Results-focus for public affairs roles

This is an edited summary of Talking Tips interview with Karen Paxton, Chief Executive of The Public Affairs Recruitment Company, www.publicaffairs.com.au.

Public affairs is a government term. It is an umbrella term for 25 professionals in the communication field, but not the information and communications technology field. The term includes: journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations, market research, multi media, issues management.

At any level, a public affairs officer should take an achievement focus to their work rather than a process approach - i.e. producing results rather than doing thinkgs.

Track your effectiveness. For example, with media liaison, what relationships have you built with journalists, how many stories has your media release produced, in what publications are your stories appearing?

If you work in publications have you shown clients how to save costs by using your knowledge of pre-press processes. e.g. advising a client to use black and white rather than full colour, or changing the paper stock.

If you can show you have saved clients money, an employer will be interested in this and will assume you will do this for them.

If you work in events that involve sponsorship, can you show an increase in fudning over time. If the event is repeated has there been growth, have costs reduced, what was the feedback? If the goal is to raise awareness, what measures were in place, how close did you come to achieving the goals or did you exceed the goals?

For more senior roles the problems you face will be more complex. You will understand more about the environment you are working in, see issues arising, analyse what goes wrong, use political nous to figure out what the trends are or get a problem back on track. For example, if you are getting bad press, what did you do to restore your reputation.

Volunteer for more challenging roles so you can provide examples of your work. Do not refuse to take on work at the next level unless you are paid for it.

If you receive positive comments from senior people, such as in an email, include these comments as evidence of your performance.

For more information about The Public Affairs Recruitment Company contact 02 6163 0333, 1300 555 903, www.publicaffairs.com.au.

Dr Ann Villiers, learning guide, professional speaker and author, is Australia's only Mental Nutritionist® specialising in mind and language practices that help people build flexible thinking, confident speaking and quality connections with people. Visit www.mentalnutrition.com to learn more about Mental Nutrition. Visit www.selectioncriteria.com.au for free resources unlocking the mysteries of public service jobs.