Thinking of making a career switch into the high-tech market? Tech PR isn't an entirely separate animal from mainstream PR, but its definitely it's own breed.
Tech start-ups, being lean and hungry, operate with a different M.O., according to John Jordan, head of Porter Novelli's Convergence Group in D.C. "They tend to be flatter
organizations that operate at a faster pace and are heavily results-oriented. The focus is on concrete things...like the need to recruit [employees]. Or on the need to get the
stock price up to a certain level and stay there."
One perk many PR job-seekers find attractive is tech start-ups' tendency to be more informal. "I haven't been on a pitch that involved Powerpoint in quite a while," Jordan
adds. The downside of working for entrepreneurial bosses, however, is they often have unrealistic expectations of PR, compared with more seasoned CEOs at established companies. "
So many guys refer to what they just saw in BusinessWeek, but don't understand that it will take us at least six months to reach that stage," Jordan says.
(Porter Novelli Convergence Group DC, 202/973-5800)