Record Growth of Public Relations Increases Demand For Communications Skills, Says Council of PR Firms. Web Site Offers Online Application For Job Candidates. Attributes of Successful PR Professionals Are Identified. Do You Have Them?
NEW YORK--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Thursday, February 1, 2001
--Will this be the year you begin a PR career?
Public relations is one of America’s most stimulating, creative and satisfying professions, the industry has been growing at a record pace (revenue rose 30% in 1999), and the emergence of new information services has created a shortage of people with superior communications skills, according to the Council of Public Relations Firms, the trade association representing more than 125 firms in the industry.
“The roles, responsibilities and rewards for exceptional people are exceptional and the job market for PR professionals has never been more attractive,” says Jack Bergen, president of the Council, a leading source of information and data on the business of public relations.
“Public relations is experiencing hypergrowth,” says Bergen, “and to borrow from the Marines’ recruiting slogan, the industry is looking for many more than a few good men and women.”
Here’s why:
* Due to the extraordinary growth and increasing complexity of business, technology, the media and the Internet, companies need to communicate their reputation and messages more effectively and more widely than ever, generating an all-time high demand for skilled public relations professionals.
* Clients are looking to their public relations firms for a variety of services, such as providing content for Web sites, business intelligence, marketing analysis and strategic consulting.
* The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that public relations jobs will increase faster than the average of all other occupations, through 2006.
* Public relations salaries increased nearly 8% in 1999, four times the U.S. average, a survey of 3,600 public relations executives conducted by PRWeek magazine found.
Who is the industry looking for? “Gifted graduates of liberal arts and business schools, with strong written and verbal communications skills, as well as successful professionals from other fields who seek fresh challenges and opportunities, and greater career satisfaction,” says Bergen.
He noted that nearly all (95%) public relations employers look favorably on hiring and training non-traditional PR candidates with transferable skills (i.e. lawyers, teachers, nurses, journalists, accountants, technology specialists, and marketing professionals), according to a recent nationwide survey.
What are your chances for success in public relations? The Council recently commissioned a leading employment psychologist to interview and evaluate highly successful mid-level PR professionals at member firms. That group was then compared to a general population of professionals to develop a profile of a typical “rising star” in a PR firm, which could be used as a hiring assessment tool.
The top PR professionals scored significantly higher than the average of all other industries in the following attributes: problem solving, sociability, sense of urgency, persuasiveness, assertiveness, self-confidence, empathy, aggressiveness and stamina.
How important is public relations to the economy and to key institutions? The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook puts it this way:
“An organization’s reputation, profitability, and even its continued existence can depend on the degree to which its targeted ‘publics’ support its goals and policies.''
''Public relations specialists serve as advocates for businesses, governments, universities, hospitals, schools and other organizations, and build and maintain positive relationships with the public. As managers recognize the growing importance of good public relations to the success of their organizations, they increasingly rely on public relations specialists for advice on strategy and policy of such programs.”
The Council of Public Relations Firms, which has grown in only two years to over 125 member companies, is the industry’s first trade association, representing all top 10 ranked U.S. firms and more than two thirds of the top fifty firms.
Its mission is to build the business of public relations by advocating to business professionals the value of public relations as a strategic business tool, promoting the benefits of careers in public relations to prospective employees, and assisting members and their clients in setting the standards for the industry.
The Council has assumed a leadership role in expanding the pool of talent available to PR firms by recruiting at leading liberal arts schools and by attracting and preparing qualified professionals in diverse fields to make the transition to public relations.
To learn more about the industry, and to complete a job application and post your resume for review by all member companies, visit the Career Resources section of the Council of Public Relations Firms’ Web site at www.prfirms.org
The site also features helpful advice for job candidates and a list of all member firms, with a hyperlink to each firm’s home page.
|
