Seneca Polytechnic Public Relations & Corporate Communications — Semester 2

After 8 intense months, I finally completed the Public Relations and Corporate Communications program at Seneca! It’s one of my proudest achievements as I balanced 8 courses, job applications, and a part-time job. The second semester spanned from January to April and there was more at stake than the first semester as we geared up to find work for the summer.

In this blog post, I’ll provide an overview of semester 2 courses and list the pros and cons of enrolling in work-integrated learning.

Here’s an overview of our courseload:

1. Work-term preparation course / Public Relations Career Management
2. Writing for Public Relations Practitioners II
3. Corporate Communications Seminars
4. Public Relations Research Project
5. Advanced Presentations Skills I
6. Digital Communications: Strategies and Applications
7. Investor Relations
8. International Communications

This blog post is a few months late as I had a lot going on during the summer. But I still wanted to publish this piece to help people make an informed decision to enrol in a public relations program. This is part 2 of a series reviewing the Public Relations and Corproate Communications program; read part 1 here.

How the second semester was different

Our second semester was during the cold winter months and we saw a huge drop of in-class attendance. There were probably about 5-10 students in most classes on campus. Many chose to attend virtually. If you can, I highly encourage you to attend in person as it will enrich your learning and you’ll have opportunities to speak with professors directly if you need support with your job search.

Group work continues to be a big part of our courses. Student group work is not normal—no one is designated as a team lead and expectations about participation may differ among members. To better organize group work, I created this template to set expectations about how to collaborate. This document lists team roles, an internal communications policy and documents meeting notes. It also centralized all of our assignments in one place. This one document made a huge difference in the second semester and collaboration was so much smoother.

When my group met for the first time, we reviewed the internal communications policy to set expectations on how we would work together, such as response times group messages and everyone completing their delegated tasks. Most importantly, I asked the group to communicate challenges that come up and to express that immediately so other members can support. It was important to talk openly about because I had a bad experience in the first semester where one student ghosted us close to the assignment deadline due to their part-time job….it got to the point where the rest of us had to complete the missing part last minute. It wasn’t fun. We also assigned roles to each member based on our interests and strengths so everyone is clear about how they can contribute.

This term is also when you’ll start applying to jobs. A lot of jobs closed by the end of January, so look out for them at the end of the first semester and be ready to submit your application early. Many roles close before the deadline application when they receive enough resumes and fill the role when they find the right candidate. So don’t wait to the last minute to apply! Get started early.

Work-term preparation course

Before the end of the first semester, we had the option to enrol in work-integrated learning (WIL), which is essentially the equivalent of co-op. In our program, it costs an additional $495 to enrol (not included in the base tuition) and work placement is not guaranteed. You won’t be surprised to learn that only six out of some 30 classmates chose to enrol. I enrolled because I heard from alumni that the co-op jobs board posted public sector opportunities, which I was interested in.

In the second semester, I was in a work-term preparation course which had assignments to help us with resume and cover letter writing and interview skills. This class served our program in PRC, GRM, and law administration so our class was a mix of students. This course had optional weekly drop-in sessions with the WIL supervisor. These sessions ran for about six weeks, so it won’t take up the entire semester.

The default alternative to this course is “Public Relations Career Management”, which is included in the tuition. This course covers similar material as WIL, however you do not have assignments to hand in. From what I’ve heard, it’s more of a discussions-based course.

Luckily, I landed a placement with an Ontario ministry by the end of February through a posting on the WIL jobs board. My placement started at the end of April after I completed all of my courses. So technically, WIL is like a third semester and spans for four months. WIL opportunities are very likely to be paid. The pay range I saw on the jobs board was anywhere between $18-$24 per hour. You’re expected to work full-time hours from Monday to Friday, so don’t make any vacation plans if you plan to enrol into WIL.

I’ll go over some pros and cons of enrolling in WIL:

Pros:

• Some entry-level roles are reserved for co-op students: During my job search, I came across a few roles where you had to be a co-op student to be eligible to apply. For example, the summer student opportunities posted by the York Region lists the eligibility requirement for their co-op stream as: “Student enrolled in a full-time post-secondary program, with a co-op, practicum or internship requirement to graduate (verification will be requested)”.
• Exclusive job board: By enrolling into WIL, you get access to an exclusive jobs board on Seneca Works site with jobs curated for your program. Keep in mind that other WIL students outside of your cohort can apply for these roles too. So there is still competition and you’ll need to refine your application to stand out. I want to add that many employers are looking for students exclusively, so they will only post on school jobs board. For example, Moderna posted a corporate communications role and invited co-op students from Seneca and other schools to their webinar where they talked about the role in detail and answered questions. They said they targeted specific programs that aligned with roles they were hiring for, so this listing was not visible on public jobs board.
• Support in your job hunt: My WIL supervisor was so supportive and always available to answer my questions. She also directed me to resources or specialized support if I needed it. Through her, I discovered Career Services, which is offered for free to Seneca students. My classmates who were in the public relations careers management course did not know about career services, which I thought was a big miss. I booked a career strategist to review my resume and cover letter, and learn about job search strategies. I have paid for career consultants in the past and they charge over $100 per hour. Regardless if you are in WIL or not, you can access these services for free as a student, and the career strategists are very knowledgeable about what employers are looking for.
• Job-search ready: The biggest advantage of WIL for me was having mandatory assignments to complete all the assets needed for job applications, such as a resume or cover letter. Of course, I have a resume already, but it had to be updated. And without WIL, I may have put off updating it. By the third week of the semester, I had everything I needed to submit for job applications. And that is the best time to look for jobs. For jobs that started in May, many listings closed at the end of January and early February. So it’s very important to get started early.

Cons:

• Placement is not guaranteed: This is the biggest drawback of WIL. The supervisor highly encouraged students to seek opportunities beyond of the jobs board to secure a placement. Out of the six students who enrolled in WIL, only three found placements. There is also the possibility to approach employers and ask if they would consider creating a co-op role in their organization. The WIL supervisor could assist you in this process if you find an interested organization. Thinking outside of the box will help you expand your options.
• Mostly public sector roles: More than half of the postings were in the public sector and the rest in private. If you’re interested in agency work, don’t bother with WIL because agencies post all their opportunities on their site or public jobs board like Indeed or LinkedIn. Public sector employers included Ontario ministries and agencies, colleges, municipalities, police service and hospitals.

Writing for Public Relations Practitioners II

Professor: Samantha Kemp-Jackson

Course assessments:

• Personal biography
• Group project
• Press release
• Media pitch

Samantha’s class structure is a lesson followed by a in-class exercise. For example, if she was teaching you about key messages, the exercise would be identifying them in a press release. I appreciate this format because it gave us a chance to apply what we have just learned.

Just like the first semester, we were expected to write in Canadian Press (CP) style, and I’m glad this was a standard. Through CP Style, I discovered Associated Press (AP) Style, which is the standard used in the U.S.

During my studies, I was working at an American non-profit as a communications manager and had to deal with writing styles from different people. To ensure a consistent and cohesive writing style, I edited the writing based on AP Style—which left little room for stylistic preferences and provided an objective reference we can all agree on.

The non-profit was hosting a conference, and we ran a social media campaign to introduce the speakers. The writers would write this when listing the speaker’s education: “She has a Bachelor’s degree in graphic Design from…” In AP Style and CP Style, “Bachelor” is not capitalized, unless it was written as “Bachelor of Arts”. Just knowing how to write based on a standard style will make you very valuable as an editor and comms professional.

In the first semester, I didn’t understand why we had to learn CP Style since it was used by journalists. Through my co-op at an Ontario ministry, I discovered their writing guideline is based on CP Style. If you go to the Ontario.ca website, you will not find oxford commas! Take the time to learn CP Style and reference the stylebook while you can in school—you’ll impress your employers and stand out with your writing.

Corporate Communications Seminars

Professor: Holly Cybulski

Course assessments:

• Discussion board topics
• Event proposal: work with a partner
• Event proposal, plan and execution (group)
• Final group report (group)
• Peer evaluation

This course teaches event management.

One way or another, you will be involved with events during your career. It’s inevitable because events build and strengthen relationships between people—a critical goal of comms work, especially when developing earned media.

The entire course builds up to a final group assignment of delivering an event. This class was taught online, so we were expected to deliver a virtual event. Although it may sound a bit counterintuitive to run events virtually, this is becoming a very popular format since the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how to leverage online tools to engage participants virtually is a critical skill.

Our professor incorporated a networking element where all groups are required to invite a guest speaker. This exercise forced us to form new professional connections, which I thought was very smart! The guest speakers for our class worked in areas such as higher education, agencies, construction or professional association. It was very interesting to hear from so many diverse perspectives. One of the groups invited a Seneca alumna who helped promote Toronto Tempo, Toronto’s professional women’s basketball team.

There are many parts that led up to the final deliverable and success relied on meeting regularly with your team members (we blocked off time every week to discuss our progress). Our team incorporated some humour by calling back on past assignments from the same professor to create inside jokes. In the first semester, Holly taught our internal comms class and one of the assignments was about a fictional company called BECAN Cars. Our event was about BECAN Cars facing a PR crisis and asked our classmates to develop a plan to address the situation. One of my classmates acted as the president of BECAN Cars and his acting was top notch! It was hilarious and our professor got a kick from it too. All this to say you should make the most of this course and have some fun with it.

Public Relations Research Project

Professor: Joe MacDonald

Course assessments:

• Textbook chapter presentation (group)
• Weekly meetings with the professor to develop the final research project
• Research press release (group)
• Research presentation (group)

This is a continuation of the Introduction to Public Relations Research class from the first semester. The first part of this course was reading through the textbook. Each team was assigned one chapter to present to the class. We then applied our knowledge through a research project where we developed a survey and administered it.

The toughest part of developing the survey was nailing the research question. It will become the compass to guide the survey development. Interestingly, another group had a similar survey as ours, but their research question was different, which influenced the questions they chose to ask in their survey.

I learned to think critically about sample sizes and to challenge assumptions through this course. Approach research with an open mind and recognize that there is still much you don’t know about in your line of work. Too often, comms professionals rely on assumptions without verifying them. Research is an excellent way to identify new opportunities and increase value.

Advanced Presentation Skills I

Professor: Samantha Kemp-Jackson

Course assessments:

• Outline for informative speech
• Informative speech
• Persuasive speech
• Special events speech
• Professionalism and participation

Presenting ideas clearly is an essential skill you need master for communications. If you’re an introvert, then this is the perfect course to help you get out of your comfort zone. The workload in this course is lighter compared to the others since there is no group work and the main deliverable is presenting. And don’t worry, you don’t need to make a deck. You just present.

I really enjoyed listening to my classmates’ presentations because I learned more about them while being exposed to various styles. Some presented about topics that were deeply personal to them by drawing inspiration from family and personal legacy. A few students tributed their special events speech to deceased family members—one classmate even wrote her own eulogy!

For my informative speech, I talked about playing badminton and brought my gear to class as props. It was a fun way to share my hobby while making the presentation more interesting. Get creative with your speeches and have fun.

Digital Communications: Strategies and Applications

Professor: Mary Pretotto

Course assessments:

• What’s new: short presentation about digital media news
• Blog post
• Create a video or infographic
• Blog presentation
• Certification: Google Analytics
• Organizational social media audit and digital strategy (group)

Remember the blogs you started in semester 1 for the Introduction to Digital and Social Media course? You’ll continue writing blog posts in this course and dive a bit deeper into social media.

In the second semester, I moved my blog off WordPress—while I acknowledge WordPress is an important tool to learn, I didn’t like the ads that came with the free plan. And I intended to continue the blog after graduation, which motivated me to personalize it on my preferred platform. I purchased a domain, built the site with Hugo, deployed it through Netlify and hosted it on Github. Here is the new site: http://mychineseside.com/. I’ve written a post about how you can build a site with Hugo here.

The group assignment where we audit an organization and develop a strategy is a very useful skill to learn. Knowing how to assess an organization’s digital strategy and make recommendations will make you a valuable team member. It goes beyond creating digital content, which many people know how to do and pushes you to think critically. My team audited the non-profit I work for, the Data Visualization Society. It was a good exercise for me since I got to hear outside perspectives about how to improve our digital strategy.

The most valuable asset you’ll gain from this course is your blog. In fact, I was asked to share examples of my writing for one job interview and shared the blog from this course. The employer is interested to see if you can write and the blog is a great way to demonstrate that skill. So take your blog seriously because it will be a fantastic addition to your portfolio of work.

Investor Relations

Professor: Mimi Tsui

Course assessments:

• Earnings press releases
• Shareholder communications package
• Mock annual general meeting (group)
• Final test and essay

Mimi taught two of our classes in this semester: investor relations and global communications, and both were back-to-back on the same day. Her teaching style for both courses was very relaxed and dialogue driven. The class often chimed in throughout the lecture to make comments or ask questions.

I really liked how this course felt very relevant to our life and what you might see in the news. For example, we learn how to write earnings reports that are released by publicly traded companies. Sometimes, we talk about investing so there are elements of financial literacy. You aren’t expected to be a math whiz to do well in this course, but you should know in general how to communicate about them through news releases and presentations.

The most challenging aspect of this course was the mock annual general meeting. It’s important to know your story and stay consistent with the facts. If you say your organization had a great fiscal year but laid off 10% of the workforce, you will need to explain why. It’s especially challenging because this assignment is a group work. So have someone run a thorough check at the end to ensure all the information aligns.

International Communications

Professor: Mimi Tsui

Course assessments:

• Self-reflection essay
• International crisis (partner)
• International plan assignment
• Large team presentation: pick one country (group)

This course taught the importance of understanding context. Say you’re communicating about a new product launch in three countries, you’ll need to understand the political climate, language and culture as a starting point when crafting messages. It’s complex yet interesting.

For the large team presentation, your group picks one country none of your members are from and present an overview of what it would be like to conduct business there. Our group chose South Korea during a time it was developing a strong international presence through k-pop and k-dramas. We had a lot of fun researching about South Korea and talking about its culture.

#SenecaProud

This program was not a cake walk. It’s difficult but not impossible. I’m very proud to have committed to the very end and feel very lucky to have a paid co-op placement by the end of the term.

In the middle of the second semester, I was pregnant and had a difficult time going to campus. I’m very glad that I had the option to attend the remaining classes online so I could continue my education in the comfort of my home. How come no one ever tells you that the first trimester is the worst of the three? I did not expect to be so tired, sleepy, and nauseous in the first three months.

By completing this program, I’ve gained the confidence to say that I have the foundational skills to succeed in corporate communications. Everything taught was so practical and relevant, from writing news releases to developing communication plans, all the assignments were tied to skill requirements desired by employers. This program has been the best investment I’ve ever made, and I’m extremely grateful to have wonderful professors teach me. More importantly, I’ve made lasting friendships and have learned so much from my peers.

I’ll write about my co-op experience in my next post and include more detailed advice about finding work after graduation. So look forward to that!