How to Tell If You Would Be Good at a Public Relations Job
Public Relations (PR) specialists are excellent communicators who specialize in building relationships with various public, including the media, customers, local government, employees, other organization and with the general public. According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the knowledge that public relation's professions should possess include, "communication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics and the principles of management and ethics." If you gain these skills and qualifications, than chances are you would be good at a PR job.
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Obtain a bachelor's degree in journalism, public relations or marketing communications. College coursework prepares PR specialists through communication strategies, principles of marketing and grammar rules. Public Relations' courses teach the proper way to write and format a press release, how to angle a news story and how to communicate with various groups. Communication courses teach students verbal and nonverbal communication skills and give students the opportunity to learn how to write and deliver speeches.
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Study the book, "Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr., so that you can master your writing skills. This book is like the bible for writers; it teaches proper sentence structure, grammar and rules about communication. Journalists work with public relations specialist that write well-written, interesting and news worthy press releases. Many journalists will use copy directly from the release for their news story to save time.
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Build beneficial professional relationships. A major component of public relations work is building relationships with the media, employees, stockholders, politicians, customers and the local community. Public relations professionals must be skilled at networking; being able to build rapport quickly and being able to match the needs of the organization with the needs of the person that they are building a relationship with.
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Become technology savvy. PR specialists need to be proficient in computer software and hardware. Press releases are sent via email or fax; very rarely are they sent by mail. At the basic level they should be well versed in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. PR specialist that can work on Macintosh and Windows hold an advantage over the professionals that do not. PR specialists that know how to basic web development skills, how to network through social media sites and that can create e-Newsletters can obtain employment faster, especially at smaller firms when the PR and marketing functions overlap.
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