close to one another. I would say we have a chip on our shoulders — sometimes it feels like we are fighting tooth and nail. Our college just got merged, and they don’t think we put enough jobs out there, even though everyone I’ve met who has graduated from this program is currently working and doing super cool things,” Porras said.“I think because of that, we’re very close-knit in our group. I would say that’s one of the biggest benefits — we know that we can rely on one another. There’s such a resource amongst us. We know from people who came through before us in this club that they found success, and we know that we can find success through it too.”
This success is not only celebrated by the students in the club but also by the faculty who help out within the organization. Bobbee Russell Verhoef has been the club’s adviser for the past three years and has seen many students come through the club and find success.
“I try to stay in the background as much as I can. I want it to be the students’ club, but it’s really rewarding to be able to see students meet and work with professionals in the field and then eventually work at those companies,” Verhoef said. “I like surrounding myself with motivated and driven students wanting to provide those opportunities to enhance their peers’ education. It’s a highlight of my week whenever we have stuff going on, and it’s super cool to be able to provide this opportunity for students.”
While the various activities the club organizes are focused on preparing students to enter the workforce, for the members, they often end up as some of the highlights of their college careers.
Miller shared one such example: the opportunity to participate in a public relations competition organized by the Salt Lake City chapter of PRSA. From creating a PR plan to creating a crisis response, the competition tested her abilities in a variety of aspects of the field.
“The Utah PR Student of the Year competition is hosted each year by PRSA in Salt Lake City. They’re trying to simulate real-life tasks that you would be asked to do, and they’re trying to create stress and on-the-spot thinking and see how you can handle yourself and how you can represent your company, and in this case, it was the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition,” Miller said. “It was very intimidating but also really cool. I was nervous, but I just wanted to push myself to gain this experience. I knew that it would build my resume and my credibility as a professional. It was a great opportunity, and I recommend that every student at Utah State look for opportunities like it.”
While the club is focused on helping students find experience in the field of public relations, PRSSA is open to anyone who is interested in growing their skills in public relations and beyond.
“You don’t have to be a PR student to join this club. This club is for anybody who wants career growth in any capacity, whether you’re marketing or business or whatever,” Porras said.“The skills and the access to the tools that we work with in PRSSA will take anybody far in terms of finding a career.”
More information on the club can be found on the USU PRSSA Instagram account.