How Do You Know If You’re A PR Professional?

Found this list at LAF. I just had to take the test.

1. Your day starts and ends with a cup of coffee.

Well, yes. Actually trying out Red Bull for breakfast now. My stomach seems to agree with it.

2. You can power walk in 5 inch heels with your laptop bag and checking your BlackBerry.

Is there a budget involved? Have to say no, anyway. I only do Apple. BlackBerry is for those who thinks ink is more powerful than code. It’s not. Ink is great, but code is poetry.

3. Inside jokes with your colleagues will get you through the day – and the insanely stressful ones.

Yes. Right now it’s nicknames. Carlito, Jo-Jo, Joaquin, and MEAT. I’m Jerrymeister. And no, I didn’t pick it for myself.

4. You constantly battle that “PR is dead” and “the press release doesn’t have a place in business” arguments.

Check. And I do it publicly even.

5. You are so used to putting the client first that you forget to eat lunch on a regular basis.

Check.

6. It’s detrimental to your health and workday when you forget your headphones.

Yes! You need your handsfree. Without it you must Skype for the whole office to hear. And if you are late someone will have first access to Airfoil and thus the wireless speakers. So then no solitaire Spotify for you. I usually put on my headphones as I power up on the commute, but here in New York it’s only a ten minute cab ride!

7. You can toggle between a PowerPoint presentation, a press release, Twitter strategy and PSA outlines – all in an hour.

Call me prejudiced, but I’m not sure you’ll be rocking any Twitter strategies if your stuck with PowerPoint still. Change to Keynote, already! But otherwise—check.

8. You recite billing codes in your sleep.

No, I don’t. Code, sure.

9. You preface Happy Hour with, “Sorry, I need to keep my phone on the table. I have to be connected to email and phone just in case.”

No, PR is about relations. You adapt. In some sort of companies you keep your Iphone hidden.

10. You know more about AP Style than Microsoft Office. Because of this, you’re a regular in the IT office.

Yes and no. The IT guys are always saying “no, that can’t be done”. If you involve IT too deeply in your communication strategies, you’ll end up watching glaciers drift by before anything happens. But sure, I’m familiar with AP Style. Since I’m Swedish not so much as I should be, but I do have a bachelor in linguistics and wrote about style and clarity for my thesis. I brag about that, but not many people are impressed by Swedish grammar skills these days…

11. You proudly put “PR pro” in your Twitter bio, knowing its the one place you don’t have to explain your job.