51ÂÒÂ×»»ÆÞ

Skip to main content
A-Z Index
Home / Academics / Careers / Public Relations Managers Career

Example Career: Public Relations Managers

Career Description

Plan, direct or coordinate activities designed to create or maintain a favorable public image or raise issue awareness for their organization or client.

What Job Titles Public Relations Managers Might Have

  • Account Executive
  • Account Supervisor
  • Public Relations Director
  • Public Relations Manager (PR Manager)

What Public Relations Managers Do

  • Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, government officials, and media representatives and use these relationships to develop new business opportunities.
  • Write interesting and effective press releases, prepare information for media kits, and develop and maintain company internet or intranet web pages.
  • Identify main client groups and audiences, determine the best way to communicate publicity information to them, and develop and implement a communication plan.
  • Assign, supervise, and review the activities of public relations staff.
  • Develop and maintain the company's corporate image and identity, which includes the use of logos and signage.
  • Respond to requests for information about employers' activities or status.
  • Manage communications budgets.
  • Direct activities of external agencies, establishments, and departments that develop and implement communication strategies and information programs.
  • Draft speeches for company executives and arrange interviews and other forms of contact for them.
  • Evaluate advertising and promotion programs for compatibility with public relations efforts.
  • Manage special events, such as sponsorship of races, parties introducing new products, or other activities the firm supports, to gain public attention through the media without advertising directly.
  • Facilitate consumer relations or the relationship between parts of the company, such as the managers and employees, or different branch offices.
  • Formulate policies and procedures related to public information programs, working with public relations executives.
  • Establish goals for soliciting funds, develop policies for collection and safeguarding of contributions, and coordinate disbursement of funds.
  • Confer with labor relations managers to develop internal communications that keep employees informed of company activities.
  • Produce films and other video products, regulate their distribution, and operate film library.
  • Maintain company archives.
  • Observe and report on social, economic, and political trends that might affect employers.

What Public Relations Managers Should Be Good At

  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

What Public Relations Managers Need to Learn

  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  • Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Sun iconThis career has a bright outlook.
Median Salary: $134,760
  • O*NET Code: 11-2032.00

This page includes information from by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the license.