Multiple Ways to Give Back

• Donate to the Department of Journalism and PR Click Here.

• Host a Site Visit to Showcase Your Company.

  
  

By Debra Johnson,
professional-in residence

Each semester I take public relations students on the road to visit alumni at their place of work. I typically pile into my car very, very early on a Friday morning with about 15 students in tow. We try to hit two to three companies in
a single day, preferably combining visits to PR agencies
with corporate in-house sites.

Each site visit usually takes about two hours and covers:

• An office tour

• Introduction to the company, its products and/or services, and its industry niche

• Meeting staff from entry-level to senior management to learn about job functions, skill sets and common tasks

• Meeting with human resources to discuss job and internship opportunities

• Guidance and advice for landing entry-level jobs in PR

These site visits offer a great opportunity for our students to see inside the day-to-day operations of a PR agency or department. They also offer a great opportunity for our alumni and their companies to meet future interns or employees from our program.

Given our location, most of the site visits to date have been in San Francisco and Sacramento, although we did hit New York City during spring break this year. We’d love to visit alumni in other cities and students have expressed specific interest in the San Jose area, Southern California, Portland, Seattle, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

If your company would be interested in hosting a site visit for public relations
students during our spring 2012 semester, please contact me by email:

dejohnson@csuchico.edu