How to become Public Relations Specialist in 2024

Public Relations Specialist 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.

Public Relations Specialist is Also Know as

In different settings, Public Relations Specialist is titled as

  • 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)

Education and Training of Public Relations Specialist

Public Relations Specialist is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Public Relations Specialist

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Public Relations Specialist

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Public Relations Specialist

Training Required for Public Relations Specialist

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Public Relations Specialist in different industries are

What Do Public Relations Specialist do?

  • Respond to requests for information from the media or designate an appropriate spokesperson or information source.
  • Establish or maintain cooperative relationships with representatives of community, consumer, employee, or public interest groups.
  • Confer with production or support personnel to produce or coordinate production of advertisements or promotions.
  • Arrange public appearances, lectures, contests, or exhibits for clients to increase product or service awareness or to promote goodwill.
  • Study the objectives, promotional policies, or needs of organizations to develop public relations strategies that will influence public opinion or promote ideas, products, or services.
  • Confer with other managers to identify trends or key group interests or concerns or to provide advice on business decisions.
  • Consult with advertising agencies or staff to arrange promotional campaigns in all types of media for products, organizations, or individuals.
  • Coach client representatives in effective communication with the public or with employees.
  • Prepare or deliver speeches to further public relations objectives.
  • Purchase advertising space or time as required to promote client's product or agenda.
  • Plan or conduct market or public opinion research to test products or determine potential for product success, communicating results to client or management.
  • Coordinate public responses to environmental management incidents or conflicts.
  • Develop marketing campaigns for environmental technologies or services.
  • Develop plans or materials to communicate organizational activities that are beneficial to the environment, public safety, or other important social issues.
  • Write press releases or other media communications to promote clients.
  • Plan or direct development or communication of programs to maintain favorable public or stockholder perceptions of an organization's accomplishments, agenda, or environmental responsibility.
  • Prepare or edit organizational publications, such as employee newsletters or stockholders' reports, for internal or external audiences.
  • Post and update content on the company's Web site and social media outlets.

Qualities of Good Public Relations Specialist

  • 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.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing 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 Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.

Tools Used by Public Relations Specialist

  • Computer laser printers
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Multi-line telephone systems
  • Personal computers
  • Photocopying equipment

Technology Skills required for Public Relations Specialist

  • 3M Post-it App
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Adobe Acrobat Writer
  • Adobe ActionScript
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Creative Cloud software
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Airtable
  • Apple Final Cut Express
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple iPhoto
  • Apple Keynote
  • Apple macOS
  • Apple QuickTime
  • Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
  • Blogging software
  • Cascading style sheets CSS
  • Cisco Webex
  • Cision CisionPoint
  • Customer relationship management CRM software
  • Drupal
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
  • Facebook
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Google
  • Google Ads
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Docs
  • Google Drive
  • Google Slides
  • HubSpot software
  • Hypertext markup language HTML
  • Instagram
  • JamBoard
  • JavaScript
  • LexisNexis
  • LinkedIn
  • LogMeIn GoToWebinar
  • Marketo Marketing Automation
  • Mentimeter
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Project
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Myspace
  • Nearpod
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer
  • Oracle Eloqua
  • ParentSquare
  • Podcasting software
  • Salesforce software
  • Slido interaction software
  • SmugMug Flickr
  • Social media sites
  • Twitter
  • Web browser software
  • Website management software
  • Wireshark
  • WordPress
  • YouTube