Educational Requirements
- Any candidate for a PR director position should have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in public relations or journalism.
- In order to become a PR director, one must have in-depth knowledge about advertising, the media, creative and technical writing, and business administration. He or she also generally needs to have at least five years of PR experience.
- PR director job candidates must possess excellent communication skills and should be able to connect with their prospective audience. They should possess creativity, initiative, and good judgment.
- The Universal Accreditation Board accredits public relations specialists who have approximately five years of experience in the PR field and bachelor’s degrees in communications-related fields. Those who successfully complete the examination are bestowed the APR (Accredited in Public Relations) designation.
- The public relations director has to formulate an operational plan for public relations with the help of input from his or her staff.
- The public relations director works closely with the heads of different departments on promotional issues, relationship building, and outreach efforts.
- The PR director also has to work closely with graphic designers and website designers on promotional advertisements, mailers, and press releases for the company.
- The PR director has to maintain and update information on his or her organization’s website.
- The PR director has to be adroit in handling and maintaining good working relationships with the media.
- The public relations director’s communication skills will come into play when he or she has to face the camera and speak with individuals, journalists, and interested organizations on behalf of his or her company.
- The PR director has to take the initiative to foster healthy relationships with communities and organizations that play vital roles in his or her company’s word-of-mouth publicity.
The PR director usually reports to the executive director but has a host of rights and responsibilities at an independent level. He or she has to constantly face the music as well as play the music on behalf of his or her company, which takes a level-headed and alert individual. The PR director presides over a staff of public relations professionals and has to continually keep abreast of their PR activities and express his or her opinions in an authoritative manner.
Latest Job Trends
Employment of public relations directors is expected to grow, although there are indications that there will be an increase in entry-level PR jobs in the coming decade. Annual salaries of public relations directors are determined by a variety of factors including company, field, place of employment, level of education, and experience.
The latest sector of the PR industry is online PR, which is quickly gaining a foothold and dominating the other PR mediums in a big way. Thus, PR directors of the future will have to be thoroughly up to date on the latest trends in the Internet world and improve upon their skills related to search engine optimization (SEO), updating websites, and other techniques.
