Porter Novelli’s Angela Casey debates the benefits of working client side, versus agency side

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a PR person must want to work in-house. Or is it? We have a debate in our office at Porter Novelli at all levels about whether it is right to view being in-house as the real job and consultancy as a halfway house. Obviously, we all like to think we are in a proper job! Simon Bibby, senior account manager at PR agency Firefly, wrote on the PRmoment blog a few weeks ago highlighting the benefit of working in both disciplines.

I am reliably informed by younger colleagues who studied PR at university that, within those walls, consultancy is viewed as the stepping stone to the “proper” career job in-house – as Bibby said in the blog – “you learn then you earn”. And yet I remember at a turning point in my career when I flirted gently with moving in-house, it just was not attractive enough. I knew that by moving in-house I would lose the range and interest of the job I do. I would have missed the consultancy management and the fun of working with such a wonderful variety of clients and staff. However, having said that, there are benefits to both.

I know many people who value their in-house role because they feel closer to the decision-making process and have become specialists in their field, building the trust of the board – or even being on it. Whereas if a consultancy is not close enough to the client’s senior management team, there can be a risk that decisions are made without involving the PR team. Though, as a long-time consultant, I should say that being close to decision making comes through building trust and value in the relationship over time.

In terms of career choice, there is nothing in it. Each has its own value, challenges and opportunities that are there for the taking. For me, consultancy has allowed me to part-own the business I run whereas that would not have been an option in-house. Though for those in-house, there remains the chance to move upwards and onwards into wider management roles. And for many there is the option to move between in-house and consultancy. I have known many colleagues leave us to go in-house then move back into consultancy, or even set up on their own. One of my newest colleagues has recently moved from in-house and is enjoying the new variety and options she now faces.

In talking to new graduates, I would advocate they identify what interests them most and choose the role that best allows them to use their recently acquired skills while learning new ones. And I always believe people should move into new jobs that are slightly beyond them – that is the only way to get ahead. Whether those jobs are in-house or in consultancy does not matter. What does matter is being given opportunities and challenges and taking the initiative in rising to them.

PR is a great industry to work within. Not just because it offers the choice between in-house and consultancy, but also because it offers the chance to be part of senior-level decision making from early on in your career. I believe through working in consultancy you can fast-track your early career years by developing skills in advising senior management. It also gives you a unique insight into how the clients’ businesses work and to see behind the structures and politics. Similarly, as many PR departments are small, the level of responsibility a relatively junior executive will achieve, as well as the chance to work direct to board level, is also of immense value in skills acquisition and career development.

So PR as a whole is a good way to get further up the career ladder, to build skills and work with senior people. The universities are right that consultancy is a terrific stepping stone, but the same can be said of the industry as a whole, whether in-house or in consultancy. So you can “learn then earn” in both – or even just one.