Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Motion

Not sorry to see you go – career churn and public relations

Ever since public relations became a career option around a century ago, people have found themselves working in it by accident. It is still common today for practitioners to reflect vastly different job histories prior to joining the field, and to pursue different career paths over their working lives. Some people move away from the occupation and this churn is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps practitioners secure opportunities for promotion taking them away from a...

Posted on PR Motion

Calculating your worth in public relations

A basic calculation of what you are worth as a PR practitioner comes by dividing your annual income by the number of hours that you work. Not the number that you are employed for, but how many hours you work. Often in PR we ‘over-service’ – not only if we work as a consultant but within in-house roles too. It has become ingrained in practice that clocking up hours, and getting the job done is...

Posted on PR Motion

A chicken and egg conundrum for PR careers

In the run up to Easter, here’s a chicken and egg conundrum for PR careers. Should we start out as generalists before specialising or vice versa? Does the navel gazing within PR (as noted in the interesting “Endless Fight” post and comment discussion preceding this one) – and a focus on being recognised as a profession – argue that the function is a specialism seeking exclusivity, even isolation and protection of a territory which may...

Posted on PR Motion

Nurturing public relations talent

Nurturing the upcoming generation of leaders in public relations is something that should be of concern to all current PR practitioners and educators. Finding and developing bright young talent is one of the biggest challenges according to senior in-house and consultancy managers that I speak with. The industry has a good record of employability for those graduating with PR degrees – and with a couple of years’ experience on top, there are plenty of exciting...

Posted on PR Motion

Career moves in public relations: Climbing ladders, revolving doors and musical chairs

Are you looking for a career move or new opportunity in public relations? Judging by my own observations of the use of hashtag #PRjob on Twitter, there are plenty of opportunities around for a change of direction, as well as work placement and first jobs. What isn’t clear is how these jobs differ, if at all, from those traditionally offered in public relations. The classic Dozier & Broom model proposes practitioners occupy technician or management...