PR Newswire, a public relations office that serves tens of thousands of clients from offices all over the world, has an office right here in Albuquerque — and they’re looking to specifically hire Lobos.
Kimia Kia, UNM alumna and account executive at PR Newswire, said she wasn’t aware the company even existed while she was at UNM.
“I recall being a senior in college and, although I was excited to get my degree, I was really more concerned with, ‘What am I going to do next?’ And I think that’s the question that a lot of people are asking themselves right now,” Kia said. "PR Newswire is a hidden gem that's perfect for local communication professionals.”
The Albuquerque office is no stranger to Lobos, however, as 70 percent of current employees are UNM alums, she said.
Brian Gates, UNM alumni and manager of Customer Content Services, said one thing he enjoys most about PR Newswire is the variety of experiences and possibility for growth.
“There is something new every day. While our core job is to edit and format press releases and provide customer service via phone and email, I have vastly increased my knowledge in areas such as HTML and Photoshop,” Gates said. “PR Newswire is a fantastic place to grow professionally and gain experience in the worlds of business and communications.”
Gates, who graduated in 2009 with a degree in print journalism, said his degree gave him knowledge that benefits his current role at PR Newswire.
“Certainly having a familiarity with editing and AP Style lessened the learning curve, but not nearly as much as a solid foundation in professional communication,” he said.
PR Newswire disseminates content to media outlets around the world, working with companies ranging from pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions to record labels, Kia said.
“We’re conveying a message to key influencers in the most effective and efficient way possible," she said.
The Albuquerque office is broken up into Sales, Marketing, Support and Editorial, all of which are looking to hire UNM students who want the opportunity to adapt and hone a variety of skill sets.
Those in the editing department, for instance, handle the incoming and outgoing content, which is a good fit particularly for communication and English majors, Kia said.
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“For people who love editing, who love reading, who love writing, this is a fantastic role,” she said. “It is also a challenging role, in a good way.”
The job of the editorial staff is crucial to disseminating content, as they are relied upon to catch punctuation errors and misspelling, among other possible errors, she said.
Though the departments are separate, it’s all about teamwork, Kia said.
“It’s a very collective effort, the process for distributing a press release,” she said. “We all get along so well and it makes the office such a fun place to be.”
For downtime, the local office even offers a ping pong table, Kia said.
Interested students should know that PR Newswire has full benefits, including health, vision, dental, 401k, paid time off, and even pet insurance, she said. The company also uses incentives to give back to the local community by offering one volunteer day per year to its employees.
For the editorial and support staff, PR Newswire is a 24-hour organization, so as far as shifts go, it doesn’t matter if you’re a morning person or night owl, Kia said.
“They are really flexible shifts so, for example, if you're a vampire and you like to work 10 p.m to 7 in the morning, you can do that,” she said. “If you want to work the daytime shift like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., you can do that, too.”
Gates said PR Newswire, aside from opportunity, offers a great team of people to work with.
“Everybody who works here claims the best thing about it is the people, and I’m inclined to agree,” he said.
Kia said PR Newswire will be at the Business & Accounting Career Fair, September 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the SUB.
“I’ve heard, time and time again, that Albuquerque doesn’t have a good job market, there’s not much opportunity here. But the truth of the matter is that we are not informed of the great opportunities here in town,” she said. “Albuquerque has a lot more to offer than we might think.”
