Is A Career in Public Relations Right for You?

Public Relations (PR) is a multifaceted field that encompasses a lot. It has evolved over the years and now includes all the ways we communicate and connect with brands, products and much more. Because public relations is hard to define, misconceptions surrounding PR and what it can help accomplish have cropped up, especially over the last few years as the role of a PR practitioner has grown to encompass ALL the ways in which we communicate.

More brands than ever before are turning to PR to help them stay connected with consumers, therefore finding a clear definition to describe the role PR plays has become extremely important in preventing it from getting lumped in with other fields such as advertising and marketing, which it can sometimes be associated with. PR is a very different practice..

So, what is Public Relations and how do you know if a career in PR is right for you? 

This is a question I asked myself when narrowing down my chosen fields of study in school.

At first, I thought it was about issuing press releases, drafting content, and ultimately generating media coverage for clients. I soon discovered it was much more than that.

Successful PR professionals are able to strategically build and maintain the reputation of brands, help them connect and build trust within their communities by controlling the narrative, and create credibility, ultimately helping companies connect with their audience in a genuine way and drive sales and/or achieve any other goals.  

Whether you are a young professional just starting out on your career path and considering the field of PR, or someone looking for a career change, here are a few things I asked myself to know if PR was right for me that you can use to determine your path:

1. Do you thrive on deadlines?
   
   A successful PR professional works well under pressure and can effectively manage their time and multi-projects with ease. When faced with deadlines, not only from clients, but also media and other outside sources, those in the PR field must be well organised and able to handle multiple tasks and clients at once. At times, PR deadlines and events make it anything but a 9-5 job. Great PR pros know how to work, don't crumble under pressure, and are motivated to solve problems and produce ideas to reach their client’s goals under the wire and whenever the need arises, especially in the case of issues/crisis management, which typically never happens within regular business hours LOL.
   

2. Are you an effective communicator?
   
   PR professionals need to be effective and clear with their language in order to help clients stand out in a crowd, spark change and/or drive sales. When creating messages, they need to know what is the most important, honing in on key details to create an enticing angle for the media. Effective communication is also staying on top of trends and current events in order to be timely with a story. PR professionals need to be insightful, genuine and able to naturally spot a great story. Whether through writing or verbal conversation, successful PR professionals excel in all aspects of communications so they can help expertly guide brands who want to share their story with the world. 
   

3. Are you a creative person? 
   
   With the PR landscape changing constantly, successful PR pros can adapt and use creative strategies to generate results, no matter the situation. Often creativity is key in order to get noticed by editors who are receiving an endless supply of content ideas in their inboxes. It’s important to think outside-the-box and have a keen eye/ear on what is media worthy and in general makes for a great story. In fact, there has even been a significant increase in PR agencies employing Creative Directors in recent years, proving a creative mindset is a huge asset. 
   

4. Are you effective at building and maintaining relationships?
   
   Not all successful PR professionals must be extroverts, but you do have to know how to connect with people. PR is all about building relationships, no matter how those connections are formed. Although the reality is that  much of modern PR relationship building starts through email, building long lasting relationships starts when you are able to genuinely connect with the media and this can only be done by getting to know them, their interests and their beat. . This same rule applies to client relationship building.  Face-time, whether virtual or in-person is always ideal.
   

5. Can you take no for an answer?
   
   Not all people can handle rejection, but PR professionals need to not only handle it, but also learn from it in order to continuously evolve.. In any career the possibility of receiving a no by clients, media, or even your colleagues is inevitable, but it is what you do with that no that counts. Can you turn that rejection into an opportunity to learn more about the outlet and journalist to make your next story land? Those who succeed in PR have a thick skin and use rejections to fuel their perseverance and determination for future projects.
   

So, is PR right for you? If you are the type of person who loves building relationships, has strong communications skills, thrives in a fast-paced work environment, can manage multiple projects with ease, and enjoys exercising your creative muscles, then PR may be the perfect career for you. 

Written by Brody Robinson