Monique Kelley (’03), an associate professor of the practice of strategic communications, has taken on a new challenge this semester: preparing students from across COM for their careers. Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu.
The Power of Networking
Monique Kelley has spent her career making connections. Now she’s teaching the skill in the classroom.
Networking is second nature to Monique Kelley. Over two decades in public relations, she has made connections at agencies large and small, volunteered for industry organizations and maintained relationships with her undergraduate professors at COM. She credits that network for her success. In 2022, Kelley (’03) launched her own communications consulting company that works primarily with global corporations in the healthcare industry where she spent much of her career. At the same time, she joined COM as an associate professor of the practice of strategic communication, where she had previously been a lecturer.
Now she’s sharing her networking and job-hunting know-how. In January 2024, Kelley launched a new course, COM Career Readiness (CO 145), which she hopes will eventually expand into multiple sections led by faculty from across the college’s departments. The single-credit course runs for eight weeks and, Kelley says, will help COM students develop the skills they need to thrive in their early careers.
COMtalk spoke with Kelley about the new course and bringing her passion for networking to the classroom.
Q&A
With Monique Kelley
COMtalk: You were a public relations professional for two decades after graduating from COM. What drew you back?
Monique Kelley: After graduating COM, I moved and worked in NYC for about 12 years. When I moved back to Boston from NYC, I transferred from Weber Shandwick NYC to their office in Boston. I remember them saying, “We can’t find good up-and-coming talent.” I’m thinking, “OK, down the street is BU—how can you tell me that there’s not good talent here?” I put myself out there as a recruiter for Weber and, as I did that, there were folks at BU who started saying, “Could you guest lecture for one of my classes?” I did that for six years. Then, in 2020, I was invited to be an adjunct professor. Two years later, I had the opportunity to interview for a full-time role.
COMtalk: You’ve continued to work in PR while teaching full time. Do you think that helps you teach?
Monique Kelley: I don’t believe you can be a credible industry expert in a field if you’re not in the field in some way. Especially as the field of communications is always evolving. My students tell me that they appreciate when I share real-life examples of the work I’m currently doing with my clients and even my pitch emails to reporters. I’ll bring in people that I’m working with, or past peers, to guest speak in my classes and at BU Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) meetings, where I’m the faculty advisor. These include PR recruiters and HR professionals. My students want to learn PR and media—but they also need a job.
COMtalk: You’re a woman of color in an industry that has struggled to diversify. Where do you think PR companies can improve what they’re doing? And what gives you hope that they can succeed?
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COMtalk: You’ve just begun teaching the first section of COM Career Readiness. Where did the idea come from and who is it for?
Monique Kelley: I heard Heather Fink and the folks from COM Career Services talking about a course that would be dedicated to supporting students in their career journeys. It’s open to all of COM. I have some sophomores enrolled, but the current class is primarily juniors and seniors.
COMtalk: What do you want students to take away from this course?
Monique Kelley: Short term, I want them to get comfortable with the tools COM has to support them from a career readiness standpoint. I want them to be on LinkedIn and to not be afraid to leverage it. That means introducing themselves to, and helping, recruiters, whether it’s connecting to a job they want or referring their friend or roommate for it. I want them to be able to feel confident in a job interview. Longer term, I want them to be thought leaders. That can happen by establishing who they are and what value they can offer. That value will build and evolve as they grow in their careers.
COMtalk: You’re also writing a book about networking. What inspired that idea and what’s the status of the project?
Monique Kelley: Whenever I do a workshop on networking, whether it’s with students at the PRSSA conference or with professionals through my business, I start with a live poll. About 70 to 80 percent of the people in the room typically report that networking is scary to them. I think it’s because people look at networking as something they do when they need something. It’s transactional; something you do with people you don’t know, instead of it being just about building relationships with coworkers, clients and friends. It should be about adding value first before expecting value from someone.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
