In late 2022, the First Five Rungs Ngā Kaupae E Rima conducted research into the needs and wants of junior staff in New Zealand's communications industry. The FFR is an initiative by the Commercial Communications Council (Comms Council) Young Leaders Group, to support emerging communications professionals. Telum spoke with Zoë MacDonald-Mair, Chairperson of FFR Auckland, about the research findings and general sentiment amongst the nation's young PR and communications practitioners.

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What should new starters expect when entering the PR and communications industry, and what challenges can they encounter?
New starters can be overwhelmed at first, but that’s to be expected. No one starts on day one knowing everything. There are a lot of meetings, trying to figure out your calendar, and there are lots of confusing acronyms being used, all while trying to put your best foot forward and be helpful to your new team. It’s a really exciting time, with a lot to take in.

How has the industry evolved in recent years - is it easier or more challenging for a fresh graduate to pursue a career in PR and communications in 2023?
In many ways, it’s a lot more difficult to be a new graduate in 2023. While the pandemic has brought flexible working and a far more open conversation about mental health, the reality is that while it seems that we’re much more connected to one another, we can actually become disconnected, especially new starters. New graduates are more likely to encounter most of their meetings online, which means it's taking longer to build these essential business connections.

The human part of working in PR and comms is the most important, and when you’re not meeting colleagues or peers in person that often, it deprioritises all your ‘socialising’, focussing on business as usual. However, it’s this socialising that helps build relationships. The FFR has heard again and again how it’s the people that make the industry great, and we really want to celebrate this and cultivate spaces for these vital connections.

It’s almost impossible to talk about new starters without considering the context of the world right now. The escalating financial crisis is impacting everyone, but especially new graduates who are entering a workforce where their salary may struggle to keep up with the cost of living. We’ve spoken to some graduates who feel they would be better financially remunerated if they moved overseas. We want our emerging talent to stay here and produce amazing work, so we have to ensure we’re offering our new starters the right support and advice to ensure they have all the conditions needed to grow. Graduates have a lot to grapple with as they navigate their careers.

Tell us about the First Five Rungs and how it's helping emerging PR and communications professionals in New Zealand.
The First Five Rungs Ngā Kaupae E Rima is an initiative for people in the first five years of their communications career. As part of the young leaders group within the Comms Council, we’ve been operating for over 10 years. I like to say that the FFR is almost like a mini agency, as we have suits, creatives, media, and PR, but we only have one client and that’s industry newcomers.

We support emerging talent in a multitude of different ways. We host events to facilitate opportunities for emerging talent to meet others in similar positions, alongside offering tips and tricks on our social media. Our guidebook is now available to anyone in the communications space, and can be downloaded from our website.

Last year, we conducted research to dig into what newcomers really need and how best to support emerging talent. This research was shared with agency leaders to help them better understand the challenges facing the industry. We use every tool available to us to provide a community and support network to the young talent in Aotearoa. With every event we host, we help strengthen the community of emerging talent, which is wonderful to see.

What can the industry do to help set new starters up for success?
From our 2022 research, we know that during the pandemic managers worked amazingly hard to ensure their teams were listened to and supported. Now we’re back in the office, we’ve slipped into old patterns, for example forgetting those all important check-ins with junior staff. We’d like to encourage agencies to reinstate these good habits with regular one on one catch-ups with junior staff, but also provide a space where the whole agency can get to know the other departments to promote cross-agency unity.

Additionally, we’d like to see the industry adopt clearer remote working policies. New starters in particular tend to work late into the night if they work from home, feeling as though they need to do so to ‘prove’ that they’re actually working. This happens especially when their colleagues are in the office. Creating remote work systems allows all staff, not just juniors, to feel comfortable in this new flexible environment.

What resources or member organisations do you suggest a new PR professional explores when they are starting out?
We’d recommend checking out our website and social channels, including LinkedIn and Facebook, for our upcoming events and activity. Our website in particular has a suite of resources, including our Newbie Guidebook with the 101 of the communications industry. We’d also recommend using industry news platforms, like Telum Media, to familiarise yourself with the industry and recent events.