Few of us would envy the current generation of public relations and communications students facing the prospects of a tough and tightening job market. Combine this with the challenges of learning about real world practice and finding opportunities to prove yourself and stand out - it’s a daunting reality.

And for the rest of the PR sector, wrestling with the need to recruit the top talent out there, ensuring its future gene pool has the best it can employ, there’s an urgent need for some form of showcase spotlighting the cream of PR and Comms’ next generation.

Fortunately, there’s good people out there, with good partnerships, and a great new idea to make a difference.

‘Rise Up PR’ is a brilliant initiative, from leading industry media title PRmoment. The objective is to showcase the best graduate talent, using a fun gamification methodology for learning about real word practice.

Putting talents, intelligence, and learning to the test with a real-life brief from one of the UK’s leading charities, Macmillan Cancer Support, ‘Rise Up’ offers significant prizes, much sought-after internship and personal development opportunities, coupled with the prestige of having your abilities recognised.

‘Rise Up’ is a great win-win-win.

For students it offers a win in providing a leg up in a highly competitive market. It goes beyond having academic recognition of your knowledge, but proof that you have the capability and talent to put what you know into delivering impactful results.

Working on a real-life brief you need to show qualities that you can’t easily cut-and-paste from a textbook or ask AI to deliver an authentic answer. The challenge requires you to demonstrate your knowhow to analyse a brief, listen to what’s being said, and what’s going on around you, to identify the real question, or questions, at the heart of a brief - the insight.

For teachers ‘Rise Up’ provides valuable teaching opportunities.

As a teacher you can provide process models, case study examples of outstanding campaign insights, but it needs a real challenge, real practice for a student to prove that they don’t just know about insight but truly understand the concept by being able to deliver it in practice.

Again, with creativity, you can provide catalogues of great campaign ideas, and explain the mechanics of how creativity works, but you need to go beyond providing blank sheets of paper instructing students to be creative. They need to be motivated.

As the great songwriter Sammy Cahn once remarked when asked about what comes first in his songwriting, the lyrics, or the tune, Sammy replied, “The cheque”.

For some students, the motivation may indeed be the cash prizes. (Although in practice, money is not usually a good inducement or catalyst for outstanding creativity). The offer of a money prize may however, be a more compelling inducement as a means to an end - providing the way to pay off a worrying debt, or fund that dream summer vacation, or new super piece of kit.

For some, motivation is provided by the challenge, a competitive framework, not just with their classmates but across the country. A chance to prove yourself on the biggest of student PR playing fields.

And the prospect of prestigious paid internship experience will no doubt entice many.

For all students however, ‘Rise Up’ provides a rare, extraordinarily high-quality learning experience, with quality industry mentorship, a pitch doctor to your nascent campaign. A chance for real dialogue, wise counsel, and no doubt some tough love advice.

Just by entering and delivering a recognisably good standard of entry will gain students a Commendation Award, that could provide a valuable badge of honour on any fledgling CV. ‘Rise Up PR’ truly is an idea where every entrant can be a winner.

For the industry ‘Rise Up’ offers a win, with a chance to enthuse, excite, and attract the next generation of talent. And for my industry colleagues I’ll share a secret from 15 years of part-time academic teaching. Whisper… we learn from them.

A real delight of working with young talent is the inspiration they provide in teaching you new things. An old dog can learn new things, so long as it’s prepared to listen, be open-minded and receptive to growing. One reason you get bowled over by student work is how their inspiration comes unexpectedly, often zinging amazing new ideas, clever problem-solving, or just a dogged spirit that won’t take ‘No’ for an answer.

So please, for everyone in the industry - academics, teachers, practitioners, and students - wake up to the opportunities presented by this challenge. Now is the time for all to ‘Rise Up’.