What Does a Public Relations Specialist Do?
Public relations specialists are experts in crafting appearances for individuals and companies. They communicate with the public to generate positive publicity for their clients and enhance their reputation. They will use a combination of offline and online presences, which may include website features, social media posts, interviews, local charity events, or more. The PR specialist will be the first point of contact for those looking for information on the company.
PR specialists will need to have excellent written and verbal communication skills. They should also have the ability to perform research and gather analytics on a monthly basis to report the public opinion of the company or individual. Managing multiple projects simultaneously, maintaining attention to detail, and meeting strict deadlines are also important skills for these specialists.
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National Average Salary
Public relations specialist salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for a Public Relations Specialist is:
$63,980
Public Relations Specialist Job Descriptions
Crafting the perfect job description may be the key to finding an exceptional public relations specialist. To help you with your recruiting search, our team has put together some examples from past openings.
Example 1
Job description:
An ideal role for a dynamic, creative self-starter, the Public Relations Specialist is expected to understand the ever-changing news cycle, maintain, and build relationships with key media and craft stories that can deliver results. The candidate will have the opportunity to assist in the planning, development, and implementation of communications strategies and activities to support the brand’s efforts.
The Public Relations Specialist will be expected to use their experience to move select projects forward on their own, as well as collaborate on brainstorming, planning, and execution with their peers.
Job roles and responsibilities:
- Develop and manage Media Relations activities to include crafting story narratives, pitching media outlets, developing relationships with key media, and assisting with management of external PR firms
- Guide and craft a wide variety of company-wide and internal communications
- Handle inbound media inquiries
- Build and maintain comprehensive media database
- Writing and editing of materials including Press Releases, Media Alerts, Executive Messaging, News Blogs, etc.
- Concept communications and events plans that serve to promote company news and product launches
- Be available to support and assist in project coordination as needed
- Organize and prioritize numerous tasks and be able to work under deadlines
- Compile competitive information, stay abreast of advertising and marketing trends, and obtain additional background and current development information through research and interviews
- Maintain a working knowledge of all resort brands and current promotional efforts. Attend operational reviews and weekly department meeting, visit resorts as needed/requested, etc.
Competence requirements:
Qualifications include
- Must be proficient in MAC – Word, Excel, Power-Point, Outlook
- Excellent follow-up and communication skills, both verbal and written
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and prioritize workload to meet deadlines
- Ability to work well independently and as part of a team landscape
- Ability to travel internationally as well as domestic
- Must maintain proper and up-to-date documentation
Experience:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree (B. A.) from four-year College or university preferred, in Public Relations, Journalism, or related communications field
- Experience: 3-5 years of experience in journalism or at agency level. Candidate should possess at least 3 years of public relations experience, with emphasis on a media relations skill set including strong writing skills, ability to identify and pitch story concepts, develop strong media relationships, plus the ability to secure assets and meet deadlines. Tourism experience is a plus!
Example 2
We have an opening for a Public Relations Specialist on our global PR team, working with our Infrastructure business. This role requires someone who has serious skills when it comes to PR—a team player who always thinks strategically, can see creative stories and bring them to life, provide counsel to leadership, and respond quickly to shifting priorities.
In this role, you’ll take on media relations, social media strategy, content marketing, issues management, and reputation management in partnership with Marketing & PR/Communications colleagues and leadership. Combining your business savvy and PR skills, you’ll look for creative ways to tell the most critical stories stemming from our Infrastructure teams. We’re looking for someone to be based in (City, State), however remote opportunities are available for the right candidate.
Key responsibilities
Reporting to the Infrastructure Public Relations Manager, some of the activities you’ll focus your energy on include, but are not limited to:
- Partnering with Infrastructure Marketing colleagues globally to develop and implement an integrated marketing and PR plan that tells the Company’s news and brand story across multiple channels
- Developing a strong understanding of the built environment, company’s brand, client needs, key differentiators, and market trends
- Working with internal clients, stakeholders and leadership to ensure PR engagements are strategic and contribute to a holistic story for ABC Company’s infrastructure business
- Developing and managing communications initiatives involving news releases, social media outreach, content marketing, research, interviews, media training and spokesperson support, media monitoring and tracking, and other support on special projects and events
- Helping to drive and support our thought leadership program, both through strategic planning and content development
- Communicating with national industry publications to contribute expert articles and blogs, and to seek editorial coverage
- Overseeing media outreach and preparing practice leadership by developing briefing documents; identifying opportunities and issues; and developing relevant remarks, speeches, and talking points for them
- Providing social media and communications training for internal groups
Qualifications
Your Capabilities and Credentials
- Detail-oriented and organized, with exceptional prioritization skills
- Ability to effectively balance multiple priorities
- Fundamental understanding of the media landscape (traditional and digital)
- Excellent interviewing, written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment, as well as to work autonomously
- Basic familiarity with photography and video preferred
- Ability to quickly establish credibility with multiple audiences and articulate clearly within tight deadlines
- Strategic mindset and strong business acumen
Requirements
- Professional writing (samples required)
- Examples of campaign planning and facilitation
- Demonstration of digital marketing acumen
Education And Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, English, journalism, or marketing
- Minimum 2 to 5 years of public relations experience in corporate, government, or agency preferred
Example 3
Responsibilities
- Work with the PR team to advance the company’s narrative, market leadership, and industry-leading innovation
- Lead all aspects of end-to-end execution of PR campaigns and programs to drive positive awareness around the ABC Company brand
- Work with internal teams to plan and complete PR campaigns across the globe
- Draft well-written and strategic external materials
- Support the development of global communications plans, messaging, talk tracks, and FAQs
- Uniting with key company partners across engineering and marketing to agree upon strategy and affect decisions in relation to announcements, messaging, and strategy
- Successfully engage new and existing business, tech and channel media relationships to elevate product awareness and coverage
- Run corporate speaking engagements and awards calendars, engaging global agencies for support where necessary
Required qualifications
- A minimum of 3-5 years of communications or PR agency experience, preferably with enterprise software companies or related industries
- Demonstrated experience carrying out well-written and essential communications (e.g. press releases, media pitches, Op-Eds, speaking abstracts, and award submissions)
- Strong writer and editor with experience translating sophisticated technical concepts into compelling stories that resonate with core developer audience
- Established relationships with key media and influencers who cover enterprise software
- Self-motivated, creative, and curious approach to storytelling
- Bachelor’s degree
Sample Interview Questions
- How do you approach the development of communication strategies based on your experience in public relations?
- When developing effective communication materials, what strategies do you use to identify key messages and target audiences?
- How would you prioritize and meet deadlines if you had to manage multiple communication projects simultaneously?
- Which public relations firms do you admire and why?
- Which media outlets do you follow closely? Why?
- How do you use social media for public relations?
- Tell us about a time when you developed a communication strategy for a new product or service launch, as well as what factors you considered.
- Which strategies have you used to engage audiences effectively through social media and other digital communication channels?
- What strategies have you used to adapt and improve communication efforts based on data and trends, and how do you measure and report on the effectiveness of your communication strategies?
- What are important areas for growth in public relations?
- How do you measure the ROI of your campaigns?
- What are the best practices for maintaining relationships with media contacts and internal stakeholders?
- How do you cultivate the skills you believe are most relevant for this role?
- Can you name some of the social media optimization or monitoring tools you’ve worked with?
- When faced with challenging situations, how do you manage crisis communications?
- Are you able to keep up with media and communication trends, and what resources have you used to develop your public relations skills?
- What would you do if a client or manager disagreed with your public relations strategy?
