Navigation trail

• Home page
• Types of jobs
• Advertising, marketing and PR
• Public relations officer: Typical employers/vacancy sources

Public relations officer: Typical employers/vacancy sources

Typical employers

Public relations(PR) practitioners work across a wide range of industries and may work in any of the following settings: corporate; financial; consumer; public affairs; local government; business-to-business; trade and technical; internal communications; not-for-profit organisations; and charities.

Vacancies for PR officers exist in-house and in consultancies:

The in-house department of an organisation works exclusively for one company or organisation, which may be a public, commercial or not-for-profit organisation. An in-house PR professional will need to acquire specialist knowledge of the particular area they are working in and will design and implement a PR programme specifically to meet the organisation's requirements.

PR consultancies provide an independent service to several client organisations, often working within very different market sectors. Consultancies vary in size, from large international firms with offices throughout the world, to small locally-based firms who may specialise in a specific area such as fashion, music, healthcare or finance. Larger consultancies are likely to have a wider client base, ranging from law firms to builders' merchants.

In some cases, in-house PR professionals may work in tandem with PR consultancies on certain projects.

Sources of vacancies

Search graduate jobs on this site.

• Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
• Campaign
• PR Week
• Press Gazette
• The Guardian (Mondays and Saturdays)
• Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) .

Vacancies for in-house PR posts are often advertised in the national, regional or local press, as well as the industry press listed above. Consultancy vacancies can also be advertised.

There are specialist PR recruitment agencies, but they invariably deal only with vacancies for experienced practitioners.

Recruitment can be very ad-hoc, with some graduates and Diplomates obtaining their first post as a result of a speculative approach. The following directories may be useful in identifying contacts for speculative applications:

• Hollis UK Public Relations Annual
• PRCA Yearbook.

See also job hunting tips and applications, CVs and interviews.

AGCAS

Written by Kirsty Hutchison, University of Manchester

Last updated:

November 2008

© Copyright AGCAS & Graduate Prospects Ltd | Disclaimer