Exploring a Career in PR

by Scarlett Young

Public relations is an incredibly versatile field, as the career options for those who want to go into PR are quite diverse. The spectrum of differing jobs and duties that fall under a PR professional’s job description makes it so that each individual can decisively choose what skills and routes they want to focus their career on. Many of these roles can actually take place outside of an agency or in-house setting. 

Social Media Manager

Social media and technology have infiltrated almost every job available in the current market. In terms of public relations, social media has become an incredibly important tool for brands and companies to use to their benefit, and oftentimes brands have specific positions available for someone to step in and run their social media for them. This is important because, though it is useful to be able to reach an incredibly large audience through social media, this job must be handled carefully and with tact to avoid negative repercussions. This role often includes creating content to jumpstart interest in the brand itself, but it also includes factors of crisis communications as, when a crisis occurs, this is often the best way to release information about it to the general public. This area of PR will likely continue to grow more and more in coming years.

Sustainable and Environmental Public Relations

“Grady Salutes” wall art found at an entrance of Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication (Photo/Scarlett Young).

Sustainable and environmental PR careers can look several different ways. One way is through a specific company’s or brand’s environmentally-friendly products or services. This job would entail creating a positive brand image or positive PR because of a “green” initiative in the form of a product or service. Environmental PR could also take the form of environmental communication, which leans more towards sustainable activism and advocacy.

Copywriter

Though copywriting is, in essence, a part of any PR career, it can also stand on its own. A copywriter is responsible for writing any sort of copy, usually in order to persuade the customers to buy or choose a certain service or product. The copywriter’s job is, as is indicated in the title, heavily focused on the copy and on the actual written, persuasive words. 

Start-ups and Small Businesses

For a PR or communication professional, the role that is taken on when working with a new start-up or smaller business is different from duties when working with a large agency or in-house. When working on these smaller or newer scales, the PR professional’s job will focus more on finding ways to bring acknowledgment and awareness to the product, service or cause rather than boasting on what is already there as a building block.