How to Become a Community Relations Liaison

Community relations liaisons are often outreach workers for non-profit organizations, political campaigns or universities. Liaisons are different from public-relations workers because they deal almost exclusively with members of the community. Many community relations liaisons are volunteers, but if you want to become one, you may need special education and skills.

Things You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree in communications related field

Instructions

Become a Community Relations Liaison

1. Study for a bachelor's degree in a subject like journalism, communications or public relations. Many community relations liaisons can be volunteers, but if you want a full-time, paid position, you'll probably need a 4-year degree.

2. Build your communication and organization skills. As a liaison, you could be acting as the middle person between local government and a non-profit group. You must have the skills to present the goals, needs and activities of a group in both written and verbal forms.

3. Look for outreach opportunities during times of crisis. When there is a natural disaster, like a forest fire or a flood, many health groups look for volunteer community relations liaisons to help coordinate rescue and relief efforts. These volunteer opportunities may give you the experience you'll need to become a full-time community relations liaison.

4. Learn a second language. As the population of the country continues to become more culturally diverse, many liaisons are finding that they need to speak a language besides English. Language skills are particularly important for liaisons in industries like health care, because they deal with the entire population of an area.

5. Research and learn about the specific industry you want to work in. For example, if you are a community liaison for the science department of a large research university, you may be responsible for helping researchers coordinate their efforts with local, state and national governments. In this case, you may be required to coordinate the delivery of special chemicals to a laboratory and inform the local community of potential dangers or increased traffic due to the delivery.

6. Familiarize yourself with different computer programs. As a community relations liaison, you could be responsible for creating brochures, fliers and Internet content. Some community colleges offer inexpensive classes designed to teach you a variety of computer applications and skills.

Tips & Warnings

• Some community relations liaisons worked in certain fields and became liaisons due to their knowledge of the group. For example, most police departments have community liaisons that are or were officers. Teachers often choose a representative to be a liaison for their schools.

• Hospitals and clinics are some of the largest employers of community relations liaisons. In order to work for a hospital, you may need some education or background in nursing or health care.