Career Advice

Any discussion of “thought leadership” should start with an acknowledgement that virtually everyone outside the communications field hates the term. Editors and producers see it as a symbol of all that’s wrong with public relations. Yet in spite of the cliché, positioning your executives as, well, leading thinkers remains a critical component of any successful corporate communications effort—especially when your company has passed the “media darling” stage when it’s making all the news.

The key to keeping an audience in its seats can be divided into three areas: what you say, what you show and how you present.

So here you are: You’ve landed your dream summer internship. Look at you! Being an ambitious, forward-thinking go-getter, you’re already wondering how to convert it into a full-time job. We were in your shoes not long ago. Below are the most important things we did as interns to land full-time gigs. To add perspective, we’ve invited our boss, Becky Boles, to add her thoughts on what it takes to get hired by a major communications firm.

With the spring fever hiring months behind us, PR job hunters might think it’s time to throw their resumes on the back burner until next year. Not so: according to a Bloomberg report, July and October were huge for job openings from 2010 to 2015, lagging just barely behind April for vacancies. Now is the time to look for open positions, and focus on presenting the skill set and demeanor to fit your on-paper selling points if you get called in.

You still have another five solid months to make this your best year ever as a communicator. First, you’ll need to take stock of what you and your team have accomplished and perhaps reset priorities. Here are the seven most important areas of focus for PR leaders, according to Diane Schwartz, SVP, PR News.

Hopefully there’s time in the short months before the unperturbed seasons move onward to not only get sucked into a good story, but also to learn something new and better your professional self as well. The unfortunate reality is that on top of work, family and fun this summer there just isn’t enough time to cover everything. In the search for the perfect reading list, difficult decisions are sure to be made. In an effort to help you along the journey to literary enlightenment, here are six books from various genres that PR pros should check out this summer.

As target audiences change, the tools for engaging them evolve, and machines enable us to do our jobs faster and more accurately. Our core function remains the same, however. PR pros still will be responsible for creating stories that educate, influence and connect people with our organizations and brands. To thrive in 2020, communications professionals will need to become more creative, have strong cognitive flexibility, collaborate, be emotionally intelligent and develop the grit necessary to constantly challenge the status quo. Here are ways to start building these important skills now.

2015 PR News Salary Survey: PR Compensation and Benefits Report (click link to view)

2016 PR News Salary Survey: PR Compensation and Benefits Report (click link to view)

39% of PR pros told us their salary increases were modest (1%-3%) (Figure A). In addition 32% received no salary increase or said salary increases did not apply to them. As in 2015, most PR pros (87%) in 2016 said they were very or moderately satisfied with their occupation and, believe it or not, their pay packages (68%) (Figure C).