Who shapes the impression that reaches the media pros? Hard at work on that task is a group of about 158,000 people who have a public relations job in the US.
You might find that joining the PR ranks is a great career if you love to write, follow news closely, value meeting people and maintaining wide friendships, and are extremely persuasive.
A Day in the Life of a PR Pro
Among other duties, public relations and corporate communications professionals write press releases, act as media spokespeople for interviews, set up speaking engagements, arrange and lead tours, create and manage trade shows and other displays, and provide critical advice to business executives about PR, communications and image management issues.PR school prepares you by training you in the fundamentals of good reporting and writing. By learning to be an excellent reporter, you'll be better able to advise and inform other reporters. In fact, many PR professionals got their start in the industry by being members of the media themselves, and take on their PR jobs already having good industry contacts.
Several factors make PR an increasingly important and interesting career:
Growing Competition
In every business and on every issue, consumers are just a click of the mouse or TV remote control away from competing companies and opinions. Today's consumers have more choices and can comparatively shop more easily. Brand share and fortunes change more rapidly.24/7 News Cycle
From hundreds of cable channels to thousands of blogs, news can break instantly and widely. Updates are continual. The art of "spin" and image management has never been more demanding.Global Brand Management
Brands run across borders. A story line that plays well in one country falls flat in another. A good PR school curriculum will train you to become sensitive to the demands of inter-cultural communication.Sources
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Public Relations Specialist <http://bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm>Public Relations Society of America <http://www.prsa.org>
