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Sample Personal Statement for Journalism and Mass Communication
Interestingly enough, in filing my application for your Master’s
program in Journalism and Mass Communication (focusing on Public
Relations), I find that my application is inextricably related a
number of qualities that can be captured by those words featuring the
initial alphabet C.
Creativity
The Five-Ring Olympic emblem, represented by five different series of
cars in five different colors, against the background of hundreds of
GM (General Motor) employees letting fly hundreds of white doves, this
picture of great beauty and harmony appeared in the leading Chinese
media (including their overseas editions) the morning immediately
after Beijing succeeded in its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. In
the next few days, as this picture and its corresponding texts found
their way into even more media, the XX GM succeeded in a campaign of
its own — creating and promoting its corporate image as the first
multinational corporation that reacted most swiftly to an
international sensation that has wide and far-reaching implications
for a country that has 13 billion population.
Behind this major success of public relations were the creative
conceptualization and exquisite journalistic planning that my team and
I contributed, with me as the mastermind of the project. As customer
manager of the Project Department of XX, I led my team members to
undertake a detailed study of our client and by employing modern PR
approaches, we helped achieve an enormous media effect for XX GM
within the shortest time and at the lowest cost. The message was
effectively communicated and the general public’s recognition of the
GM as a brand was enhanced. As in all successful PR undertakings,
creativity has been the key.
Career & Courage
The foregoing PR case is but one of numerous cases that I masterminded
during my 6-year career in Public Relations. Since my graduation from
the School of Business of University of XX I have been working at
several local top 10 PR companies and have handled dozens of PR cases,
involving more than 100 celebrated international brands. From Sept.
1998 to Oct. 2000, I served as assistant manager of the Project
Department of XX Betterway Market Development Company (XX Branch).
Expanding the branch office into a 10-person organization, we provided
services to clients like P&G (China) that operate in hair-care,
skin-care and paper manufacturing businesses.
Public relations is only of recent origin in China and for a female
like me who is not a PR professional by training, it required courage
to succeed in a male-dominated sector. With accumulated experience, I
switched to XX in June 2001. Apart from the nationwide “Buick Cup”
Torch Tour to support Beijing’s bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games and
the subsequent special celebration of the successful bidding on behalf
of XX GM, I originated many other highlight, including the XX Forum,
press conference for XX, national promotion XX, XX, XX, the annual
meeting of XX sales agencies, and the establishment of sales network
in eastern China of XX.
Creativity and courage are two important qualities for a PR
professional. However, they are not sufficient for me. With the
founding of Creating and Carving PR Consulting in Jan. 2003, I
launched my own PR business in order to bring into full play my
individual initiative, aggressiveness, independence and
entrepreneurship. I launched a series of PR events, among them are
press releases for two 2003 new models of mobile phone on behalf of
Oriental Communications and of XX, XX and national XX competition, the
3-year anniversary celebration of XX in China, and XX wine parties in
4 target cities of China. As an emerging local consulting firm
operating in PR business, my company has attained an annual business
volume at the worth of 600 million RMB, which is quite an achievement
in itself.
Competence as a PR Professional
To some extent, I am a self-made PR practitioner. I emphasize my
expertise as a PR practitioner because much of my experience are
derived from practice. But a number of factors have contributed to my
professional qualifications. My academic background is the primary
factor. In the Department of Project Management under the School of
Business, I majored in Investment Economy. Ranked top 3 in a class
consisting of 35 students, I achieved academic excellence through
diligence and perseverance. My academic initiative led me to major in
a second degree, a degree in English for Science and Technology which
I completed primarily on weekends and holidays. On those days, in the
increasing dusk, I was always the last person to leave the class for
supper.
My knowledge in project management has undoubtedly played an important
role in making my PR cases successful. However, more interested in
interpersonal communications as embodied in public relations, I
started to prepare for a PR career in the final years of my
undergraduate program. I self studied such PR classics as Managing
Public Relations by James E. Grunig and T. Hunt and the Declaration of
Principles by Evy Lee, the father of modern public relations theory. I
am most influenced by Lee’s founding principle of public relation—be
truthful and let the public be well-informed.
In 1996, XX arrived in XX to address the XX Convention. Listening to
his lecture, I found myself irresistibly drawn to the public relations
as an academic discipline. That was my first serious development of a
motivation in public relations and it was a defining experience. With
the passage of years I have become an experienced PR professional and
as such I attended the 2003 Annual Meeting of XX, participating in
academic discussions concerning the brand management of enterprises
and crisis management. From an interested listener to a mature
practitioner, I have come a long way in pursuit of self-actualization.
Communications
Public Relations as a profession is essentially about communication.
In my specifically PR practices, effective communication has always
been the key to success. In my college years I had paid special
attention to the development of this skill. I initiated the XX and was
its first chairwoman, responsible for organizing three debate
contests. My English proficiency developed from my second degree
program has given me unique advantage to work in an international
metropolis like XX. As most of my clients are multinational
corporations based in XX, effective linguistic communication has been
crucial. This has permitted me to understand the intentions of my
western clients accurately and then to convey the messages to the
target audience in China.
There are other important aspects of communication. For me,
understanding of the intentions of my western clients does not
necessarily mean mechanical presentation of the messages to Chinese
audience. The message can remain unchanged but the presentation must
be modulated in most cases, because cultural dimensions of
communication must be taken into consideration. As project manager, I
am equally aware of the importance of interpersonal communication. A
PR project invariably involves a great number of steps and links and
only through effective interpersonal skills can I coordinate the
individual efforts of team members into a unified and concerted whole
whereby to achieve a common objective.
Clear Vision
Not having an academic background in Mass Communication has always
been a great regret to me and this regret intensifies as I look to the
future of China’s social and economic development. In this September,
the first international Formula I car racing competition was held in
XX. In 2008 the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing and in 2010 the
Universal Expo’ will be held in XX. As an opening China embraces more
and more international events to capture the global attention, highly
qualified senior PR professionals will have an limitless arena to
exercise their talents.
For all the practical experiences I have accumulated, I am truly in
need of a systematic academic training in Public Relations so that I
can learn the most advanced knowledge in the field and inform my
future PR practices with theoretical guidelines. Toward this purpose,
I would like to apply for a Master’s program from the School of
Communication, University of XX. I am most fascinated by the courses
offered by your faculty—Theory and Design of Communication Campaigns,
PR Communication Techniques, Management of Public Information
Campaigns, Mass Communications Theories. In undertaking your program,
I would like to contribute my unique Chinese background and my
practical PR experiences. In turn, I hope to identify an advisor who
can guide me in my research concerning the role of mass media in
China’s development over the next two decades. While concentrating on
public relations, I will also be interested in study marketing
strategies, advertising, film and televisions, all of which are
closely related to my envisioned career.
The Olympic Games concluded in Athens not long ago has been a perfect
example of public relations on a global basis. Madam Zaskarlaky,
regarded as Greece’s national hero for her remarkable contributions,
is definitely my role model. I may not be able to accomplish so
glorious a PR feat, yet with the academic input from your
well-respected program, I may contribute to the cause of public
relations of my country in my own way.
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