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Public Relations Specialists

$67.44K Median Salary 29.2K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 11.4% Job Growth

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About This Career

Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media. May specialize in using social media.

Reported Job Titles

Communications Specialist, Community Relations Coordinator, Corporate Communications Specialist, Information and Communications Specialist, Media Relations Specialist, Public Affairs Specialist, Public Information Officer, Public Information Specialist, Public Relations Coordinator (PR Coordinator), Public Relations Specialist (PR Specialist)

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Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Written Expression

Deductive Reasoning

Problem Sensitivity

Written Comprehension

Fluency of Ideas

Originality

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Category Flexibility

Information Ordering

Knowledge

Communications and Media

English Language

Administration and Management

Customer and Personal Service

Sales and Marketing

Computers and Electronics

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Reading Comprehension

Social Perceptiveness

Writing

Coordination

Critical Thinking

Time Management

Persuasion

Judgment and Decision Making

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Negotiation

Systems Evaluation

Service Orientation

Systems Analysis

Instructing

Monitoring

Technology Skills

Web page creation and editing software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Web platform development software

Video creation and editing software

Data base user interface and query software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Word processing software

Presentation software

Sales and marketing software

Document management software

Desktop publishing software

Network conferencing software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Spreadsheet software

Electronic mail software

Network monitoring software

Development environment software

Video conferencing software

Desktop communications software

Office suite software

Operating system software

Instant messaging software

Data base reporting software

Multi-media educational software

Internet browser software

Data mining software

Project management software

Information retrieval or search software

Tools

Photocopiers

Notebook computers

Laser printers

Desktop computers

Special purpose telephones

Personal computers

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
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 that there is a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
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).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
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).

Knowledge

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.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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.
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.
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.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Technology Skills

Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Sales and marketing software: Google Ads; HubSpot software; Marketo Marketing Automation
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Network conferencing software: LogMeIn GoToWebinar
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Network monitoring software: Nagios; Wireshark
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Video conferencing software: Teleconferencing software
Desktop communications software: Edmodo
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Instant messaging software: GroupMe
Data base reporting software: SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
Multi-media educational software: Interactive learning software
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Data mining software: Google Analytics
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis