Photo: Jamelle Bouie (CC BY 2.0)
Job description
Day to day work includes fielding media requests, drafting press releases, and posting updates to a company's website and social channels, often coordinating with other managers to spot trends or concerns worth addressing publicly. Specialists also maintain relationships with community groups, consumer advocates, and other outside stakeholders whose perception of the organization matters. The pace tends to be fast, with real deadlines and no shortage of frustrated people to manage diplomatically. Many specialists narrow their focus toward social media specifically, since that's increasingly where public perception gets made or broken.
Pros
- Strong, growing demand with 27,600 projected openings and a faster than average 4.8% growth rate
- Varied work spanning media relations, social media, writing, and executive strategy advice
- High earning ceiling, up to $135k, for a role requiring only a bachelor's degree
Cons
- Above-average hours, expect more than a standard 40-hour work week
- Constant deadline pressure managing media requests and public perception in real time
- Regularly deals with frustrated or upset stakeholders during negative press or PR crises
A typical day
The day starts inside a media database, building a targeted list of twenty reporters who actually cover the client's space — then tailoring the pitch email three different ways, because blast pitches get deleted. Late morning brings a press release through legal review and a scramble to fix a quote the executive wants changed. The afternoon is a media hit: escorting a spokesperson through a TV interview at a local station, prepping them in the car, and monitoring the segment for accuracy. Back at the desk, the specialist updates the coverage tracker, drafts social copy for tomorrow's announcement, and responds to a reporter's inquiry with an answer that was cleared an hour earlier.
Tasks at the job
- Respond to requests for information from the media or designate an appropriate spokesperson or information source.
- Plan or direct development or communication of programs to maintain favorable public or stockholder perceptions of an organization's accomplishments, agenda, or environmental responsibility.
- Post and update content on the company's Web site and social media outlets.
- Write press releases or other media communications to promote clients.
- Establish or maintain cooperative relationships with representatives of community, consumer, employee, or public interest groups.
- Confer with other managers to identify trends or key group interests or concerns or to provide advice on business decisions.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job, and almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP English Language — writing is the deliverable
- Journalism — pitches work when you understand newsrooms
- Marketing/Business — PR lives inside broader strategy
- AP Psychology — framing and audience insight
- Digital Media — social content skills are now table stakes
Clubs, activities & competitions
- School newspaper — reporting or editing
- DECA or FBLA — public relations and marketing events
- Social media manager for a school club or team
- Yearbook — deadline media production
First steps you can take now
- Write and send a real pitch: get a local outlet to cover a school event
- Build a portfolio: three press releases, three social campaigns, even hypothetical ones
- Follow three PR professionals and study how they talk about wins and mistakes
- Volunteer to handle publicity for a nonprofit event this semester
