Alice Fok says that New skills required for all round PR

Nowadays, the business environment has changed, and PR practitioners have to equip themselves with more skills and knowledge in order to develop in the highly competitive industry.

“Creativity, business sense and analytical power. These are all essential qualities for PR practitioners,” said Alice Fok, General Manager, DT Communications Asia Pacific, a PR company in Hong Kong.

In the past, most PR practitioners are graduates in marketing, communication or language-related disciplines. Nowadays, as PR firms have to provide a wider range of services for clients such as business consultancy, graduates of other disciplines can also join the industry. Fok pointed out that they hire researchers and candidates with a science background may help in conducting research and analyzing data. “Researchers need to have an analytical mind, and for frontline staff, they need to be communicative, all-round and flexible since they have to manage clients of various industries.”

In job interviews, candidates will be tested in a few areas, including writing ability, presentation skills, research ability and analytical power. Fok said that job candidates have to take an aptitude test to find out if their personality is suitable to work in this industry.

To advance in the industry, it takes an average of four years to move onto management level. While junior positions will involve more operation work, the management will involve more strategic planning. For advancement, Fok said while academic qualification other than a degree is a bonus, the ability to apply what one has learnt into the work is much more important.

Fok advised fresh graduates who want to join the PR industry to get the opportunity to work as interns to gain more experience in handling projects and events. Young people nowadays quit their jobs too early. “They have to understand that they are now competing with fresh graduates in mainland China and other countries, and therefore should be observant about the surroundings and upgrade themselves.” She suggested students to join exchange programmes in universities so that they can see more and compare the differences between Hong Kong and other places.

It is not easy to incorporate creativity and business, but in recent years, a few companies have stood out as examples in integrating art and commerce. Pacific Coffee Company worked with local artists to organize an exclusive art exhibition and Louis Vuitton and the Hong Kong Museum of Art collaborated for Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation Exhibition.

Industry experts gathered to discuss this issue, and DT commented that Hong Kong’s lack of talented individuals with knowledge and understanding of the arts is the main contributing factor to the stagnant nature of local art-commerce development.