Name: Caitlin Ring, PhD
Job Title/Description: Assistant Professor, Strategic Communications
College Major: PhD in Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. M.S. in Public Relations at the University of Denver. Communication major and journalism minor at Clemson University.
What does your average day as a professor entail?
This quarter I’m teaching public affairs and communications. Generally my day is a combination of all kinds of things. Reading recent articles, going through what’s new in media relations, meeting with students. I walk the dog, I go to the gym, and Dr. Chris Paul and I are training for a half marathon!
How did you discern that communications and teaching were your passions?
I knew I wanted to do public relations when I was in college because I took these two classes, a crisis class and a strat comm class and I thought, “I could really see doing this.” The other thing that really attracted to me was kinds of people in the field. It felt like a lot of folks who went into communications and marketing were fairly outgoing and I had a lot in common with. And I really just loved the idea of getting people to know about the things you care about.
What was your first entry-level job in the industry like?
I started working while I was in grad school for agencies. First I would answer the phones and get coffee, and then when a position for account coordinator opened up, and they offered it to me. I loved it right away. I did everything from media relations to developing advertising campaigns to doing social media outreach. It was exciting in that I got to do a lot of different things very, quickly I was on 45 account teams at that agency at my first job.
Can you give any advice to a 20-something thinking about jobs?
There were so many things now that I didn’t know where even options! Like, “oh you can make a living doing that?” Be open to evolving and growing. Regardless of which career path you choose, being able to write, being able to do media outreach, are skills that you’ll different ways to use.
A note on determination
When I turned 30, it was amazing to see the extent to which you just stop caring about the BS. A lot of the insecurities in your 20s come comes from what other people think of you. Your parents, your friends, your coworkers. As you get older you get to worry less about that stuff. It becomes more important what you think. That for me has been an incredible shift. The advice I would give is speak up, stay hungry, and why not you? Whatever your big goal or dream, is why not you? My biggest piece of advice is go for it, go big, don’t hold yourself back!