A communications assistant helps the work of a PR agency creating content, coming up with publicity campaigns, editing newsletters and press releases, among other things. They contribute to brainstorming ideas, attend events, and monitor media coverage. They are responsible for managing social media as well.
Being a communications assistant is a great opportunity to learn about the life of a PR agency. Mastering the art of influential communication is what makes or breaks leaders, whether they work for the government, for business, non-profit, or entertainment. And this is not day-old wisdom either. Important figures throughout history knew very well the power that comes with persuasion.
The most important takeaway will probably be the fact that PR is not a 9-5 job. It is a 24/7 job. Media dictates the sleep cycles of people working in communications, and if you show your dedication early on as an assistant, the reward will follow soon. Especially now that 34% of PR professionals are about to retire in the next 4-7 years.
Communication Assistant Overview
Working as a Communication Assistant
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a communication assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.99 an hour? That's $31,175 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 52,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Communication Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many communication assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed compassion, time-management skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a communication assistant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.0% of communication assistants included prospective residents, while 7.2% of resumes included customer service, and 6.3% of resumes included web content. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the communication assistant job title. But what industry to start with? Most communication assistants actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
How To Become a Communication Assistant
If you're interested in becoming a communication assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.2% of communication assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 11.5% of communication assistants have master's degrees. Even though most communication assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a communication assistant. When we researched the most common majors for a communication assistant, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on communication assistant resumes include high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a communication assistant. In fact, many communication assistant jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many communication assistants also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or cashier.
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Communication Assistant Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a communication assistant can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as marketing assistant, progress to a title such as marketing coordinator and then eventually end up with the title marketing manager.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Communication Assistant
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Stephen F. Austin State University Student Assistant-Residence Life Community Assistant Student Assistant-Residence Life Community Assistant | Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $15,13101/29/2021 $15,131 |
Lakeville Area Public Schools Communications Assistant Communications Assistant | Lakeville Area Public Schools Lakeville Area Public Schools | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $45,00001/29/2021 $45,000 |
Xcel Energy Communications Assistant Communications Assistant | Xcel Energy Xcel Energy | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $40,07001/29/2021 $40,070 |
Presbyterian Homes & Services Community Support Assistant. Community Support Assistant. | Presbyterian Homes & Services Presbyterian Homes & Services | 01/26/2021 01/26/2021 | $25,04401/26/2021 $25,044 |
University of Wisconsin Madison Communications Assistant Communications Assistant | University of Wisconsin Madison University of Wisconsin Madison | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $40,00001/23/2021 $40,000 |
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Communication Assistant Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Communication Assistant. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Communication Assistant Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Communication Assistant resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Communication Assistants
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Public
4. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
7. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
8. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
9. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA • Public
10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Public
Top Skills For a Communication Assistant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.0% of communication assistants listed prospective residents on their resume, but soft skills such as compassion and time-management skills are important as well.
- Prospective Residents, 14.0%
- Customer Service, 7.2%
- Web Content, 6.3%
- Administrative Tasks, 6.1%
- Communication, 6.1%
- Other Skills, 60.3% See All Communication Assistant Skills
Best States For a Communication Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a communication assistant. The best states for people in this position are Washington, New York, Rhode Island, and California. Communication assistants make the most in Washington with an average salary of $45,722. Whereas in New York and Rhode Island, they would average $42,894 and $39,837, respectively. While communication assistants would only make an average of $39,803 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$42,894
Avg. Salary
2. North Dakota
$38,723
Avg. Salary
3. Wisconsin
$39,751
Avg. Salary
How Do Communication Assistant Rate Their Jobs?
3.0
3.0
What do you like the most about working as Communication Assistant?
Planning meetings, producing monthly newsletter, attaining a feature for the newsletter and learning about co workers, helping co workers with I.T. tasks, teaching co workers about Canva, writing emails, creating ideas for social media posts, planning campaigns, Show MoreTop Communication Assistant Employers
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