Some of the skills we found on communications director resumes included "web content," "press releases," and "internal communications." We have detailed the most important communications director responsibilities below.
Arguably the most important personality trait for a communications director to have happens to be leadership skills. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that communications directors can use leadership skills to "received overwhelmingly positive feedback from hr, corporate leadership and the presenter trainees. " Another trait important for fulfilling communications director duties is problem-solving skills. According to a communications director resume, "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." Here's an example of how communications directors are able to utilize problem-solving skills: "perform all necessary hr functions including conflict resolution, annual performance reviews, and counseling. " Speaking skills is also an important skill for communications directors to have. This example of how communications directors use this skill comes from a communications director resume, "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization" Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "represented both internal and hr communications on the aol crisis management team. " In order for certain communications director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "writing skills." According to a communications director resume, "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches" As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "managed media relations by cultivating relationships with media outlets, writing effective press releases, and proactively pitching/writing stories for publication. " As part of the communications director description, you might find that one of the skills that might be helpful to the job is "communication skills." A communications director resume included this snippet: "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." This skill could be useful in this scenario: "established communications and marketing strategy, including development of public relations and community outreach program for new electric utility. " Another skill commonly found on communications director resumes is "organizational skills." This description of the skill was found on several communications director resumes: "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill could fit into the day-to-day communications director responsibilities: "anticipated and planned communication strategies for organizational changes and specific organizational events: new services, product launches and hr issues. " See the full list of communications director skills.
We've found that 75.5% of communications directors have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 14.2% earned their master's degrees before becoming a communications director. While it's true that most communications directors have a college degree, it's generally impossible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every nine communications directors did not spend the extra money to attend college.
Those communications directors who do attend college, typically earn either communication degrees or journalism degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for communications directors include business degrees or political science degrees.
Once you're ready to become a communications director, you should explore the companies that typically hire communications directors. According to communications director resumes that we searched through, communications directors are hired the most by CBRE Group, Facebook, and Trellix. Currently, CBRE Group has 183 communications director job openings, while there are 171 at Facebook and 49 at Trellix.
If you're interested in companies where communications directors make the most money, you'll want to apply for positions at Meta, Google, and Twitter. We found that at Meta, the average communications director salary is $191,543. Whereas at Google, communications directors earn roughly $186,864. And at Twitter, they make an average salary of $179,326.
View more details on communications director salaries across the United States.
If you earned a degree from the top 100 educational institutions in the United States, you might want to take a look at American Cancer Society, AT&T;, and IBM. These three companies have hired a significant number of communications directors from these institutions.
For the most part, communications directors make their living in the non profits and real estate industries. Communications directors tend to make the most in the technology industry with an average salary of $120,359. The communications director annual salary in the professional and media industries generally make $117,507 and $116,334 respectively. Additionally, communications directors who work in the technology industry make 77.9% more than communications directors in the real estate Industry.