What is the salary for a communications associate?

The salary for a communications associate is around $45,000 a year, but it depends on their experience level. Entry-level communications associates will make closer to $40,000 annually, while experienced communications associates make upwards of $55,000 a year.

What qualifications do you need to work in communications?

The minimum qualifications to work in communications is a bachelor's degree in communications or a related field. They must also have a lot of experience in conveying messages using different mediums while also being able to deal with urgent and crisis situations.

What is a communications associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Jim Neuliep Ph.D.,

Everett Wiles

A communications associate manages a company's internal and external communication. They create and execute communication strategies, including writing press releases, developing marketing material, managing social media accounts, and organizing events. Communications associates work closely with other departments to ensure consistent brand messaging. They also monitor media coverage and prepare reports for senior leadership. Strong writing skills are essential for success in this role.

What general advice would you give to a communications associate?

Jim Neuliep Ph.D.

Professor of Communication and Media Studies, St. Norbert College

Dr. Jim Neuliep, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at St. Norbert College, argues that recent graduates with a degree in Communication and Media Studies are in an excellent position to assume a variety of career options. Neuliep asserts that Communication majors should be open to a whole host of potential careers. For example, virtually all employers list communication skills as a central criterion for hiring new employees. Communication majors may not recognize the diversity of jobs open to them. Neuliep notes that pharmaceutical companies often hire communication majors as pharmaceutical representatives. What do pharmaceutical representatives do? They interact/communicate with physicians, physician assistants, and nurses about a particular product. Communication majors may think they need a degree in the sciences to work for a pharmaceutical company. The pharmaceutical company will teach the recent graduate everything they need to know about the product they represent. In many cases, the training may take weeks, but the communication major will know more about the product than many in the healthcare industry. The key is to practice what they learned in their communication classes in healthcare settings.

Neuliep also maintains that Communication majors must learn to be communicatively competent; that is, they must learn to be assertive and responsive. According to Neuliep, assertiveness is the ability to approach others, initiate, maintain, terminate the conversation, express one's opinion without attacking the other person, and defend one's position without attacking another person's situation. Employers are looking for assertive communicators. Neuliep is careful to point out that assertiveness should not be confused with aggressiveness. They are very different. Neuliep also notes that competent communicators must be responsive. Responsiveness is the ability and willingness to listen, show empathy, and to be cooperative. Employers want this. Responsiveness should not be confused with submissiveness. Neuliep stresses that the competent communicator must be versatile and balance assertiveness and responsiveness, knowing when to be assertive and knowing when to be responsive. Just about any employer is looking for these qualities.

ScoreCommunications AssociateUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,477

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.29%

Black or African American 10.01%

Hispanic or Latino 11.90%

Unknown 5.08%

White 67.13%

Gender

female 67.50%

male 32.50%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a communications associate?

Pros

Exposure to a variety of industries and sectors
Possibility for career advancement within the field
Potential for flexible scheduling or remote work options
Ability to work on creative projects and campaigns
Opportunity to build a portfolio of work

Cons

Limited control over some aspects of projects or campaigns
Can require long hours or working outside of normal business hours
Requires the ability to work well under tight deadlines
Potential for high stress levels during busy periods
May require working with difficult or demanding clients or stakeholders

Key steps to become a communications associate

Explore communications associate education requirements

Most common communications associate degrees

Bachelor's

77.0 %

Master's

11.0 %

Associate

6.7 %

Start to develop specific communications associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	11.55%
Patients	6.90%
PowerPoint	5.54%
Project Management	4.36%
Press Releases	4.29%

Complete relevant communications associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New communications associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a communications associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real communications associate resumes.

Research communications associate duties and responsibilities

Create and manage several internal communications SharePoint sites and survey tools.
Save $60K annually by administering digital asset management system and managing migration of externally-host system to internal SharePoint solution.
Co-developed regional, national and international trade show strategy including logistics, management, qualifying leads, communications and ROI tracking.
Establish and moderate a Facebook group for a youth sports league.

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