Bachelor's degree Public relations Multilingual communication
Public relations represent all the communication techniques which are used to build or improve the identity or the image of a company, a working institution or an administration.
The internal public relations mainly focus on facilitating the communication between the different operators of the institutions and on creating trust. They work to create written media and focus on long-term (welcome booklet, internal activities report…), on mid-term (company logbook, press review, idea box, intranet, e-newspaper…), or on short-term goals (newsletter, internal memo, billboard…). They also use oral methods (presence in the field, management, meetings, phone diary…) and audiovisual methods (company film, videoconference…).
External public relations are aimed at designing an external communication plan, using in particular:
- The press: (Press documents, press conference and relevant argumentation to face written media, radio mikes and TV cameras)
- Corporate documents (external journal, activity report of the company, website, external video, poster, triptych…)
- Events (shows aimed at gaining patronage or sponsorship, institution tours and open days, seminars, exhibitions, fairs, symposia and congresses).
Multilingual communication section
Firmly rooted in the current reality of the ever increasing use of foreign languages in communication and public relations, the multilingual communication section is structured around 3 main themes:
- Besides the English and Dutch languages which are compulsory, the students choose an additional foreign language: Spanish, Italian or German.
- The study of the vocabulary specific to public relations in the chosen foreign language.
- A practical approach of the culture related to this foreign language.
Vidéo promotionnelle de l'option
Practical information
Summary of 3 years
01 1st year
During the first year of this programme, you will receive a substantial training in accounting, company organisation, general economy, public and labour law, which will allow you to situate any public relation activity within the economic and legal realities of the present world. The programme also includes a cultural and historical approach which will be tackled by means of the semiology, anthropology, narratology or heritage courses. The study of foreign languages is also a big part of this first year. English and Dutch are taught in two different groups: beginner and intermediate levels.
The multilingual communication section is the perfect appendix to the English and Dutch courses of the first year. It allows the students to study an additional foreign language: Spanish, Italian or German. During the first year, the Spanish, Italian and German teachers start the language study from scratch and then accelerate the pace for the assimilation of the spelling, conjugation and syntax rules.
Note: The German course will only be organised if enough students register for it. If the necessary number is not reached, it is possible to follow the course of the second year for the intermediate students or to follow a course for beginners in a social advancement school.
02 2nd year
The second year revolves around event and exhibition organisation, press relations, receptions, protocols and a professional work placement in April. Through courses such as accounting software, foreign trade, marketing, computer science, databases and statistics, the economic and quantitative precision persists. The second-year student keeps on studying English and Dutch, acquires the vocabulary specific to public relations and participates to conversation sessions.
The multilingual communication section of the second year allows the students to deepen their knowledge of the spelling, conjugation and syntax rules of the language they chose. Half of the courses of the second year aim at anchoring these additional linguistic skills to the PR realities of the professional world. Both conversation sessions and a cultural approach are essential parts of the teaching of the language. The latter includes a cultural trip in a country where the studied language is spoken.
03 3rd year
During the first semester, this graduation year focuses on crisis communication, argumentation and media training, political communication and the ethical code of public relations, marketing and sales techniques. The student starts the creation of websites and enhances his/her English and Dutch language skills by means of active conversations. Of course, it is possible to dedicate this first semester to an Erasmus stay in one of the multiple European institutions with which the Haute Ecole Albert Jacquard has forged strong links. The whole second semester is dedicated to a four-month work placement (from February to the end of May) either in Belgium or in a foreign country, within the communication/public relation department of an institution that the intern has to choose.
The multilingual communication section offers the students to end their programme by studying more deeply the chosen language. Spelling, conjugation and syntax are still studied but conversation sessions represent the core of this last year as well as and the advanced study of the culture linked to the chosen language.
Outlets
The holders of a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations are ready to work:
- Within agencies specialised in communication and public relations
- As freelance consultants
- As technical service providers (working in partnership with agencies and freelance consultants): survey companies, broadcasting services, event specialists…
- In international institutions or in any institution where the knowledge of foreign languages is the main asset of junior employees.
The students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations are resourceful and efficient. They can also definitely work as employees in different professional areas such as private companies, banking and insurance companies, railway companies, public transportation, airports, telecommunications, political parties, minister’s private offices, trade unions, print media, radios, TV, press agencies, media centres, hospitals, NGOs, cinemas, theatres, museums, festival organisation, international meetings, hotel chains, travel agencies, tourism offices, sports clubs and federations…
Are you interested in this training?
Contact the coordinator.