NOR Citysearch: Calgary

Editor’s note: Thanks to another friend and former classmate of mine, I have the second post in the NOR CitySearch series. The collection of posts will provide insight on entering the public relations profession in a variety of sectors and cities across Canada.

I’m giving the author anonymity in thanks for her honest and candid recount of the challenges she has faced in building her public relations experience in Calgary, Alberta. Now, I know full well that plenty of people love the western working world so please feel free to share your perspective on working in Cowtown.

Naturally, I expect all you kids to play nicely (if at all) in the comments section by respecting one person's opinion...

Job Market: They say it’s out of control, it’s extremely difficult to find people, and the competition is fierce. When I mention fierce, I mean it in several ways, one of which is rooted in the Applied Communications Program that graduates 60 eager, money hungry graduates into the city every six months. This number doesn’t even include those that chance the move across the country from Halifax’s Public Relations Degree Program to get their piece of the Alberta economic pie. It is also an environment that breeds pretentious individuals who walk around with their noses so high that they could quite possibly trip over the rest of us who have instilled normalcy into our rat-race infested lives.

Since the city is starting to recruit talent from overseas, it seems as though companies are just placing a warm body into positions without any previous knowledge or experience of the job requirements. The most frustrating but eye opening aspect of it all is that being an overly organized, multi-tasking individual breeds its own problems since those in authority do not possess these qualities and I am constantly pushed blindly into the shark tank – falling back on my experience and education to keep my head above water. Phewf.

Company: My position with the government was offered over the phone without a face-to-face introduction. I walked into an average entry-level communications position that tends to get dumped on because of the slow government process and not being able to say “yes, I can do that for you…now”. It’s all the same waiting game that drives every government worker to drink. Perhaps this is where the terrible “lazy civil servant” reputation was conceived…

I work in a department that is full of negative adult children. While I am not in one of those “money hungry” environments, mine is one where workplace respect is thrown out the window and is replaced with name-calling and finger pointing.

On the plus side, I am constantly interacting with internal clients, creating communication and marketing pieces for their projects, events and programs and this is what I love about my job. It varies often.

After-hours: Working in a city like Calgary has its perks as well. There is a vibrant after-work crowd populating bars as early as 2pm throughout the week. It’s close to the mountains for those who love being active, and has one of the longest pathways – 635 km – throughout the city for walking, in-line skating and biking.

The downfalls? The city rolls up the downtown sidewalks at 6pm daily (perhaps the reason why the crowd is there at 2pm) and drink prices are so high that at the end of a good night out you could have bought a cheap car for the same price. Calgary transit is less than stellar, leaving you with ridiculous cab prices because people who populate this city insist on building a new home, forcing the city limits to push on the already bursting seams of the proverbial “buffet pants”.

My opinion of the job after being in it for six months? It’s slow, but after finding the few people who possess some sort of normalcy it makes the environment one in which I can still laugh and be myself. It allows me to take everything else as business and leave it on my desk at the end of the day.

Good thing government pushes for a healthy work/life balance is all I have to say.

Related:
NOR Citysearch: London