Public Relations Managers

Employers

Approximately 78,400 public relations managers are employed in the United States. While employment opportunities exist in every industry, jobs may be more plentiful with businesses that provide some type of service. Examples include health care—hospitals, clinics, medical equipment manufacturers; educational services—publishers or universities and colleges; professional, scientific, or technical services—financial institutions and planners, smartphone manufacturers, software developers, or laboratories. Public relations managers may need to relocate because many management track jobs at desirable companies are located in larger, more urban areas.

Starting Out

You will first need experience in lower level public relations jobs before advancing to a managerial position. As an assistant, your duties may include updating databases, assembling media kits, or helping with the many details of a fund-raising event. With more experience, you may be given more responsibilities or assigned more prestigious accounts and projects.

To break into a public relations firm, visit your college career services office for job leads. In addition, many firms advertise job listings in newspapers and on Internet job boards.