In this blog post, we will introduce ways to incorporate practical PR skills into your cover letter in a concrete and persuasive manner based on your advertising and public relations major, field experience, and planning experience.
Growth
“A lively childhood”
I had a lively childhood. I exercised almost every day, went on trips every weekend, traveled abroad during school vacations, and spent a lot of time with my friends. Through these experiences, I met many people, learned how to spend my time, and gradually developed my lifestyle. I didn’t spend my high school years just studying. I had ways to relieve stress and hobbies, so I continued to study while maintaining those activities. That allowed me to have a more fulfilling high school life than my friends. The secret to living an energetic life and maintaining my lifestyle was nothing more than mental effort. I always tried to maintain a calm state of mind and get along well with those around me. I did this because I believed that maintaining a calm state of mind would make my life more fulfilling.
In fact, when I was in a stable state of mind, I was able to study and enjoy my hobbies. The three elements of a calm mind, a healthy body, and an energetic lifestyle always made my life enjoyable. That’s why I was able to enjoy my daily life even without any special events or fun activities. My friends and I would plan trips every weekend to go hiking or to the beach. We especially enjoyed hiking and the joy of reaching the summit. The satisfaction of reaching my goal through my own efforts motivated me to study hard, which led to me achieving my goal of getting into the advertising and public relations department I had always wanted to study. As a result, I was able to continue my active lifestyle even after entering university.
Strengths and weaknesses
“Quick decision-making and immediate action”
I am a serious and calm person. I don’t get excited or jump into things, and when I am with people, I tend to keep quiet and stay in my place rather than stand out. Because I am so serious, even when I talk with my friends, I tend to bring up meaningful or serious topics. That’s why my friends say that they can learn a lot from talking with me, but they also tell me not to bring up topics that are too serious. So, sometimes I am seen as a serious friend who has a lot to teach, and other times I am seen as a friend who is too mature. When I find myself in a certain situation, I tend to respond with quick judgment. In crisis situations, whether I am in danger or someone else is, I try to respond quickly and decisively.
For example, once, I went hiking with my friends as usual, and we had an accident. It wasn’t a serious accident, but a friend walking in front of me stumbled, and the friends behind him fell down. I was slightly behind my friend who was stumbling, and I used my quick thinking to grab him and help him move to the side of the road. At the time, I was also tired and exhausted, but I helped my friend to prevent an accident. In addition to this case, I have always been someone who tries to act immediately when faced with a crisis. This aspect of my personality has made me a reliable friend who is trusted by those around me. Although I am usually calm and quiet, I have been told that I am capable of taking action and solving problems when it matters. I will continue to strive to be someone who can be trusted by those around me by using my quick thinking in crisis situations and important moments.
School days
“I studied all aspects of public relations.”
When I was in college, I was enrolled in the Advertising and Public Relations Department at XX University, and I was proud to be able to study in the department I had dreamed of since high school. While completing my major courses, I prepared for detailed courses in public relations, media, and planning, but I focused on public relations. The reason was that I planned to become a public relations and PR professional, so my goal was to mainly acquire knowledge about practical PR work. While completing the public relations course, I took classes on PR communication techniques, public relations management theory, public relations campaign cases, and special lectures by external instructors, and I also did practical assignments. In particular, the PR communication techniques course was a four-month course that gave me the opportunity to learn and understand professional public relations work. Specifically, I learned writing, press release composition, and media-related techniques that are often used when conducting actual PR programs.
Among these, the practical work related to writing was connected to journalism, and I mainly practiced distinguishing between facts and interpretations and writing press releases objectively to convey the facts. I also focused on acquiring information about the media by understanding the medium of articles and the medium of media and video. In this way, it was beneficial to be able to interact with other related people while understanding the overall public relations work and acquiring information, rather than completing the course alone. I was able to practice public relations work with my colleagues who were studying public relations with me, and I was able to continuously improve thanks to the guidance and advice of my academic advisor and external lecturers. What I learned at that time increased my potential to demonstrate my abilities as a public relations professional, and I was able to refer back to what I learned whenever I needed to during my career.
Success Story
“Efforts to live well with foreigners”
When I was in college, I lived in a shared house. I met some people while traveling and staying with foreigners, and we decided to find a place to live together. All of my friends I met while traveling were foreign backpackers, and they were planning to stay in Korea for about six months. So, my friends and I met foreigners through our travels, interacted with them, and became close friends. Then, I introduced foreigners who were looking for a place to stay to the share house, and we made plans to live together. There were many other groups besides ours in the share house, and it was a very memorable experience to meet new people and interact with them in a new environment.
At first, there were some conflicts. I was confused by the foreign culture of always leaving doors open and the different ways of using the bathroom and common areas. However, we gradually narrowed the gap and created our own rules to live together harmoniously. There were particularly big differences in our eating habits. We shared the kitchen and cooking area, but because of our different eating habits, there were foods that some people didn’t like, so some people cooked only small amounts of their own food. At first, there was a clash between our culture of eating stews together and the foreign culture of cooking for oneself. However, later on, the foreigners became accustomed to our stew culture, and we began to seek out foreign foods. As we lived together longer, we felt that we were becoming more alike, and we realized that there was no difference between foreigners and Koreans when it came to getting to know each other.
Motivation and aspirations
“An essential public relations professional in an organization”
After graduating from college, I pursued a career path to become a public relations professional. I started working at a beauty magazine. At the magazine, I started with general office work and gradually moved on to work related to public relations. At that time, the magazine company’s organizational culture required a three-month internship, so I tried to demonstrate my abilities to the best of my ability during this period in order to be recognized as a regular employee. As a public relations officer, I was responsible for planning print advertisements and setting meeting schedules and coordinating schedules during the planning process. I also met with reporters and communicated with them on an ongoing basis when press releases needed to be written.
In addition, I tried to respond quickly and handle tasks when advertising sponsorship or event planning was needed, and I also tried to get along well with my colleagues in the public relations team. As a result, I can say that it didn’t take me long to understand the overall work of a beauty magazine company. AmorePacific is also a beauty-related company, and as a cosmetics manufacturer, I believe it is not very different from my previous work environment. I am confident that I can quickly adapt to the work and organization because there are similarities in terms of external communication and the characteristics of affiliated companies. Therefore, I will do my best to be recognized as a talented individual who is well-suited to start my career at your company.
