Starting a new career out of college is often a steep learning curve. While traditional classroom instruction teaches valuable critical thinking, group work, research and writing skills, on-the-job skills can typically only really be learned at work. As someone who is a somewhat recent college graduate, I’ve experienced this trend firsthand. I’ve made my fair share of rookie mistakes and though I’m still far from being an expert, I’ve learned a lot of important skills.

Outlined below are three tips to help new PR professionals cut their teeth on public relations and avoid common rookie mistakes.

No. 1: Practice Email Etiquette

Whether you’re communicating with reporters, clients or team members, a lot of time during the workday is spent reading or writing emails. Due to our dependence on the communication channel, it’s important to understand the basic tenets of email etiquette. Email etiquette plays a huge role in conveying professionalism and ensuring efficiency. A good PR pro knows how to concisely request action without being demanding. Examples might include reminding people of deadlines, offering to help take a project over the finish line, reattaching a document for review, etc. All these practices should be done with a supportive and solutions-oriented tone without sacrificing the expected results.

A good PR pro can also adapt to client preferences (more on that later) to understand when the best time to secure a response from a client is or what their communication style might be (i.e., conversational vs. formal). PR reps should also be able to determine when to “reply all.” A common mistake newer professionals make is to reply directly to the sender, which limits visibility for other team members. Lastly, you should always respond to emails in a timely fashion (i.e., within 24 hours). For example, if a team member sends a request for support on a project, a best practice is to briefly respond and acknowledge the project rather than waiting to respond until you can begin working on the project. Agencies are fast paced and timely responses to email are an important part of keeping activity moving.

No. 2: Maximize Media Briefings

In public relations, one of the things we do regularly is arrange and staff media briefings on subjects relevant to our clients’ business. Briefings generally translate to editorial coverage and they’re also valuable for relationship building. To a less experienced PR person, this role can feel awkward. They might feel like they’re in the way or that their client can handle the conversation. However, a good PR rep should play an active part of nearly every media briefing. PR professionals should:

1. Kick things off. At the start of each call or meeting, you will want to introduce the spokesperson and reporter. This gives them an opportunity to clarify titles and align on the topic of discussion before diving in. Remember: Always try to be personable.
2. Let the interview play out, but pay attention. Don’t be a passive listener. Rather, take notes and track action items. Especially in tech PR, journalists often request data to back up a claim and the PR staffer will need to take care of any follow-up.
3. Chime in if necessary. Occasionally a PR person will need to step in and make a course-correction. It happens rarely, but sometimes a spokesperson can go for too long on a tangent, or a reporter may stray into areas not agreed upon. If this happens, PR pros shouldn’t be afraid to chime in and get things back on track.
4. Follow up. After the briefing is over, a best practice is to send a thank you note to the reporter and thought leader(s). Lastly, don’t be afraid to provide feedback to the spokesperson. Constructive feedback will strengthen the relationship and help all parties improve even a strong performance.

No. 3: Understand Client Preferences

Clients value tailored and creative solutions that meet their specific business needs – not a one-size-fits-all approach. To deliver on client expectations, PR pros must understand a client’s industry, its business and its goals. PR teams must also understand how the client prefers to communicate. Assessing and adapting to different client preferences is an art and takes time to develop.

For example, one client might want to be in constant communication. This might look like frequent, short emails or calls. Another client might prefer a hands-off approach, where the PR agency and client connect for a monthly PR call and via email only as needed. Another example is that one client might value quantitative results reporting, while another values qualitative results reporting. Public relations is a client-services industry. PR reps that strive to understand that every client is unique will have a better chance of gaining trust and confidence, and help each client feel like their PR agency is an extended part of their team.

Ultimately, practice in PR makes perfect. Understanding these basic tenets of a successful PR person will be a valuable steppingstone in helping new professionals perfect their craft.