August 30, 2018
At this point in my tenure at Aria, I have interviewed many job seekers for positions ranging from hopeful interns and co-op students to VP-level candidates. This past year especially, my company has seen such high demand for our PR and marketing communications services that we have had to make a number of new hires to support our continued growth.
That all sounds really exciting – and it is—but as they say, you have to kiss a few frogs (or 20) to find your prince/ss (or PR maven). Throughout this hiring process, my Aria interview team has had differing opinions about which candidates should receive an Aria “rose,” but we all agree that there are five core qualities that the next Aria employee should embody:
- Empathy: Being a PR agency person means wearing a lot of hats and communicating with a lot of different people. We are oftentimes in the unique position of trying to both “sell” a client’s story to a journalist, and at the same time, trying to give a journalist a story or resource that helps them accomplish their job. To effectively do this, we must be able to put ourselves in another’s shoes and ensure that we are meeting the needs of all constituents we work with and for.
- Enthusiasm: I won’t say you need to be an Aria /Aria client cheerleader, because that would be super cliché… but actually, no, I will say it. We want cheerleaders. We want Kool-Aid drinkers. We want believers and optimists and passionate people to join our team.
- ‘Type A’ Personality (or at least able to fake one): We look for self-motivated, driven, compassionate people, to join our team. That said, if in your personal life you are a more soft-spoken, ‘go with the flow’-type, that’s okay too, as long as you are able to command authority and demonstrate confidence in the office.
- Team Player (and not the fake kind): Here, we don’t want people who say they are team players but really just want to advance their own careers. We want the real team players. The ‘go out of their way to help a colleague succeed’ kind of team players. You know, the ones who finish their work and then go over to their peers and ask how they can help them finish up their assignments so they can all go home early… that type.
- Highly-Organized: Do you love to-do lists (and re-writing your to-do lists)? Are you your company’s go-to proof-reader? Do you pride yourself on always being on time – and understand that on time means early? If you answered yes to all of the above, Aria just might be the place for you. In order to succeed in the fast-paced PR agency world, attention to detail-enthusiasts are preferred!
If you read this list and thought to yourself, wow, this describes me perfectly, then you are in luck – we are hiring at all levels. Send me an email at jcohen@ariamarketing.com and let’s set up some time to chat. Looking forward to hearing from all my empathetic, type A, organized, cheerleaders out there!
