It’s an industry that offers one challenge after the other, so if you’re the kind who thrives on meeting them head on, perhaps a career in public relations is right up your alley.
PR involves maintaining mutual relations and understanding between organizations, corporations and members of the public who are connected to them in some way or the other, like shareholders, consumers, employees, the government and even the media.
If you want to work in public relations, here are some of the career options:
- Press agents: You will be responsible for dealing with the press and your job will entail both routine aspects like writing press releases and talking to the media in the event of a crisis or scandal. You will represent the public face of the organization or person you work for, so you need to have good oratory skills and be a people person.
- Crisis managers: Most PR pro are adept at handling situations that threaten to go out of hand. In fact, their main job description is to minimize the actual damages that the organization faces when any untoward crisis crops up. They must do their best to shield the company from negative press and publicity and work on damage control measures that are acceptable to the public.
- Publicity and media relations managers: This option involves generating positive publicity for your company or organization. You will be liaising with customers and the media to improve the image of the organization through promotional offers, media tours and other similar initiatives.
- Customer relations manager: You will be responsible for dealing with customer complaints and handling them discreetly so that they do not generate negative publicity for your organization. You must be skilled in human psychology and know how to deal with irate customers who could have a potentially detrimental effect on your business.
- Public affairs manager: You will probably be working in a government office if you’re handling public affairs, and your job responsibility will entail distributing information released by the government to the public. If you work for lobbyists or for not-for-profit firms, you will be engaged in providing information to the public on various social, health and economic issues.
To be a good PR professional, you must have excellent communication skills, be interested in and knowledgeable about a variety of topics, be willing to work hard, and learn every day on the job about the industry you work in and the challenges they pose.
Public relations managers and employees can find employment in the government sector, corporate houses, media organizations, banks, finance and insurance companies, investment houses, hotels, travel agencies, consultancies, legal firms, and in various other private positions as PR agents of celebrities and politicians.
This guest post was contributed by Donna Mitchell, who regularly writes on the topic of online paralegal schools. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: donna.mitchell@rediffmail.com