How to Find Your PRofessional Niche

Lets be real. Finding your professional niche is about as tedious as finding your major (which obviously comes first) and for some freshmen, sophomores, and even juniors, isn’t easy. Maybe for some it came easy, but not for everyone.

Personally, I switched my major three times. YES, THREE TIMES. Twice when I was a freshman and once my sophomore year.  And yes, I am a 5th year, but all that matters is that eventually I found my PRofessional Niche.

“Rachel, how did you know when you found your niche?” Well it definitely wasn’t easy or expected. It just sort of happened.

I always had the idea of being a physical therapist when I was older. That quickly changed half way through my first semester at Grand Valley when I realized that I may have scored well in science on the ACT, but it certainly was not my forte or passion in life. So I switched into psychology, something that actually provoked my curiosity… for a while.

It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I started getting heavily involved on campus. With previous art experience in high school, I took on a position in my sorority as public relations chair.  That was when I fell in love with PR. By turning my psychology credits into a minor (along with my studio art minor), I was able to develop a base before I completely immersed myself in public relations.

Now you may ask, “Rachel that is a lot of work for different fields that does not mesh well. A major in public relations and advertising and minors in psychology and studio art - where is the logic in that?”

To be honest, I really didn’t know the logic either. All I knew is that I loved it all, and I did not want to let go. It wasn’t until I had public relations management and cases course with Dr. Penning that I knew I found my PRofessional Niche – community relations. PR is a broad field with many possible professional routes.  When I found mine, it made everything I had worked so hard for come together.   

Community relations is a branch of PR that deals with the cultivation of positive, mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and their publics.  In some cases (the area in which I want to work), a corporation will develop their own community relations department whose sole purpose is for the company to give back to the community through large or small campaigns. These campaigns typically address issues of conflict or interest in the community that the company feels are important and wants to bring to light. I love child development psychology, I love art, and I love public relations.  Community relations brings it all together, through corporations giving back to the community by enriching children’s lives through programs. BOOM.

Ok yes, “Rachel, that is so small of a niche, and finding a job will be so hard.”

I’ve heard this before… but realistically speaking, finding the right major(s) and minor(s) was hard, finding the niche is even harder… but when you find the right niche, it all comes together. Yes, I may have to work hard to find that perfect job that fits my niche, but many people will work just as hard to find a regular, boring job.

As cliché as this sounds, my best advice to finding your PRofessional Niche is to never stop doing the things you are passionate about. It will come to you when you least expect it. While graciously waiting for it to come to you, never lose hope. Keep pushing and find new activities to get involved with. Build your credibility, so that when you do find your PRofessional Niche, you will be ready to take charge. 

Rachel Beatty is a 5th year senior majoring in public relations and minoring in psychology and studio art. She has been in GrandPR for two years and is currently the Programming Director. She involved with PRSSA and Phi Sigma Sigma on campus and off campus she is a JBoard Director for the BISSELL Pet Foundation and a manger at Yankee Candle. In her free time, she enjoys a good match in tennis, puzzles, and eating pizza.