Newhouse School of Communications
Career Paths:
Public Relations
In today's information-driven world, developing and maintaining a positive public image is essential to remaining competitive. Public relations is the business of perception. PR professionals are responsible for shaping people's viewpoints-how the consumer, the competition, the international community and the average person on the street see a client. They are hired by politicians, actors and actresses, major corporations, non-profit organizations and even the United States government to serve as liaisons and policy communicators. PR specialists are responsible for writing the press releases which journalists rely so heavily upon for up-to-the-minute information. A tremendous amount of the news put in print, on television and on the Internet is the direct result of good PR. Public relations is an extremely rewarding, high-profile, fast-paced business.
Public relations professionals provide a variety of services for their clients, from writing press releases to planning special publicity events to monitoring how a company is covered in the media. PR work varies greatly depending upon the target audience. PR includes "corporate relations," which conveys business issues, such as a change in company policy, to employees, stock-holders and investors; "community relations," which covers company interaction with the local, national and international populations; and "marketing communication," which ensures that the company and its products receive media coverage. In the field of public relations, there are four major types of employers:
- In-House PR Departments/Corporate Communications
- Non-Profit Public Relations
- Public Relations Agencies
- Government Agencies and offices
The typical entry-level job at an agency is an account coordinator where you assistant account executives. Assistant account executives, account executives and senior AEs are the next steps. After agency work, many account executives move into corporate communications.
Information from experience.com 6/2000
Positions held by Newhouse Class of 2005 graduates:
- Assistant Account Executive - Eric Mower & Associates, Atlanta
- Assistant Account Executive - GCI Group, NYC
- Asssistant Account Manager - Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
- Account Assistant - Manning Selvage & Lee, NYC
- Promotions Assistant - Random House, NYC
- Staff Assistant - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Washington D.C.
