Post by Amy Fleishans
George Couch serves as the State Public Affairs Officer for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NRCS helps landowners, primarily farmers and ranchers, conserve their water, air, soil, wildlife habitat, and other natural resources. He spoke to ASU PRSSA at our October 26, 2010, meeting and talked about job opportunities for PR practitioners at the federal government, a career path many of us hadn’t considered.
George gave members practical advice on how to get a job with the federal government and discussed pros and cons of working there.
The biggest tip George gave member was that all federal government jobs must be posted on USAJobs. The site is easy to navigate and currently has four PR positions open—a great resource for graduating seniors. To add a competitive edge to resumes, George identified the most important skills entry-level PR professionals can have to make themselves stand out against the competition. The list was long, but the skills he emphasized most were desktop publishing ( especially InDesign), journalistic interviewing skills and photography skills. (Look back to your editing class, JMC 301 and online media for these skills.)
In addition to great, reliable health benefits, George talked about other pros about working for the federal government. The potential for travel and the work/life balance employees enjoy are big perks. Currently, George is traveling to Washington D.C. on a regular basis to collaborate on a $2.3 million project to bring a new web content management system to NRCS.
Working for the public good and being part of an organization were other pros George discussed. The federal government’s work benefits everyone and it gives George a sense of community and allows him to help his fellow countrymen. Unlike at an agency, working on campaigns for the same organization everyday creates a better understanding of the organization.
"It's the federal government, it moves at its own pace," George said, talking about the biggest con in working in the federal government. He said sometimes it's difficult to push projects through the red tape. He also mentioned that other non-PR duties he is responsible for takes time away from his potential PR time, another negative.
George also encouraged ASU PRSSA members to support the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), a hot topic of debate at the national PRSA conference earlier this month. He likened it to the accounting industry’s CPA certification. “I hope we can get APR to that standard,” he said.
