With more than 80 offices around the world, Hill+Knowlton Strategies is an international public relations firm that specializes in government relations, media relations, reputation management and digital content and publishing. The Interns recently met with James Lin (Account Director), Isha Chaudhuri (Assistant Consultant), Shanice Scott (Account Director), Heon Lee (Assistant Consultant), and Sarah Dickson (Senior Consultant) from H+K to talk more about their roles and experiences.
We were eager to know what skills are important for a public affairs professional. We quickly learned that being effective in this field requires relationship building skills and emotional intelligence to understand client needs. In addition, it is crucial to have a well-developed strategy and an in-depth understanding of decision-making processes in government. The H+K consultants we met had a wealth of experience in these areas, having previously worked as political staff, as communications professionals, and in the private sector. They were happy to share with us how these experiences prepared them for their current positions at H+K.
Because H+K has offices all over Canada and the world, teams can work collaboratively on projects. This is important, as it allows H+K to coordinate their approaches at the federal and provincial level to help clients achieve their goals across jurisdictional boundaries. In addition, H+K builds relationships across party lines, engaging with opposition as well as government.
This meeting really clarified for us what the role of a public relations consultant is and helped us identify some of the key skills we can develop through OLIP that may prepare us for a career in public affairs. Thank you to H+K for their support of our programme and to Mr. Lin, Ms. Chaudhuri, Ms. Scott, Mr. Lee, and Ms. Dickson for meeting with us!