Public affairs consultant : Employers and vacancy sources

Public affairs consultants typically work for a consultancy acting on behalf of a range of clients, but may also work in-house for an organisation, e.g. a charity, pressure group, private company, public sector body or professional/trade association.

Public affairs consultancies may be independent or part of a larger public relations (PR) or communications company. The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC)  website includes links to their members, which numbers over 60 public affairs consultancies. Most consultancies are fairly small, very often with less than 20 staff. The majority of consultancies are based in London or Brussels, although there are also a significant number in Edinburgh and, to a lesser extent, Cardiff and Belfast. Several of the larger PR agencies have a specialised public affairs or government relations division.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Public Affairs Jobs  
• Public Affairs News    
• PubAffairs  
• PR Week  
• Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA)  
• Working for an MP (W4MP)  
• National press, e.g. Guardian Jobs  

Specialist recruitment agencies, such as Electus , Peter Childs  and Ellwood and Atfield  advertise vacancies on their websites.

The majority of vacancies are advertised, but you are also advised to make speculative applications to consultancies. Use the following information sources for contact details:

• PubAffairs  - Resource Centre includes the largest online directory of public affairs consultancies
• Dods Parliamentary Companion 
• HollisPR  
• Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC)  
• Public Affairs Industry Directory  
• European Public Affairs Consultancies' Association (EPACA)  

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